Ranji Trophy 2024-25: Nagwaswalla and Gaja Thwart Andhra’s Celebration on Day 1, Leading Gujarat to 289/8

A determined partnership between captain Chintan Gaja and Arzan Nagwaswalla (57 not out, 72 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) thwarted Andhra’s attempts to seize control during the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at the Narendra Modi Stadium ground ‘B’ in Ahmedabad.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Gujarat managed to avoid a collapse thanks to a resilient ninth-wicket stand worth 86 runs, finishing the day at 289 for eight at stumps.

Nagwaswalla reached his second First-Class fifty in just 62 balls with a slog sweep off Lalith Mohan. However, the standout moment of his dynamic innings came when he cleared long-on against V.S. Raju in the final moments of play.

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On a day when several Gujarat batters succumbed to their impulses and squandered promising starts, Gaja exemplified patience with his 38 runs off 88 balls, featuring just one boundary.

Earlier in the innings, Manan Hingrajia (48 runs, 116 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) and Urvil Patel (48 runs, 53 balls, 4 fours, 3 sixes) showed potential but were ultimately left regretting their hasty decisions.

Hingrajia received a lucky break at 25 when his sweep off Tripurana Vijay was dropped by Nitish Kumar Reddy at mid-wicket. In the second session, the left-handed batter focused on wearing down the Andhra bowlers with solid defense. Raju’s probing bouncers had little effect, as Gujarat managed to score only 10 runs in the first 10 overs after lunch.

Unfortunately, Hingrajia’s determination faltered when he was caught behind by K.S. Bharat, chasing a wide delivery outside off from Nitish.

Urvil’s aggressive style came just in time to revive Gujarat’s innings, with his first significant impact against Vijay, hitting consecutive deliveries for 10 runs down the ground. He disregarded Andhra’s field placements, as shown by a ramp shot against Nitish that sailed over the fine leg fielder for six runs.

K.V. Sasikanth’s attempted bouncer to Urvil was smashed over the square leg fence, landing outside the stadium. Following Urvil’s lead, Jaymeet Patel secured his first boundary with a cover drive off Vijay after facing 61 deliveries.

However, Urvil’s premeditated pull shot backfired against Lalith’s back-of-length delivery, as it fell short and was caught at mid-wicket. The left-arm orthodox bowler then dismissed Siddharth Desai and Ravi Bishnoi, threatening to sweep through the lower order before Gaja and Nagwaswalla intervened to stabilize the innings.

In the morning session, Priyank Panchal and Rishi Patel partnered for 48 runs for the opening wicket before Rishi was caught off guard by a bouncer from Raju. Despite looking composed during his 42-ball innings, he wasted his wicket when he was caught down leg off Sasikanth.

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