Rohan Patil’s brisk 89 and an unbeaten half-century from Mayank Agarwal put Karnataka in a commanding position against Assam in Guwahati. The duo shared a 129-run opening partnership, helping Karnataka take a 45-run lead by stumps on the opening day. Patil struck 13 boundaries and a six in his 87-ball knock but narrowly missed out on a century, while Agarwal remained unbeaten on 57.
Sridam Paul’s patient 86 helped Tripura recover from a disastrous start against Saurashtra after the hosts were reduced to 28/5 inside 19 overs. Paul joined forces with wicketkeeper-batter Sentu Sarkar, who scored 46, to stitch together a crucial 125-run partnership and prevent Tripura from suffering a batting collapse.
Skipper Rajat Paliwal’s unbeaten 111 was the standout performance for Services against Delhi. Coming in at No. 5 with his team struggling at 27/3, Paliwal held the innings together and guided Services to a respectable total of 266 in their first innings. He also crossed the 7,000-run mark in first-class cricket during his knock.
Abhishek Porel’s attacking half-century was one of the few bright spots for Bengal against Maharashtra. Put in to bat, Bengal were struggling at 37/4 when Porel walked in. The wicketkeeper-batter responded with a 54 off 67 deliveries, including eight boundaries, to help his side recover from the early setbacks. However, the other batters failed to make significant contributions.
Tamil Nadu enjoyed a dominant opening day against Chandigarh, finishing on 320/4, thanks to an unbeaten 138 from Pradosh Ranjan Paul. He received valuable support from N Jagadeesan (52) and Baba Indrajith (51), with both batters registering half-centuries to put Tamil Nadu in a strong position.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi (78) and Sarfaraz Khan (55) struck half-centuries as Mumbai reached 247/6 against Railways at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) in Mumbai. Skipper Siddesh Lad also made a useful contribution of 47 but missed out on a half-century after Railways opted to bowl first.
Aarya Desai narrowly missed out on a century as Gujarat reached 300 against Kerala in Ahmedabad. The opener scored 95 and shared a 116-run partnership with Abhishek Desai to lay the foundation for the innings. After Gujarat slipped to 182/4, Urvil Patel (63*) and Vishal Jayswal (50*) added an unbeaten 111-run stand to take the team past the 300-run mark.
Punjab staged an impressive recovery against Andhra after being reduced to 71/5. Salil Arora and Sanvir Singh both struck unbeaten centuries to take their side to 276/5 at stumps. Arora remained unbeaten on 111, while Sanvir scored 100 not out, with the duo sharing an unbroken 205-run partnership for the sixth wicket to put Punjab back in control.
Snehal Kauthankar’s unbeaten 116 helped Goa recover against Bihar after the hosts were reduced to 54/4. Having opted to bat first, Goa found themselves in trouble early on, but Kauthankar held firm to guide the innings towards a respectable position.
Dhruv Patel’s 124 helped Baroda reach 269/6 against Uttar Pradesh in Kanpur. The opener stitched together two important partnerships, adding 88 runs with Shashwat Rawat (47) and another 108 with Mitesh Patel (49), after Baroda had slipped to 54/2. However, his dismissal triggered a brief collapse, with Baroda losing three wickets for no runs at 249 across two overs.
Best bowling performances
Harsh Dubey produced a sensational bowling performance, claiming 9/53 to help Vidarbha bowl out Madhya Pradesh for 209. After Nachiket Bhute dismissed opener Yash Dubey, Harsh took charge and accounted for the remaining nine wickets. Madhya Pradesh briefly recovered through a 72-run partnership between Saransh Jain and Atharav Mahajan, but Harsh eventually ran through the batting line-up to register a remarkable nine-wicket haul.
Ritesh Bhatkal and Shikhar Shetty shared all 10 wickets between them as Karnataka bowled out Assam for just 135. Bhatkal returned figures of 5/35, while Shetty claimed 5/53. Apart from one half-century partnership, the Assam batters struggled to cope with the Karnataka bowling attack and were dismissed in less than 49 overs.
Mayank Mishra claimed six wickets to restrict Haryana to 153 in their first innings against Uttarakhand. Haryana’s decision to bat first did not pay off as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals, with Mishra troubling the batters throughout the innings. He finished with figures of 6/57.
Abhishek Kumar of Himachal Pradesh and Sahil Dhiwan of Rajasthan claimed five-wicket hauls each on a 20-wicket opening day in Dharamsala. Rajasthan were bowled out for just 78 after opting to bat, with Abhishek making early inroads before returning to clean up the tail. In reply, Himachal Pradesh posted 153 to take a 75-run first-innings lead. Dhiwan fought back for Rajasthan by dismantling the HP middle order and finishing with a five-wicket haul, but could not prevent his side from conceding a significant lead.
