Ranji Trophy: Railways bundle out MP for 181

New Delhi: Medium pacer Anureet Singh's five-wicket haul proved to be destructive as Railways bowled out Madhya Pradesh for 181 on the opening day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match here on Sunday.

In reply, the hosts were 21 for no loss in nine overs after packing off MP in 79 overs at the Karnail Singh Stadium here. Opting to bowl after winning the toss, Railways struck early when Anureet trapped Satyam Chaudhary (2) LBW in the very first over of the day.

However, Jalaj Saxena(41) and Mohnish Mishra (31) lent some stability by putting on 69 runs for the second wicket before the former was caught behind off Krishnakant Upadhyay, who managed a day's haul of 3/72 in his 21 overs.

Saxena struck nine fours in his 72-ball knock. A couple of wickets in quick succession, however, once again left MP on the backfoot before Rameez Khan (41) and Zafar Ali (25) did some damage control.

But their efforts were not supported by the lower half of the batting order as MP collapsed to a paltry score. Anureet returned impressive figures of 5/43 in his 27 overs.

In response, debutant Asad Pathan (8) and Abhishek Kaushik (13) were holding fort for the home team when stumps were drawn for the day.

Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh 1st Innings: 181 all out in 79 overs (Jalaj Saxena 41, Rameez Khan 41, Anureet Singh 5/43)

Railways 1st Innings: 21 for no loss in 21 overs (Abhishek Kaushik 13 batting).