GUWAHATI, Dec 8 � It was a disappointing day for the host bowlers as Gujarat amassed 233 losing three wickets on the opening day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Super League match. Today only 79 overs were possible due to poor light in the afternoon.
On an easy looking Nehru Stadium track here today, visiting captain Niral Patel won a good toss rightly and decided to use the track first. But they received a blow at the initial stage when their opener Priyank Panchal was caught by wicketkeeper Rajdeep Das off Abu Naschim Ahmed for zero.
That was the only success for the hosts in the morning session as the Gujarat top order started dominating after the initial hiccup. The second wicket partnership between skipper Niraj Patel (76) and opener Rikin Chouhan (46) yeilded 125 runs which firmly laid their foundation. Patel was finally bowled by Tarjinder Singh. The skipper batted for 172 minutes and his knock was studded with 12 hits to the rope. Gujarat lost their third wicket in the form of Chouhan who missed his half century by four runs. He cracked seven fours in his 179-ball innings.
After that Bhavik Thakar (batting 52) and Sunny Patel (batting 41) added 72 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket partnership.
Assam bowlers, particularly the seamers, failed to make use of the morning moisture and hardly troubled the visiting top order. After the early breakthrough, Abu failed to penetrate the Gujarat batsmen. If the behaviour of the wicket remain the same, Assam bowlers have to come across another difficult day tomorrow.
On the otherhand, the visiting batsmen were seen determined to build a heavy score and batted with caution and aggression.
SCORECARD
Gujarat 1st innings: RP Chauhan c & b Konwar 46, PK Panchal c Rajdeep Das b Ahmed 0, NK Patel b Tarjinder Singh 76, BD Thaker not out 52, Sunny Patel not out 41. Extras: (b 9, lb 6, nb 3) 18. Total: (3 wickets; 79 overs) 233. Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-125, 3-161. Bowling: AN Ahmed 16-4-47-1, RL Mali 16-3-39-0, DS Goswami 7-1-33-0, A Konwar 29-10-67-1, Tarjinder Singh 7-4-16-1, S Sriram 4-1-16-0.
