Ranji Trophy 2023-24: Spinners claim 21 wickets as Pondicherry secures first-innings lead over Jammu & Kashmir

The pitch turned out to be a spin paradise as the spinners claimed 21 wickets on day one of the elite Group-D match between Pondicherry and Jammu & Kashmir in the sixth round of the Ranji Trophy at the Cricket Association of Pondicherry (CAP) Siechem ground here on Friday.

The red-soil pitch enabled three five-wicket hauls. Left-arm spinner Sidak Singh’s maiden first-class fifer (five for 39) helped Pondicherry bowl out Jammu & Kashmir for a meek 106 within the first session itself. In response, left-arm spinners Abid Mushtaq (five for 64) and Vanshaj Sharma (five for 74) managed to restrict Pondicherry to 172.

It is Vanshaj’s maiden five-wicket haul on his Ranji debut.

The 60-run fifth-wicket partnership between Paras Dogra (58, 107b, 3x4) and K.B. Arun Karthick (50, 50b, 5x4) ensured that Pondicherry secured a 66-run first-innings lead.

Twelve wickets fell in the first session. After Jammu & Kashmir opted to bat, Pondicherry captain Rohit Damodaran chose to bowl only spin from the second over itself.

Opener Qamran Iqbal was dropped by Akash Kargave at point off Sidak on the second over of the day, but it didn’t prove costly as Sidak had him caught by Mohit Mittan at slip in his second over.

Rohit brought himself into the attack in the eighth over and struck with his second delivery. He had the left-hander Vivrant Sharma caught by Mittan at cover. The off-spinner later had Shubham Pundir caught by Dogra at gully.