Haryana shot out for 171

Vadodara, Dec 25 (UNI) Riding on the brilliant spell of Rakesh Patel (3/48) and Ajit Bhoite (4/61) hosts Vadodara shot out Haryana for 171 to take the driver's seat on the opening day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'A' match at the Motibaug Palace ground here today.

At close, the visitors, however, fought back claiming two quick wickets for 41 runs through skipper Joginder Sharma. Vadodara opener Connor Williams on 20 and all-rounder Rajesh Pawar on zero were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day.

After Sharma won the toss and elected to bat, Vadodara medium pacers--Rakesh and Ketan Panchal--virtually forced the Haryana top order to go into the shell having dismissed opener Sumit Sharma and Sunny Singh for only three runs on the board in the first four overs.

Failing to recover from early blows, the visitors slumped to 97 for 6 at lunch. However, some sensible batting by Sandeep Singh (30) and Joginder (22) helped the side post 171 in their first innings which folded up 30 minutes after tea break.

Off-spinner Ajit Bhoite, who virtually made Haryana batsmen dance to his tunes, returned a rich haul of 4 for 61 off his 27 overs, while medium pacer Rakesh Patel chipped in with three wickets, including that of skipper Joginder, for 48 runs.

Left-arm spinner Dishant Mehta, who made his Ranji debut today, was disappointed as he conceded 18 in his nine overs spell without any gain.

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