Tejinder Pal Singh slammed 168 as Railways took control on the first day of the 5th round match agaisnt Bengal in the Ranji Trophy 2003-04 season.

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan09-Dec-2003Elite Championship Fifth RoundRailways 311 for 4 (TP Singh 168, Bangar 79) v Punjab
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Tejinder Pal Singh blasted 21 fours and three sixes in an exhilarating exhibition. as Railways dominated Punjab on the first day of the Elite A match at Delhi. Sanjay Bangar compiled a patient 79 and added 201 for the second wicket with Tejinder. Jai Prakash Yadav also joined in the fun towards the end, on a day when all the bowlers were carted. At stumps, Yadav remained unbeaten on 41 and Punjab may well rue their misfortune in losing the toss.Mumbai15 for 1 trail Kerala 165 by 150 runs
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Kerala’s decision to bat first at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai backfired as they were bundled out for a paltry 165 on the first day. Sujit Somasundar (48) dug in for more than four hours, but the rest of the batsmen were given a stern test by the trio of Munaf Patel, Ramesh Powar and U Maulvi. They all picked up three wickets, while Wasim Jaffer had great day on the field, snapping up four catches. Mumbai lost Vinayak Mane in the very first over of their reply, but Jaffer and Sairaj Bahutule ensured that there were no further alarms.Uttar Pradesh 179 for 4 (Pandey 75*, Raina 66*) v Andhra
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At 43 for 4, Jyoti Prakash Yadav – the UP captain – must have thought he had erred after winning the toss in the morning. But all such fears were put aside as Suresh Raina and Gyanendra Pandey added 136 for the fifth wicket without being parted. They both hit nine fours and, on one occasion, Raina summoned the power to clear the ropes. Syeb Sahabuddin and Raja Prasad picked up two wickets each, but the other bowlers were kept at bay.Hyderabad 223 for 7 (Khaleel 50*, Chatterjee 5-44) v Bengal
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Utpal Chatterjee’s marathon spell – in which he struck five times – and Ibrahim Khaleel’s undefeated half-century were the highlights of the first day’s play at Kolkata. After opting to bat, all the Hyderabad batsmen made starts, but none carried on to make a big impression. The 79-run stand between Arjun Yadav (45) and Khaleel raised hopes of a revival, before Chatterjee removed Yadav and two more batsmen quickly after. He bowled 18 maidens out of his 35 overs and conceded only 44 runs – figures that comprehensively tilted the balance Bengal’s way.Rajasthan 246 for 8 (Saxena 80, Kanwat 65) v Gujarat
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A consistent performance by the Gujarat bowlers vindicated their captain’s decision to field first at the KL Saini Stadium in Jaipur. The story seemed to be taking on rosier proportions when Rajasthan were tottering at 91 for 5, but then Vineet Saxena and Rahul Kanwat staged a partial recovery. Saxena batted for three minutes short of five hours and hit nine fours in his fighting 80, while Kanwat’s 65 included only one boundary – a six. Shyamal Bhatt was the pick of the bowlers, with three wickets.Tamil Nadu 291 for 9 (Ramkumar 73, Kartik 71, Vidyut 53) v Assam
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Assam had done a great job in the first half of the day at Chennai after inserting Tamil Nadu in and reducing them to 144 for 6. But Vidyut Shivaramakrishnan and Ramakrishnan Ramkumar notched up half-centuries, and Tamil Nadu nudged close to 300 at stumps. Ramkumar’s 126-ball effort was studded with 11 fours, while Vidyut was more aggressive in his 62-ball cameo. Rajagopal Sathish returned to haunt his old team, and finished the day with three important wickets – those of Sridharan Sriram, Sridharan Sharath and Ramkumar.Plate Championship Third RoundTripura 17 for 0 v Jammu & Kashmir
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Rain played spoilsport as only 7.2 overs were possible on the first day at Jammu. The start was delayed by damp conditions caused by overnight rain, then after 35 minutes of play the heavens opened for another shower.Bihar 54 for 4 trail Vidharbha 244 (Khare 65, Paradkar 56, Shankar Rao 6-58) by 190 runs
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Shankar Rao ripped through the Vidharbha middle order as they were bowled out for only 244 on the first day of their match against Bihar at Nagpur. Mihir Diwakar also chipped in with three wickets as Vidharbha’s visions of posting a big total were dashed. But Samir Khare and Ranjit Paradkar averted a batting collapse, and Vidharbha finished strongly thanks to some much-needed urgency from Chandrashekar Atram (44 off 35 balls). Bihar also struggled when their turn came, and by stumps they had lost four wickets for only 54.Goa 200 for 3 (Phadke 68*, Kolambkar 62*) v Maharashtra
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Vivek Kolambkar and Mandar Phadke put Goa into a strong position by stumps on the first day at Pune. After Maharashtra had opted to field, Kolambkar and Manohar Asnodkar (49) survived for 24.1 overs in a sedate 74-run opening stand. Kolambkar remained unbeaten at the end, and his 106-run stand with Phadke gave Goa a solid launching-pad for a mammoth total.Himachal Pradesh 29 for 1 trail Orissa 246 by 217 runs
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Orissa were restricted to 246 by some fine bowling by Sangram Singh on the first day of the Plate B fixture at Cuttack. Sukhbinder Singh’s 49 and Subrat Behera’s 38 stood out on a day when Sangram’s effective medium-pace justified his decision to put the opposition in. Many of the batsmen frittered away decent starts, Shiv Sunder Das’s 28 off 99 balls being the best example.Saurashtra 187 for 6 (Bhatt 83*, Dhruv 58) v Services
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Sudhakar Ghag and Fazil Mohammad gave Saurashtra an early scare as they reduced them to 42 for 5 after they had decided to bat first at the Harbax Singh Stadium in Delhi. But Prakash Bhatt and Rakesh Dhruv partially repaired the damage, by putting on 124 runs for the sixth wicket. Dhruv fell late in the day, but Bhatt will return tomorrow to continue the fight to take his team to a respectable total.