Anustup Majumdar revives Bengal; Gujarat restrict Saurashtra

Kolkata: Anustup Majumdar struck an unbeaten century to once again become Bengal's savior after a familiar top-order collapse as he single-handedly took his side to 275 for nine on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal against a star-studded Karnataka, in Kolkata, on Saturday.

Fresh from his career-best 157 from a similar position in the quarterfinals, Majumdar slammed an unbeaten 120 (173 balls; 18x4, 1x6) to revive Bengal innings after they were asked to bat first.

The home side is making a bid to reach the final after 13 years.

The first day's play also saw the first dismissal via DRS in domestic cricket when Karnataka pace spearhead Abhimanyu Mithun got the wicket of Abhishek Raman (0) in the 16th delivery of the innings.

Brief Scores: Bengal: 275/9 from 82 overs (Anustup Majumdar 120 batting; Akash Deep 44, Shahbaz Ahmed 35; Abhimanyu Mithun 3/65) vs Karnataka.

Gujarat restrict Saurashtra to 217/5

Led by Arzan Nagwaswalla's three wickets, Gujarat bowlers produced a disciplined show and restricted Saurashtra to 217 for five on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal in Rajkot.

For the hosts, only Sheldon Jackson (69 not out) was able to convert his start at the SCA stadium.

Initially, it seemed Gujarat skipper Parthiv Patel's decision to put Saurashtra in backfired, but the bowlers made a splendid comeback and pegged the hosts back on two occasions.

Saurashtra openers Harvik Desai (35) and Kishan Parmar (37) gave the hosts a sedate start and negated the early challenge well, especially the questions posed by medium-pacer Chitan Gaja (0-42).

Brief Scores: Saurashtra 217/5 (Sheldon Jackson 69 no; Kishan Parmar 37; Arzan Nagwaswalla 3-40) versus Gujarat. Agencies

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