GROUP C
Ranchi, Oct 26: Delhi captain Ayush Badoni continued his prolific run with the bat, scoring his second consecutive century to guide his side to 309/5 against Jharkhand on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group C encounter here on Monday.
Delhi, after electing to bat, found themselves in a difficult position at 181/5 before Badoni and all-rounder Sumit Mathur combined for an unbeaten 124-run partnership for the sixth wicket to put the visitors in a commanding position.
Badoni remained unbeaten on 106, while Mathur was not out on 50 at stumps. The Delhi skipper struck 11 boundaries and two sixes, displaying assured footwork and an ability to find gaps against both pace and spin.
The 26-year-old has now scored 85, 217 and 106 not out in his last three innings, strengthening his case for national selection after missing out on a place in the India A squad for the New Zealand tour.
Earlier, openers Priyansh Arya (39) and Sanat Sangwan (37) provided Delhi with a steady start, adding 56 runs for the opening wicket.
Yash Dhull contributed 29, but Delhi lost wickets at regular intervals before Badoni and Mathur stabilised the innings.
Jharkhand off-spinner Pratyush Singh finished with figures of 2/63.
At Mangalapuram, Bengal reached 172/6 against Kerala on a rain-affected opening day. Ankur Paul top-scored with 66 before Aditya Sarwate’s left-arm spin triggered a middle-order collapse.
Sarwate returned figures of 3/38, while Shahbaz Ahmed remained unbeaten on 35.
In Bhubaneswar, Services off-spinner Pulkit Narang claimed 6/47 to bowl Odisha out for 194. Gourav Choudhary top-scored with 41, while Services reached 13 without loss at stumps.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra dismissed Gujarat for 223 in Pune, with Siddhesh Veer taking four wickets. Abhishek Desai (79) and Jaymeet Patel (58) scored half-centuries for Gujarat before Maharashtra closed the day at 24/1. (PTI)