Thursday (20th February) was the first day of the quarter-final of the Ranji Trophy 2019/20. While Gujarat played strong cricket, Bengal and Saurashtra are looking to build up their respective first innings after the struggling start. Meanwhile, in the rain-marred day, Karnataka got a poor start.
Here is the Day 1 Round-Up of the Quarter-Final of Ranji Trophy 2019/20
Gujarat vs Goa: Gujarat – 330/4 (Parthiv Patel 118*, Bhargav Merai 84; Amit Verma 2/73)
After winning the toss, Gujarat decided to bat first. Openers Samit Gohel and Priyank Panchal provided the 64 runs partnership for the first wicket. While Panchal scored 28 runs, Gohel played the knock of 52 runs.
Bhargav Merai and captain Parthiv Patel built up that innings and set the 139 runs partnership for the third wicket. After Merai lost his wicket on 84 runs, Manprit Juneja (1) also departed quickly. However, then the skipper Patel controlled the innings along with Chirag Gandhi. Till the end of that day, they set up the 82 runs partnership for the unbroken fifth wicket.
Parthiv Patel hit a century and remained not out on 118 runs. On the other hand, Gandhi was batting on 40 runs. At the stumps of the day, Gujarat scored 330/4.
Odisha vs Bengal: Bengal – 308/6 (Anustup Majumdar 136*, Shahbaz Ahmed 82*; Kanwar Singh Chohan 2/52)
Odisha sent Bengal to bat first after winning the toss. Bengal side got a horrific start as they were once struggling on 46/5. Anustup Majumdar and wicketkeeper-batsman Shreevats Goswami handled that situation with the 95 runs partnership for the sixth wicket.
After Goswami was dismissed on 34 runs, Majumdar built up the innings with the solid 167 runs partnership with Shahbaz Ahmed for the unbroken seventh wicket. Majumdar hit a century and scored 136 not out while Ahmed remained not out on 82 runs as Bengal finished the day on 308/6.
Among the Odisha bowlers, Suryakant Pradhan (2/96) and Kanwar Singh Chohan (2/52) both have picked up two wickets each.
Andhra vs Saurashtra: Saurashtra – 226/6 (Vishvaraj Jadeja 73, Chirag Jani 53*; Prithvi Raj 3/51)
Andhra decided to field first after winning the toss. Saurashtra were losing their wickets at regular intervals, but the three middle-order batsmen registered half-centuries on the day one. While Vishvaraj Jadeja scored the highest runs of 73, Sheldon Jackson (50) and Chirag Jani (53 not out) are the other players to score half-centuries in that innings. At the stumps of the day, Saurashtra scored 226/6.
On his 22nd birthday, the left-arm pacer Prithvi Raj (3/51) took three wickets in that innings. Also, the right-arm medium pacer KV Sasikanth (2/82) scalped two wickets.
Jammu & Kashmir vs Karnataka: Karnataka – 14/2 (Ravikumar Samarth 5, Karun Nair 4*; Mujtaba Yousuf 1/5)
In the rain-interrupted day, Karnataka decided to bat first after winning the toss, but they finished that day on 14/2. Both the openers were dismissed cheaply while only six overs were possible on that day. Aquib Nabi and Mujtaba Yousuf both bagged one wicket each for Jammu & Kashmir.