Ranji Trophy: Railways leg-spinner Karn Sharma shines against Vidarbha, scalps eight batters for 38 runs

Railways leg-spinner Karn Sharma snared eight wickets in a sensational bowling display but Vidarbha still managed 213, courtesy captain Faiz Fazal's century, on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Group D match here on Tuesday.

Captain Fazal (112 off 219 balls) played a lone hand for Vidarbha as he saw wickets tumbling at the other end, seven of them of Sharma's bowling (8/38). He also fell in the end off Sharma as the ninth Vidarbha batter to be dismissed.

Fazal hit 12 fours during his innings. Only Atharva Taide (43) and Sanjay Raghunath (18) could reach double-digit figures among the other Vidarbha batters as the 35-year-old former India bowler ran through the opposition batting line-up.

In reply, Railways were 22 for 1 in 6.1 overs at stumps.

In another Group D match played in Mohali, opener Prabhsimran Singh struck a double hundred as Punjab batters toyed with Chandigarh bowlers to post 363 for 3 on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Group D match here on Tuesday.

Chandigarh's ploy to insert Punjab backfired as Prabhsimran (202) and Abhishek Sharma, who also hit a century, put on 250 runs for the opening wicket in 57.4 overs to completely demoralised the Chandigarh bowlers.

Chandigarh finally broke the opening stand towards the end of the second session with Gurinder Singh getting the wicket of Abhishek, who hit exactly 100 off 146 balls with the help of 11 fours and two sixes.

Prabhsimran was the last man out on the day, caught by Sandeep Sharma off Rohit Dhanda (2/50), who also got rid of the Naman Dhir (34). Prabh hit 28 fours and two sixes during his 278-ball innings which lasted almost the whole day.

Captain Mandeep Singh and Anmolpreet Singh were batting on 16 and 5 respectively at stumps.

In Agartala, Gujarat captain Priyank Panchal hit 111 in his side's 271 all out in 75.3 overs against Tripura on the first day.

Tripura pacer Manisankar Murasingh returned with impressive figures of 5/74 as he removed all the top five Gujarat batters, including Panchal. Brief Scores: At Nagpur: Vidarbha: 213 all out in 80.4 overs (Faiz Fazal 112, Karn Sharma 8/38) vs Railways 22 for 1 in 6.1 overs.

At Mohali: Punjab: 363 for 3 in 85 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 202, Abhishek Sharma 100; Rohit Dhanda 2/50) vs Chandigarh.

At Agartala: Gujarat: 271 all out in 75.3 overs (Priyank Panchal 111, Manisankar Murasingh 5/74) vs Tripura 1/0 in one over.

At Jammu: Madhya Pradesh: 251 for 6 in 90 overs (Yash Dubey 81, Rajat Patidar 62, Shubham Sharma 52; Auqib Nabi 3/45).