Himachal Pradesh overcame a shaky start with half centuries from skipper Ankit Kalsi, Akash Vasisht and Raghav Dhawan to notch up 324 for 6 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group F match against Punjab here on Thursday.
Opting to bowl, Punjab reduced Himachal to 21 for 2 inside 10 overs with their new-ball bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Baltej Singh dismissing openers Prashant Chopra (13) and Abhimanyu Rana (3) in successive overs.
Skipper Ankit Kalsi then steadied the Himachal ship with Raghav Dhawan as they negotiated Punjab bowlers at ease to see through the first session at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
The duo put together 139 runs for the third wicket with Raghav scoring a 125-ball 73 before being run out by Abhishek Sharma.
Kalsi followed soon after, being trapped by Gurkeerat Singh in the 57th over but Himachal got going with Akash Vasisht remaining unbeaten on 78.
He shared 95 runs with Nikhil Gangta (45) as Punjab got a strong resistance from Himachal lower-order batters.
Brief Scores:
At Arun Jaitley Stadium:
Himachal Pradesh: 324 for 6 in 90 overs (Ankit Kalsi 88, Akash Vasisht 78 not out, Raghav Dhawan 73, Nikhil Gangta 45) vs Punjab.
At Palam A Ground: Haryana 327 for 4 in 90 overs (Yashu Sharma 101 not out, Shubham Rohilla 61, Kapil Hooda 56) vs Tripura.
Pawan Shah slams unbeaten 165 on debut, take Maharashtra to 278/5
Opener Pawan Shah slammed a sublime 165 on debut to guide Maharashtra to 278 for five on the first day of their Elite Ranji Trophy group G game against Assam here on Thursday.
The 22-year-old Shah, who hails from Chinchwad and is a product of the Varroc Vengsarkar Cricket Academy, was the cynosure of all eyes at the Chaudhry Bansi Lal Stadium as he took on a pedestrian Assam attack with gusto.
The right-handed batter hammered 15 boundaries and one maximum in his 275-ball unbeaten knock.
Put into bat, Maharashtra lost opener Yash Nahar (4) and Rahul Tripathi (2) to find themselves in a spot of bother at 32/2.
But Shah found an able ally in Ankit Bawne (27) and the two rallied the innings with their 66-run stand for the third wicket.
After Bawne became right-arm pacer Mukhtar Hussain's second victim, it was Shah, who held the innings together.
Meanwhile, Shah was joined in the middle by seasoned campaigner Naushad Shaikh but after reaching 28, the latter got out.
However, Shah kept on playing his shots at will, frustrating the opposition attack while proving his mettle at the big stage.
Maharashtra lost Shaikh and wicketkeeper Vishant More (16) in quick succession, but Diyyang Hinganekar (36 not out) played the perfect second fiddle to Shah, the duo adding 94 runs for the sixth wicket to prop up their team.
Hinganekar hit five boundaries in his unbeaten 78-ball knock.
Brief scores:
Maharashtra 278/5 (Pawan Shah 165 not out; Divyang Hinganekar 36 not out; Mukhtar Hussain 3/61, Arup Das 1/55) versus Assam.
Uttar Pradesh 268/7 (Akshdeep Nath 91, Rinku Singh 65; Dhruv Jurel 52 not out; Umesh Yadav 2/37, Aditya Thakare 2/42) versus Vidarbha.
(Reported by PTI)
