Ranji Trophy 2026-27: Spinners put Chhattisgarh on top against Andhra after Day 1

Chhattisgarh's Jayant Yadav (L) picked four wickets on Day 1 to bowl Andhra out for 231. | Photo Credit: K.V.S Giri

The Mulapadu pitch offered plenty of assistance to the spinners, and veteran Jayant Yadav made the most of it to put Chhattisgarh in front against Andhra on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group ‘B’ fixture at DVR Ground on Monday.

Jayant claimed 4/75, while Ajay Mandal and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja picked up three and two wickets, respectively, as visiting Chhattisgarh bowled Andhra out for 231 before ending the day at 35/1.

Captain Anuj Tiwary and Mayank Verma saw out the final 30 minutes after Ayush Pandey fell short of his crease attempting a needless quick single early in the innings.

Earlier, Andhra immediately regretted batting first after opener Hemanth Reddy was caught at point attempting to slash Dev Aditya Singh in the second over. He was the only wicket to fall to a pacer as Chhattisgarh turned to spin from the seventh over.

Mandal lured Abhishek Reddy out of his crease with a flighted delivery that turned away, leaving him stumped. Jadeja joined the party after Karan Shinde edged one to leg slip. In the next over, Shaik Rasheed, who looked solid during his 24, driving and punching with authority, edged Jayant to first slip.

Captain Ricky Bhui tried to counterattack with a down-the-track six and a sweep, but his aggressive use of his feet eventually backfired as he was stumped off Jadeja. Mandal then bowled K. Revanth Reddy as Andhra lost six wickets in the first session.

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S. V. Rahul and K. V. Sasikanth began the recovery with a 61-run stand off 126 balls. As the ball grew older and softer, the duo avoided forcing the pace and played with the turn while finding occasional boundaries to keep the board ticking.

Rahul reached his half-century with a quick double as the partnership grew in confidence. But Jayant induced a leading edge off Sasikanth, who was caught at short midwicket. He soon had Saurabh Kumar caught behind as well.

Rahul found another partner in Tripurana Vijay, and the pair added 40 runs off 84 balls, sticking to the same cautious approach. Mandal eventually breached Vijay’s defence.

In the next over, Rahul fell trying to up the ante, 11 runs short of his second First Class century, caught off Jayant as the spinner marked his return to the playing XI after an injury with an immediate impact.