Strong start for Delhi as Rana, Pant make merry

Rishabh Pant showed his natural flair for strokeplay with an attractive 99 in company of a reliable Nitish Rana (110 batting) as Delhi were comfortably placed 260 for 4 against Maharashtra on truncated first day of the fifth round encounter of Ranji Trophy. In all only 62 overs of play was possible after light deteriorated in the final session.

Pant, who has not had any significant contribution during the current season did not get bogged down by the fall of wickets as his 99 off 110 balls had eight boundaries and six huge sixes.

Pant was finally caught at slips by rival captain Ankit Bawne off Chirag Khurana but not before he has entertained one and all at the Airforce ground with his exhilarating strokeplay. He was especially severe on off-break bowler Khurana, whom he hit for four sixes -- all down the ground.

Pant have had some issues against slow bowlers but he cleared the cobwebs in his mind as he used his feet to good effect against the spinners.

Pacers Nikit Dhumal and Praveen Dadhe tried to feed him At Guwahati: Hyderabad 289/8 (B Sandeep 84, A Rayudu 83, R Singh 3/54) v Assam

At Delhi: Delhi 260/4 (N Rana

110*, R Pant 99, C Khurana 2/71) v Maharashtra

At Kanpur: Karnataka 327/3 (M Agarwal 90, D Nischal 90*, D Singh 2/74) v Uttar Pradesh At Surat: Rajasthan 153 (T Singh 45, C Gaja 8/40) v Gujarat 90/1 (S Gohel 46, T Ul-Haq 1/23)

At Rohtak: Haryana 119/7 (H

Rana 35, M Mudhasir 4/34, R Dayal 3/35) v Jammu and Kashmir

At Thumba: Kerala 225 (S Samson 68, D Jadeja 6/112, J Unadkat 2/33) v Saurashtra 37/0 with short balls but he kept his balance while hitting those pullshots. “I was never under any kind of pressure contrary to what people believe. There are times when you don’t get runs. It wasn’t as if I was trying to score quickly. I played 110 balls and all were not hit for boundaries and sixes. It means I defended well. Also I share a comfort level with Rana which reflects whenever, we bat together,” Pant said.

Pant-Rana duo came together in the 16th over with Delhi in a spot at 55 for 3 with Gautam Gambhir (1), Anuj Rawat (20) and Dhruv Shorey (7) and added 168 runs for the fourth wicket.

Mumbai Indians left-hander Rana hit 11 boundaries and three sixes.

Mumbai Indians talent scout John Wright along with national selector Devang Gandhi must have been happy watching the young turks in full flow.

Rana is having a good Ranji season with scores of 110 (vs Assam), 89 (vs Railways), 67 (vs UP) in previous matches apart from his fourth first-class ton in the current game. Pant was lucky to have been dropped twice at 44 and 73 -- especially the second one off Khurana at long-off region.

NEWDELHI: BRIEF SCORES (DAY 1) LONDON: That was a rollercoaster of a match for sure, that’s been the theme of my last few weeks, hang in there and keep fighting.

JACK SOCK, on his win against Alexander Zverev

At Ongole: Mumbai 248/6 (P Shaw114, S Lad 86, B Ayyappa 3/87) v Andhra Pradesh

At Vadodara: Baroda 281/3 (K Devdhar 104, A Waghmode 52, G Poddar 1/29) v Odisha

At Indore: Madhya Pradesh 224/7 (A Sharma 75*, A Dane 63, K Vignesh 3/27) v Tamil Nadu At Raipur: Chhattisgarh 130 (M Singh 53, D Pathania 4/45, V Yadav 3/10) v Services 39/0

At Porvorim: Goa 239 (K Vaz 72, A Wakhare 4/50, A Sarwate 3/54) v Vidarbha

At Amritsar: Punjab 147 (S Gill 63, B Amit 3/31, P Pramanik 3/41) v Bengal 76/0 (A Raman 42*)