Rohtak, Jan 29 (IANS) Veteran batter Sudip Chatterjee held firm with an unbeaten 77 as Bengal reached 168/5 in 58 overs against Haryana on a truncated opening day of their Elite Group C match in Ranji Trophy 2025-26 in Lahli in Haryana on Thursday.
Fog and poor light wiped out the first session before Chatterjee struck a patient half-century off 120 balls, guiding Bengal through difficult conditions. He struck the first two boundaries of the contest in the afternoon but otherwise relied on defence and strike rotation to anchor the innings.
Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sudip Gharami fell in quick succession to left-arm spinner Tanmay Baloda before tea, while Anustup Majumdar and Shahbaz Ahmed also departed in the final session. Sumanta Gupta was trapped lbw late in the day, leaving Bengal five down at stumps.
Chatterjee, who faced 177 balls and hit five fours, remained the mainstay as Haryana’s bowlers chipped away. Baloda finished with three wickets, while Anshul Kamboj and Amit Rana picked up one apiece on a day which was full of attritional cricket.
At Abhimanyu Cricket Academy in Dehradun, captain Kunal Chandela struck an unbeaten 128 to guide Uttarakhand to 279/3 against Assam. Chandela got support from Bhupen Lalwani, who made 52, and Lakshya Raichandani, who’s unbeaten on 48. Rohit Singh picked up two wickets while Dipjyoti Saikia claimed one scalp for Assam.
At Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium in Agartala, Gujarat closed on 267/7 in 89.3 overs against Tripura, with skipper Manan Hingrajia leading the charge by making 98 not out off 255 balls. Jaymeet Patel added 69 while Priyesh Patel made 52, but the visitors lost wickets in clusters. Manisankar Murasingh led Tripura’s attack with 3-37, while Abhijit Sarkar and Sandip Sarkar took two apiece.
At Palam A Ground in New Delhi, Services reached 174/3 in 55 overs against Railways, with Anshul Gupta hitting 101 before retiring hurt. Captain Rajat Paliwal was unbeaten on 31 alongside Devender Lohchab on nine at stumps. Zubair Ali was the standout bowler for Railways by taking 3-43, while the rest of the attack struggled to make inroads.
–IANS
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