Bowlers dominate; J&K 42/3 against MP’s 200 in 1st innings

INDORE, Feb 16: The bowlers of dominated day-1 as Madhya Pradesh scored a modest total of 200 runs in their first innings, while J&K, in reply were 42/3 in the Ranji Trophy Group-D match at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore today.

Earlier, winning the toss and batting first, Madhya Pradesh began on a disastrous note as three batters were sent back to the pavilion early in the innings at 14/3 in 10.1 overs before opening batter and wicketkeeper Himanshu Mantri and Venkatesh Iyer consolidated the innings and took the score to 119 runs in 24.5 overs when Mantri was dismissed.

Finally, the whole team managed to score 200 runs in 65.4 overs. Venkatesh Iyer top scored with 62 runs off 101 balls, studded with 4 fours and one six, while Himanshu contributed 50 runs off 121 balls with 5 boundaries. Saransh Jain and Avesh Khan contributed 21 and 16 runs to the total respectively.

For J&K, left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq bagged 3 wickets by conceding 35 runs in his 14.4 overs, while medium fast bowlers Rohit Sharma, Umar Nazir and Auqib Nabi took 2 wickets each. Off-spinner Sahil Lotra also claimed one wicket.

In reply, J&K were also struggling at 42/3 at stumps on day-1 today.

Musafir Ajaz (08) and Auqib Nabi (10) were at the crease. Skipper Shubham Khajuria (02), Wicketkeeper batter and make-shift opener Fazil Rashid (09) and Vivrant Sharma (07) were the three batters dismissed.

Saransh Jain and Kulwant Khejroliya claimed one wicket each for Madhya Pradesh.