Maharashtra batter Ruturaj Gaikwad massively helped his side in posting a respectable first-inning total against Chandigarh on the first day of the second round of Ranji Trophy. He had come out to bat with the team at 34/2 and ended up playing a stunning knock of 116 to take them over the 250-run mark. Gaikwad went on to form a huge 162-run stand alongside wicketkeeper-batter Saurabh Nawale. The latter would depart for 66, but the former would keep on going and eventually move into triple figures. Gaikwad was dismissed for 116 runs by Vishnu Kashyap, but his knock was enough to see Maharashtra put up a decent total of 313 on the board before being bowled out.
Rahane's splendid knock
Ajinkya Rahane was another batter who dominated on the opening day of the second round. He came out to bat after Musheer Khan was dismissed for 12 and went on to form a massive stand with Siddhesh Lad to help his side reach the 200-run mark. The duo scored quite a lot of boundaries and dominated against the Chhattisgarh bowling attack. Rahane eventually went on to reach his hundred and even though he looked set to post an even bigger score, he eventually had to retire hurt at 118. Lad was also dismissed for 80 as Mumbai wrapped up the day on 251/5.
On the other hand, the match between Assam and Services was completely dominated by the bowlers. Services first bundled out the opposition for just 103 runs as two of their bowlers recorded hat-tricks. The duo of Arjun Sharma and Mohit Jangra took three wickets on as many deliveries and completely decimated the opposing batting order.
However, Assam fought back and only let Services score 108 runs before bundling them out on the pitch heavily favouring the bowlers. Riyan Parag (5/25) and Rahul Singh (4/44) were the top performers and allowed the opposition to take only a 5-run lead. Assam then came out to bat for their second innings, but struggled once again and finished the day on 66/5. A total of 25 wickets fell on the first day and there are high chances for the match to conclude on the second day itself.
TN batters decimate Nagaland bowlers
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu batters stamped their authority over Nagaland on the opening day thankks to centuries from both Vimal Khumar and Pradosh Ranjan Paul. While Vimal missed out on his double-century by a whisker and got dismissed on 189, Pradosh still has a chance of reaching the milestone as he remained unbeaten on 156 as the day came to an end. Tamil Nada wrapped up the day on 399/2 and will be looking to post a first-inning total of over 500 runs at the very least as the match progresses.