Ranji Trophy: Gritty Chhattisgarh put up a fight against Delhi

Batting with extreme caution, opener Aayush Pandey and Sanjeet Desai shared a 95-run stand for the third wicket before some rearguard action carried Chhattisgarh to 277 for 6 against Delhi on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group D match here Friday.

Electing to bat, the hosts lost Bhupen Lalwani (2) and Ashutosh Singh (6) early but Pandey (89) and Desai (56) ensured that there were no more setbacks in the opening session.

Pandey faced 149 balls during his knock that had 14 shots to the fence and one over it while Desai stayed patient throughout, facing 115 balls and hitting only three boundaries.

They were going at a steady pace but Desai retired hut and Pandey was trapped in front of the wicket by off-spinner Ayush Badoni (2/29). It allowed Delhi to bounce back.

The visitors removed rival skipper Amandeep Khare (6), Shashank Singh (8) and Eknath Kerkar (8) in quick succession.

By having Chhattisgarh at 189 for five, Delhi had a great chance to wrap up the innings but the lower order of the home team batted with resolve to deny more success.

Ajay Mandal (39) and Shubham Agarwal (27) added 60 runs for the seventh wicket and were unseparated till the end of the day's play.

Brief Scores: Chhattisgarh 1st innings: 277 for 6 in 86 overs against Delhi (Aayush Pandey 89 and Sanjeet Desai 56; Ayush Badoni (2/29).

In Guwahati: Jharkhand 1st innings: 247 for 3 in 75 overs against Assam (Aryaman Sen 64, Utkarsh Singh 55; Rahul Singh 2/69).

In Coimbatore: Saursahtra: 203 all out in 77 overs (Arpit Vasavada 62 not out, Chirag Jani 34; Sonu Yadav 3/30, Mohammed 3/54) vs Tamil Nadu 0/0 in 2 overs