A determined knock of 94 not out by Swapnil K Singh helped Baroda make 254 for 8 in 87 overs at stumps on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Group "C' match against Tamil Nadu at Motibaug Cricket Ground today.
Electing to bat after winning the toss in a must-win game for both teams, the home side made slow progress and lost wickets at regular intervals before Swapnil did the rescue act.
Opener Kedar Devdhar added 29 runs for the first wicket before falling to a catch by M Mohammed off K Vignesh for 17.
The other opener Aditya Waghmode, who scored centuries in two previous matches, put on 29 for the second wicket with Vishnu Solanki before becoming Vignesh's second victim.
The visitors claimed another scalp 10 runs later as Solanki was caught by Vignesh to give M S Washington Sundar his first wicket.
Baroda captain Deepak Jagbir Hooda was then involved in an enterprising 71-run partnership with Swapnil Singh, which lasted 20 overs.
The usually aggressive Hooda showed restraint and in Swapnil's company added important runs. He made 24 from 60 balls which included a big six, before being caught and bowled by left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore.
Hooda's exit sparked a collapse as Baroda slid from 139 for 3 to 176 for 7 as J Kousik (2 for 28) and Mohammed (1 for 19) too got into the act.
However, Swapnil continued to fight and found a good partner in rookie Kartik Kakade (42) and they put on 69 important runs for the eighth wicket.
Swapnil during his 182-ball knock, mixed caution with aggression and hit 10 fours and three sixers while Kakade too hammered two sixes to frustrate the Tamil Nadu bowlers.
Tail-ender Rudresh Waghela, who joined Swapnil ensured that Baroda didn't lose any further wickets.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu made two changes by bringing in M Kaushik Gandhi and Kousik in place of all-rounder Vijay Shankar, who has been picked in the India Test team and off-spinner Malolan Rangarajan.
Brief scores: Baroda 254 for 8 in 87 overs (Swapnil K Singh 94 batting, K R Kakade 42, J Kousik 2 for 28, K Vignesh 2 for 38) vs Tamil Nadu.
At Indore: Odisha 147 all out in 52.2 overs (Shantanu Mishra 60, Chandrakant Sakure 4 for 42) vs Madhya Pradesh 96 for 1 in 32 overs (Rajit Patidar 72 batting).
At Mumbai: Tripura 195 all out in 60.4 overs (M B Mura Singh 43, Akash Parkar 5 for 32) vs Mumbai 77 for 3 in 22 overs (Jay Bista 43 batting).
Parkar picks up fifer as Mumbai skittle out Tripura for 195
Medium pacer Akash Parkar picked up his maiden five-wicket haul to help Mumbai bundle out a struggling Tripura for a paltry 195 on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Group C league match at the Wankhede stadium.
Parkar (5 for 32) was well-supported by senior pace colleague Dhawal Kulkarni (3 for 67) as the hosts made a strong bid to gain full points in their must-win game for a berth in the knock-out rounds.
However, Tripura hit back strongly before close by reducing the 41-time champions to 77 for three, with opener Jay Bista going strong on 43 to renew the battle tomorrow.
The Mumbai bowlers justified skipper Aditya Tare's decision to field and put up a spirited performance. They did not allow Tripura batsmen to settle as they picked up wickets at regular intervals.
The 23-year-old Parkar was rewarded for a disciplined line and length on a track which had bounced. He missed a hat-trick in his 15th over, when he removed Tripura's highest scorer Mura Singh (43 off 62 balls) and Rana Dutta (0), both caught by Surya Kumar Yadav.
Parkar, who made his Ranji Trophy debut this season itself against Madhya Pradesh, was the pick of the bowlers. He wreaked havoc by first cleaning up Bishal Ghosh (32 off 37) and later castled wicket-keeper S K Singh (18).
Pacer Kulkarni and Karsh Kothari (1-13) also played their roles to perfection. But pacer Shardul Thakur had an off day as he conceded 70 runs in 15 overs and remained wicket-less.
To add to his woes, Thakur also injured his left shoulder when dropping a catch just before tea and has gone for an MRI, according to a team official.
At tea, Tripura were tottering at 186 for 8 and, after the break, Mumbai grabbed the final two wickets in quick succession to end Tripura's innings in just 60.4 overs.
For the visitors, apart from Mura Singh, Bishal Ghosh and Yashpal Sharma (33) failed to convert their starts. Sharma too was one of Parkar's victims when he edged to wicket-keeper Tare.
Some rear guard hitting by Gurinder Singh (20) and Abhijit Sarkar (18) helped the visitors reach near the 200-run mark.
In reply, the hosts lost their in-form opener Prithvi Shaw (1) and one down Shreyas Iyer (1) cheaply. While Prithvi was cleaned up when he tried to play an attacking shot by Rana Dutta, Iyer edged to the keeper after the ball rose on him off Mura Singh.
After that, Bista and Yadav stitched a 50-run stand for the third wicket before the latter threw away his wicket, caught and bowled by Abhijit Sarkar.
Bista and Karsh Kothari (1 not out) ensured no more damage was inflicted by the Tripura bowlers as the hosts ended the day 118 runs adrift of the visitors' first innings tally.
Brief scores: Tripura 195 (Mura Singh 43, Yashpal Singh 33; Akash Parkar 5-32, Dhawal Kulkarni 3-67) v Mumbai 77 for 3 (Jay Bista 43 not out, Surya Kumar Yadav 30).
Goswami, Majumdar tons lead Bengal rescue act
Shreevats Goswami and Anustup Majumdar struck sublime centuries to help Bengal wriggle out from a poor start and reach 305 for five on day one of their Ranji Trophy Group D game against Goa.
The 22-year-old debutant medium-pacer Lakshay Garg (2/55) rattled Bengal's top order by removing Sudip Chatterjee (1) and captain Manoj Tiwary (0) in successive overs to have them struggling at 20 for three inside 13 overs after Goa opted to bowl on an Eden Gardens green top.
But Goswami struck a 194-ball 139 (20x4) in a 213-run fifth wicket partnership with Majumdar, who remained unbeaten on 107 from 182 balls (13x4). The duo enabled Bengal to seize the momentum after Goa dominated the first session.
Writtick Chatterjee was unbeaten on six along with Majumdar when bad light stopped play at 84 overs on day one.
Bengal need three points to seal a knock-out berth.
Earlier, Goa medium-pacers made full use of the conditions with Felix Alemao (1/67) giving the breakthrough in his first over of the day when he trapped Abhishek Raman (1) lbw with Bengal scorecard reading 1/1 in 1.4 overs.
Chatterjee started off slowly before Garg dismissed him.
Continuing his superb spell, Garg took the prized scalp of skipper Tiwary for a duck in his next over.
Opener Abhimanyu Easwaran (46) and Goswami steadied the boat before Goa skipper Darshan Misal brought in left-arm spinner Amulya Pandrekar.
Pandrekar cleaned up Easwaran and Bengal were reeling at 92 for four at lunch.
After the break, Goswami and Majumdar revived Bengal's innings and milked Goan bowlers with the former notching up his half-century in 86 balls. Goswami stepped up the run-rate en route to his fourth first-class century in 135 balls.
Majumdar posted his fifth first-class century off 171 balls.
Goa finally broke their double century partnership when Pandrekar dismissed Goswami.
Himmat's 99 and united batting effort helps Delhi post 336/5
Young batsman Himmat Singh missed out on his maiden first-class hundred after being run out on 99 but strong batting throughout helped Delhi reach a strong 336 for five against Hyderabad on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match.
The 21-year-old Himmat, playing only his second first-class game, provided solidity to the Delhi innings with his brilliant batting at number four but was run out going for the milestone.
His 99 came off 151 balls and he hit 15 shots to the fence during his three hour and 27-minute stay at the crease.
Also scoring half-centuries were openers Kunal Chandela (64) and Lalit Yadav, who was unbeaten on 62 at stumps on day one of the contest.
Gautam Gambhir scored a quick-fire 33 with seven boundaries before being caught and bowled by left-arm spinner Mehdi Hasan, who also trapped Chandela later in the innings.
Talented Rishabh Pant had a disappointing outing as he managed only 16 runs when the stage was set to dominate the home bowlers.
Dharam Shorey (32) also got a start but could not convert it into a big knock. He was cleaned up by off-spinner P Sairam.
At stumps, Manan Sharma (16) was giving company to Yadav.
In other Group A matches:
In Pune, Maharashtra were 65 for three after bundling Assam for 279 in 66.2 overs. (S Roy 80, G Sharma 87; N Dhuman 5/94).
In Delhi, Karnataka were 355 for six in 89.2 overs. (Mayank Agarwal 173, Manish Pandey 108; M Rao 2/65).
