Chandigarh, December 20
A five-wicket haul by pacer Sandeep Sharma (5/81) helped Chandigarh boys to halt hosts Madhya Pradesh at 289/7 at the draw of the stumps on the opening day of a Ranji Trophy match in Indore.
After winning the toss, Madhya Pradesh skipper Aditya Shrivastava opted to bat first. Openers Yash Dubey and Himanshu Mantri got off to a decent start as they raised a 63-run partnership before Sharma claimed both Dubey (44 off 50 balls, with six boundaries) and Himanshu Matri (12 off 39 balls) in his two consecutive overs.
Thereafter, Hartejassvi accounted for Shubham Sharma (1) to reduce the side to 75/3. The action didn’t stop here as Sharma thereafter trapped skipper Srivastava (7) to keep the rivals at bay.
Struggling at 94/4, the Madhya Pradesh innings had a breather as Rajat Patidar and Akshat Raghuvanshi raised a 94-run partnership to steer the total to 188 runs. Sharma once again marked the end of this partnership as he claimed Patidar for 88 off 116 balls, with 16 boundaries. Next batter, Saransh Jain (25 off 41 balls, with five boundaries) fell prey to Hartejassvi. Sharma claimed his fifth wicket of the day as he accounted for Anubhav Agarwal (25 off 91 balls, with four boundaries).
Raghuvanshi remained unbeaten at 65 off 167 balls, with five boundaries and a six, to help Madhya Pradesh end the day at 289/7. Hartejassvi claimed 2/51 for the bowling side.
