India discards shine in Ranji Trophy

It was a day for India discards in the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament as Vikram Raj Vir (VRV) Singh, Abhnav Mukund, Yusuf Pathan, and Wasim Jaffer did well for their respective teams in the fifth round that started Thursday.

The star of the day was Punjab fast bowler VRV who returned to first-class cricket after five years with a fifer (5/38) to skittle out Haryana for 163 runs in the first innings at the Bansi Lal Stadium in Rohtak.

Haryana also did well to reduce Punjab to 50 for three in the first innings. Punjab's dangerous batsman Jiwanjot Singh (8) was also back in the pavilion.

At the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, veteran batsman Wasim Jaffer struck an unbeaten 133 to take Mumbai to 254 for eight in the first innings at close against Vidarbha.

For Vidarbha fast bowler Umesh Yadav, who is in the Indian team for the South African tour, it was a tough day without any success. Yadav gave away 69 runs without any wicket from the 19 overs he bowled.

In Chennai's M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, opener Abhinav Mukund, who has played five Tests, hit a patient 103 not out to take Tami Nadu to 268 for two at stumps. India opener Murali Vijay also scored 62.

At the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara, 20 wickets fell as both hosts Baroda and Madhya Pradesh failed to get the measure of the track.

Off-spinner Jalaj Saxena, who play for Mumbai Indians, picked up six for 42 as Baroda were bowled out for 152 in the first innings.

In reply, the Madhya Pradesh innings lasted just 27.2 overs as offie Yusuf (4/17) and left-arm spinner Ketu Patel (4/9) shared eight wickets to skittle out the visitors for just 60 runs.

Brief scores:

Group A

Mumbai 254/8 (Jaffer 133 not out) vs. Vidarbha

Haryana 163 all out (Barot 65; VRV 5/38) vs. Punjab 50/3

Jharkhand 194/5 (Tiwary 75 not out) vs. Gujarat

Odisha 226 (Mallick 98, Mithun 6/52) vs. Karnataka 22/0

Group B

Tamil Nadu 268/2 (Vijay 62, Abhinav Mukund 103 not out) vs. Saurashtra

Bengal 242/3 (Das 139 not out) vs. Services

Uttar Pradesh 176/9 (Parvinder 46) vs. Rajasthan

Baroda 152 all out and 9/0 vs. Madhya Pradesh 61 all out (Patel 4/9, Yusuf 4/17)

Group C

Andhra 232/3 (Prashanth Kumar 86) vs. Maharashtra

Assam 81 (Dhawan 5/29, Malik 3/24) vs. Himachal Pradesh 199/4 (Dhawan 36 not out)

J&K 312/4 (Singh 98, Dar 53 not out, Hardeep 51 not out) vs. Kerala

Goa 231/8 (Desai 102, Asnodkar 75) vs. Tripura