Bhut strikes century batting at No. 9, saves Saurashtra the blushes

RAJKOT: Batting at number nine, bowler Parth Bhut shone with the bat and saved Saurashtra the blushes with a gritty century on the first day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Punjab here.

Bhut was yet to open his account when Saurashtra lost their eighth wicket for 147 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

However, thanks to the 25-year-old left-arm spinner's unbeaten knock of 111 and his last-wicket partnership of 95 runs with Yuvrajsinh Dodiya (17), the hosts could stretch their total to 303 before getting bowled out with three overs still remaining in the day.

In reply, Punjab faced just one over and were three for no loss when the stumps were called on Tuesday. Prabhsimran Singh (2) and Naman Dhir (1) were at the crease.

In all, Bhut struck 11 boundaries and four sixes while scoring his runs at a fairly decent strike-rate of 71.61.

Earlier, Saurashtra's decision to bat first after winning the toss backfired as the Punjab bowlers left the home team reeling at 147 for eight. Opener Snell Patel was the only specialist batter to show a semblance of resistance as he laboured his way to a fighting innings of 70 off 131 balls, hitting 11 fours in the process.

Even as Patel fought, the others failed to put up a challenge. Wicketkeeper Harvik Desai was the first to go, caught by Naman Dhir off the bowling of Baltej Singh. Desai was out even before Saurashtra could open their account.

Vishvaraj Jadeja (28) and Sheldon Jackson (18) got starts but failed to carry on, falling to Mayank Markande and Baltej respectively.

Leg-spinner Markande was the most successful bowler for the visitors, returning with figures of 4/84, while there were three and two wickets for pacers Baltej (3/60) and Siddarth Kaul (2/81) respectively. Bhut added 61 runs for the ninth wicket with Chetan Sakariya (22) before Dodiya joined the former.

Brief scores: Saurashtra 1st innings: 303 all out in 87 overs (Parth Bhut 111 not out, Snell Patel 70; Mayank Markande 4/84, Baltej Singh 3/60) Punjab 1st innings: 3/0 in 1 over.