Brilliant Rana lifts Haryana

Baroda 6 for 1 trail Haryana 260 (Rana 121) by 254 runs
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Sachin Rana's brilliant maiden first-class hundred, from the No.9 spot, completely overshadowed the good work put in by Baroda's bowlers earlier in the day as Haryana bounced back from a dismal 159 for 9 to finish on 260 at Sirsa. Playing in just his seventh first-class game, Rana pulled Haryana out of a deep hole in a classic rearguard action with Gaurav Vashisht - who also deserves special mention - adding 101 for the last wicket.

Earlier, Zaheer Khan and Rakesh Patel, Baroda's opening bowlers, took three wickets apiece to cap a convincing performance that completely nullified the cream of Haryana's batting. In Rana, however, they ran into an obstacle who was unwilling to succumb; he managed as many boundaries (13 fours and a six) as the rest of the 10 batsmen. His defiant knock apart, it was a virtual no-show from Haryana's batting stars. To show that his prime task was to open the bowling, Rana proceeded to send down a wicket-maiden over in his only opportunity before stumps to leave Baroda 6 for 1.

Mumbai 50 for 2 trail Bengal 171 (Lahiri 49, Hazare 5-36)
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Shib Paul struck twice for Bengal to leave Mumbai 50 for 2 at stumps at the Wankhede Stadium, but nothing could be taken away from the home side's clinical bowling performance earlier in the day as a career-best haul from Swapnil Hazare, the medium pacer, dismissed Bengal for 171. Usman Malvi, the opening bowler, chipped in with three wickets as the tourists failed to come to terms with Mumbai's pace brigade. Only Saurashish Lahiri, sent in to bat at No. 3, put up a semblance of a fight.

Tamil Nadu 20 for 0 v Karnataka
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Just 5.5 overs were managed at Chennai today as rains marred the first day's play between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Sivaramakrishnan Vidyut, the left-handed opener, hit three quick fours to get Tamil Nadu off to a good start before rain and bad light forced both teams to call it a day well before the scheduled time of stumps.

Railways 188 (Rao 44, Parmar 4-41) v Gujarat
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Fine bowling from Mukund Parmar, the left-arm spinner, helped dismantle a strong Railways batting lineup for 188 on a day one turner at Delhi. Sanjay Bangar, the Railways captain, had said before the match that he expected the surface to provide opportunities to both teams to come good. It was to Bangar's detriment that Parmar found assistance from the wicket to put Railways' middle order in a complete spin. For his part, though, Bangar (39) featured in a fine 83-run partnership for the second wicket with G Shankar Rao, the one bright spot in an otherwise dismal batting performance.

Maharashtra 183 for 7 (Bahutule 52*, Patel 46) v Delhi
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A battling fifty from Sairaj Bahutule and a late order cameo from Munaf Patel, the fast bowler, saw their side to 183 for 7 on day one against hosts Delhi. Delhi's bowlers had done well to leave Maharashtra's top order in disarray before Bahutule and Patel - who clubbed three sixes - combined for an 80-run stand for the seventh wicket. Maharashtra will undoubtedly look to Bahutule to guide them to a more imposing total on the second day's play.

Punjab 84 for 3 trail Hyderabad 200 (Reddy 51*, Gagandeep 4-46) by 116 runs
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Fine bowling from Gagandeep Singh and Hardevinder Sandhu, Punjab's opening bowlers, restricted Hyderabad to 200 on the opening day of their Elite Group B match at Chandigarh, but the tourists fought back to leave Punjab 83 for 3 at stumps. Gagandeep had struck crucial blows throughout the first two sessions of play to stifle any signs of a worthy partnership, and was ably backed by Sandhu. Kaushik Reddy, with an unbeaten 51 from the No.10 spot, was the lone aggressor in an otherwise meek batting display from the tourists.

Services 207 for 5 (Yashpal 65) v Uttar Pradesh
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A defiant fifty from Yashpal Singh, the middle-order batsman, took Services to 207 for 5 at stumps on day one against Uttar Pradesh at Lucknow. Sumit Tomar and Jasvir Singh also looked good for bigger innings, but Piyush Chawla, the legspinner, bagged three middle-order wickets to sustain Services' post-lunch aggression. Sensing the need Sarabjit Singh, the Services' wicketkeeper, and AK Mohanty batted in a stoic manner to play out the remaining fifteen overs before the close of play.