Easwaran scores another hundred
Dehradun, Jan 3: Indian Test team’s reserve opener Abhimanyu Easwaran continued his magnificent run in first-class cricket with a fourth consecutive hundred, which propelled Bengal to 269 for 3 against Uttarakhand on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match here on Tuesday. The 141 not out is even more sweet as it came at his “home ground” Abhimanyu Cricket Academy Stadium, named after him and run by his father Ranganathan Parameswaran Easwaran. Uttarakhand skipper Aditya Tare’s decision to field didn’t yield the desired result as Abhimanyu’s 170-run stand with another in-form man Sudip Gharami (90) for the second wicket laid the foundation for a good first-innings score. In fact, Abhimanyu also added 84 for the opening wicket with all-rounder Sayan Sekhar Mondal (18). On a picturesque open ground, Abhimanyu struck 12 boundaries and a six and remained in contention to be a part of the Indian squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. His sequence of scores in the last four first-class games read – 141, 157 (both vs Bangladesh A), 170 vs Nagaland and now 141* in the current match. (PTI)
Unadkat claims first-over hat-trick
Rajkot, Jan 3: Jaydev Unadkat, fresh from his fine bowling performance in the second Test against Bangladesh at Mirpur, returned to the Ranji grind and made a smashing impact, grabbing a hat-trick in the first over to leave Group B rivals Delhi in a disarray on Tuesday. Delhi, who lost 7 wickets for just 10 runs, didn’t face ignominy of lowest first-class score of 6 by a team called ‘The B’s’ against England in an official match held in 1810. Courtesy young Hrithik Shokeen (68), they finally managed 133 before Saurashtra scored 184 in just 46 overs as the visitors decided to play with two specialist bowlers. Unadkat took wickets off the third, fourth and fifth deliveries to achieve the distinction of becoming the only player to take a first-over hat-trick in Ranji Trophy’s 88-year-old history. (PTI)
Patidar’s ton helps MP recover
Indore, Jan 3: Rajat Patidar’s knock of 121 helped defending champions Madhya Pradesh recover from a poor start to finish at 234 for six at stumps on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group D match against Vidarbha here on Tuesday. Sent into bat by Vidarbha captain Faiz Fazal, MP were in a spot of bother losing the two openers and Shubham Sharma within the first 10 overs. Shubham Sharma (1) lasted only four balls to leave the home team in trouble. Patidar, one of the star performers in MP’s Ranji Trophy triumph last season, rose to the occasion. In the company of skipper Aditya Shrivastava (34), he put on 74 runs to revive the innings. (PTI)