Ranji Trophy 2018: Rajat Bhatia, Saurabh Rawat tons rescue Uttarakhand

Opting to field at their adopted home venue, KIIT Stadium, Sikkim got the early breakthrough with Chaudhary dismissing Uttarakhand opener Karanveer Kaushal (4) in the fifth over. Bipul Sharma (1/67) then accounted for the experienced Vineet Saxena (19) followed by the wickets of Kartik Joshi (8) and Vaibhav Singh (5) as the Uttarakhand found themselves in a spot of bother in their first away match of the season.

Both the teams are one 13 points each with Sikkim leading the Plate table on net runrate. In Shillong, Meghalaya’s recruit from Delhi, Yogesh Nagar, cracked his second successive century in a 197-ball 166 (22×4, 2×6) while opener Raj Biswa also slammed a century (111 from 239 balls; 12×4) as the hosts notched up 338/5 against Nagaland.

Put in, Meghalaya were 26/2 inside 13 overs after losing JJ Lamare for a three-ball duck and Tarique Siddique for three. Puneet Bisht then put on 40 runs for the third wicket with Biswa before being dismissed for 28.

Thereafter it was Nagar and Biswa who took control of the proceedings in a 231-run partnership to put Meghalaya in command. The first day’s play between hosts Puducherry and Bihar at the Siechem Ground was abandoned due to rain.

Brief Scores:

In Bhubaneshwar: Uttarakhand 290/5; 90 overs (Rajat Bhatia 121, Saurabh Rawat 115; Ishwar Chaudhary 3/81) vs Sikkim.

In Jorhat: Mizoram 219; 69.1 overs (Taruwar Kohli 100, Bishworjit 3/50). Manipur 54/3; 15 overs (Yashpal Singh 15 batting, Lalnunkima Varte 2/20).

In Shillong: Meghalaya 338/5; 90 overs (Yogesh Nagar 166, Raj Biswa 111) vs Nagaland.