Ranji Trophy: Maharashtra score 320/6 against Saurashtra on 1st day

Rajkot: Harshad Khadiwale, Rohit Motwani and Ankeet Bawne struck a half century each as Maharashtra scored 320 for six against Saurashtra on the opening day of their Group B Ranji Trophy cricket match here today.

Bawne (52 batting) and Shrikant Mundhe (3 batting) were at the crease at the end of play after Maharashtra opted to bat first at SCA stadium, Khandheri.

With the exception of opener Swapnil Gugle (11), who got out early, Maharashtra top-order batsmen clicked as the visiting side raced to a big score in their first innings to put themselves in a strong position.

Maharashtra had three substantial partnerships -- 81 between Khadiwale (67) and Motwani (70) for the second wicket, 97 between Motwani and Kedar Jadhav (49) for the third wicket and 84 between Bawne and Sangram Atitkar (39) for the sixth wicket.

For Saurashtra, off-spinner Kamlesh Makwana took three wickets for 73 runs while Dharmendrasinh Jadeja got two wickets for 120 runs.

Brief Scores:

Maharashtra 1st Innings: 320 for 6 in 90 overs (Rohit Motwani 70, Harshad Khadiwale 67, Ankit Bawne batting 52; Kamlesh Makwana 3/73, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 2/120).