Puducherry registered one of their biggest wins in their brief Ranji Trophy history after stunning seven-time champions Delhi by 9 wickets in their Group D opener at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Monday.

The embarrassing defeat is only an extension to Delhi and District Cricket Association’s (DDCA) shoddy selection policies and lack of proper planning. On a pitch that assisted seam bowling, the home team boasted of two India internationals — Ishant Sharma and Navdeep Saini — but the duo lacked the sting, eventually failing to dominate a relatively weaker Puducherry batting line-up. Instead, off-spinner Hrithik Shokeen shouldered the responsibility with figures of 4 for 46 to keep Delhi in the game, albeit for a few sessions.

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Despite Shokeen’s impressive bowling effort, Puducherry banked on Paras Ratnaparkhe’s 60 to register 244 in the first innings and in the process seized a healthy 96-run lead.

Batting for a second time, the hosts failed to make amends from their lacklustre first innings batting effort, and were bowled out for 145 in their second essay. Skipper Yash Dhull’s struggles against the moving ball was exposed for a second time as he scratched his way to 23, while the likes of Ayush Badoni and Vaibhav Sharma fell to reckless shot selection against Saurabh Yadav.

The woes for Delhi were compounded by their middle-order collapse as Delhi lost seven wickets for a mere 54 runs, leaving them teetering on the brink of an embarrassing home loss. Coming out to bat on the final day with a 30-run lead, Ishant and No. 8 Harsh Tyagi (28) managed to push the score to 145, setting a 50-run target.

For the visitors, Abin Matthew emerged the star in the second innings, returning with a magnificent five-wicket haul, while Gaurav Yadav, the architect of Delhi’s downfall in the first innings with a career-best seven-wicket haul, finished with a match haul of 10 wickets, adding 3 to his tally in the second innings.

Parag’s record ton in vain

Captain Riyan Parag clubbed 12 sixes to smash the second fastest century in Ranji Trophy history but his 56-ball effort ended in sort of anti-climax for Assam as the Northeast team was drubbed by 10 wickets by Chhattisgarh in their Group B opener in Raipur.

Parag consumed 56 balls to reach the landmark and went on to add 55 more to eventually finish on 155 off 87 balls with 11 fours and 12 sixes. His knock will go down as next only to Rishabh Pant’s 48 ball-ton for Delhi against Jharkhand back in the 2016 season.

Parag’s effort came in what appeared a forgettable outing for his team, forced to follow on after being bundled out for 159 in their reply to Chhattisgarh’s 327, were on 78/2 when the right-hander walked out to bat with an ultra aggressive approach.

With wickets falling at the other end, Parag decided to launch a counter attack on the home bowlers, that eventually helped his team set a meagre 87-run target. Assam were bowled out for 245, with the other 10 batters contributing just 99 between themselves. After Parag, not even a single batter could cross double-digits.

Bengal settle for a solitary point vs Andhra

Having conceded a 36-run first innings lead, Bengal satisfied themselves with a solitary point after securing a draw against Andhra in their Group B opener in Visakhapatnam.

Hosts Andhra rode on a feisty 175 from seasoned wicketkeeper-batter Ricky Bhui, and gritty half centuries from captain Hanuma Bihari (51) and Shoaib Md khan (56) to pile up 445 runs in their first innings, and in the process took a 36-run lead.

For the visitors, Mohammed Kaif was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets, while Akash Deep, Ishan Porel and Karan Lal chipped in with a couple of wickets, each. Bengal came out to bat for a second time, and scored 82 for 1, before the captains decided to shake hands, signalling the end of the game in a tame draw.

Elsewhere, Mumbai recorded a thumping innings and 51-run win over Bihar in Group B, while in another Group B match, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala settled for a draw. In Group C, Karnataka defeated Punjab by 7 wickets, while Gujarat defeated Tamil Nadu by 111 runs. The other Group C games saw Tripura thrashing Goa by 237 runs while the match between Chandigarh and Railways ended in a draw. In Group D, Baroda romped home by 147 runs against Odisha, while the matches between J&K and Himachal, and Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand ended in draws.

The Group A contests witnessed Maharashtra taming Manipur by an innings and 69 runs and Vidarbha recording a seven-wicket win over Services, while the matches between Rajasthan and Haryana, and Jharkhand and Saurashtra ended in draws.