Ranji Trophy Quarterfinals Day 1: Karnataka take lead while Bengal and Andhra in Comman

The 1st day of the Ranji Trophy Quarterfinals matches has seen some brilliant cricket all around the country.

Eight teams are fighting it out for the domestic glory and matches are being played in Kolkata, Rajkot, Indore and Bengaluru.

Bengal have the upper hand over Jharkhand while Karnataka have already taken a 1st inning lead over Uttarakhand. Saurashtra were bundled out for 303 in their first inning against Punjab, whereas, Andhra are set to amass a lot of runs against Madhya Pradesh.

Bengal vs Jharkhand:

Jharkhand were put into bat by Bengal in Kolkata and they latter have dismantled Jharkhand batting with some brilliant bowling display. Akash Deep picked up 4 wickets while Mukesh Kumar picked up 3 as Jharkhand were bowled out for 173 runs at the end of the day's play. Kumar Suraj (89 off 175 balls) was the only one for Jharkhand with the bat to show some resistance, as the next highest score was a mere 21 runs by Pankaj Kumar.

Bengal will be eyeing to bat well tomorrow to give them a solid platform ahead of the next day's play. A disciplined bowling attack of Bengal never gave an inch to Jharkhand in the whole day, as only 66 overs were completed due to the overcast conditions around Kolkata.

Andhra Pradesh vs Maharashtra:

Andhra are in the driving seat of the proceedings at the end of day 1. They are 262/2 and have dominated the play on the first day. Despite losing Hanuma Vihari, who got retired hurt on 16 runs, the Southern side are rallying forward courtesy of Ricky Bhui (115 off 200 balls) and Karan Shinde (83 off 222 balls). Gaurav Yadav was the only successful bowler for MP as the medium pacer picked up 2 wickets.

Although the Indore pitch is looking like a belter, MP need to find a way of picking wickets tomorrow.

Saurashtra vs Punjab:

Despite being 147/8 at one stage, a late flurry from their lower order has taken Saurashtra to 303 in the first innings. Parth Bhut (111 off 155 balls) played an amazing knock to take his team out of the misery, as Saurashtra's three tail-enders scored almost half of their entire runs.

Baltej Singh picked up 3 wickets for Punjab while leg-spinner Mayank Markande picked up 4 wickets. Punjab are 3/0 at the end of the day's play and with some decent batters in their ranks, would be aiming to surpass the Saurashtra score.

Karnataka vs Uttarakhand:

Uttarakhand's amazing run in this Ranji Trophy has taken a serious stutter as they find themselves struggling against Karnataka.

Batting first, the Northern side were bundled out for just 116 runs. Muralidhara Venkatesh (5/36) rattled their batting as Uttarakhand crumbled in Bengaluru. Kunal Chandela (31 off 103 balls) was the lone warrior for them with the bat.

In reply, Karnataka are 123/0 at the end of the day's play. Captain Mayank Agarwal (65 off 86 balls) and Ravikumar Samarth (54 off 74 balls) both have looked immense as the home side already lead by 7 runs.

It is imminent for Uttarakhand to pick up wickets tomorrow while Karnataka batters would be eyeing a mammoth first-innings lead to put the game into bed.