Ranji Trophy: Back-to-back tons for Sehwag as Delhi fight back against Haryana

Virender Sehwag’s second consecutive century (not out 147) lifted Delhi to 278 for seven on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy encounter against Haryana at Lahli, Rohtak, while Jammu and Kashmir, after being dismissed for 160 in their first innings, kept themselves in the hunt by reducing hosts Karnataka to 123 for five at stumps on the first day in Hubli Monday. Sehwag came to bat when the team was struggling at 28 for two, having lost Unmukt Chand (five) and Varun Sood (one). Later, the visitors were reduced to 41 for four as skipper Gautam Gambhir (21) and Mithun Manhas (0) struggled on a lively wicket at the Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, Lahli. The 36-year-old Sehwag forged a 186-run partnership with Rajat Bhatia (72) to bail the team out of trouble. Right-hander Sehwag also hit 17 fours and a six. At the Hubli Cricket Stadium, three quick wickets by paceman Mohammed Mudhasir late in the day and just when Karnataka, who were 14 for two at one stage, looked to recover, put the hosts in a bit of bother. Earlier, skipper Vinay Kumar, who won the toss and opted to field first, was the pick of Karnataka bowlers as he came away with four for 37 and was well supported by fellow-seamers Stuart Binny (three for 37) and Abhimanyu Mithun (two for 23). [caption id=“attachment_2031131” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sehwag has been out of the Indian team for quite some time now. AFP[/caption] The J&K innings never really took off after openers Adil Reshi (18) and Obaid Haroon (20) departed in consecutive overs after putting on 41 runs. The visitors briefly recovered through a 54-run partnership between skipper Parvez Rasool (39) and Ian Chauhan (31), but both fell victims to Mithun who trapped them leg before in the space of seven deliveries. Thereafter, with the tail exposed, the Karnataka seamers ran through the line-up to restrict J and K to 160 while giving themselves a great chance to take the upper hand. However, new ball bowlers Ram Dayal removed openers Mayank Agarwal (3) and Karun Nair (2) to reduce Karnataka to 14 for two before Kunal Kapoor (23) and Manish Pandey (33) rescued the hosts by putting on 53 runs for the third wicket. Hereabouts, J&K delivered three big blows as Mudhasir had Kapoor and Agarwal caught behind and trapped Stuart Binny (1) leg-before in quick succession to leave Karnataka struggling on 83 for five before Robin Uthappa (37 not out) and CM Gautham (14 not out) saw the day through with an unbroken stand of 40. Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav (135) and Akhil Herwadkar (97) powered Mumbai to a commanding 375 for four against Madhya Pradesh at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Middle-order batsman Sidhesh Lad (not out 69) and Sarfaraz Khan (not out 20) were batting at the close of play. BRIEF SCORES Andhra vs Jharkhand: Jharkhand 1st innings 215 for nine (Prakash Munda 63; CV Stephen 3/43, Kakani Harish 2/69). Assam vs Services: Services 1st innings 102 for eight (Nakul Sharma 32; Arup Das 4/34, Krishna Das 3/21). Bengal vs Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu 1st innings 208 for five (Dinesh Karthik 92; Ashok Dinda 3/68). Haryana vs Delhi: Delhi 1st innings 278 for seven (Virender Sehwag 147 not-out, Rajat Bhatia 72; Joginder Sharma 3/39). Kerala vs Himachal Pradesh: Kerala 1st innings 139 for eight (Raiphi Gomez 32; Rishi Dhawan 5/46). Karnataka vs Jammu & Kashmir: Jammu & Kashmir 1st innings 160 all-out (Parvez Rasool 39; Vinay Kumar 4/37, Stuart Binny 3/37). Karnataka 1st innings 123 for five (Robin Uthappa 37 not out; Mohammed Mudhasir 3/29, Ram Dayal 2/17). Mumbai vs Madhya Pradesh: Mumbai 1st innings 375 for four (Suryakumar Yadav 135, Akhil Herwadkar 97; Puneet Datey 2/62). Odisha vs Vidarbha: 1st day no play. Rajasthan vs Punjab: Rajasthan 1st innings 295 for four (Pranay Sharma 118, Rajesh Bishnoi 67). Saurashtra vs Maharastra: 320 for six (Rohit Motwani 70, Harshad Khadiwale 67; Kamlesh Makvana 3/73). Tripura vs Hyderabad: Tripura 1st innings 184 all out (Kaushal Acharjee 55; Anwar Ahmed 5/53, Chama Milind 3/56) Hyderabad 1st innings 116 for one (Akshath Reddy 66 not out). Uttar Pradesh vs Baroda: Baroda 1st innings 316 for six (Kedar Devdhar 146, Saurabh Wakaskar 63; Piyush Chawla 3/100). IANS