Punjab on top as Railways finish Day 1 on 193/7

Bhubaneswar: Pace trio of Manpreet Gony, Sandeep Sharma and Siddarth Kaul shared six wickets between them as Punjab restricted Railways to 193 for seven in their first innings at stumps on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match here on Saturday.

Gony (2/20), Sandeep (2/32) and Kaul (2/62) scalped two wickets apiece while left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma (1/15) accounted for the other Railways batsman on the first day of the encounter which produced only 74 overs. Sent into bat, Railways lost both their openers -- Amit Paunikar and V Cheluvaraj -- with the scoreboard reading just 16. Nitin Bhille (41) and skipper Sanjay Bangar somewhat resurrected Railways innings with a 48-run third wicket stand before the batting side lost three quick wickets. PM Madkaikar (30) and Ashish Yadav (34) then shared 52-runs for the sixth wicket before two more quick wickets rocked Railways` ship. At stumps, leg-spinner Murali Kartik was batting 21 while Krishnakant Upadhyay was not out on 32 as the duo added vital 54 runs for the eight wicket. Brief Scores: Railways: 193 for seven in 74 overs (Nitin Bhille 41, Ashish Yadav 34; Manpreet Gony 2/20). PTI