Rohtak, Jan 10: As many as 18 wickets fell on the very first day of the semifinal encounter between Haryana and Rajasthan. First Haryana pacer Harshal Patel posted his best first-class performance (eight wickets for 34 runs) as the hosts bowled out defending champions Rajasthan for a paltry 89 runs. But the visitors managed an impressive comeback as medium pacer Rituraj Singh grabbed five for 36 to leave Haryana at 82 for eight at the end of Day 1.

Earlier, Haryana captain Amit Mishra won the toss and opted to bowl, a decision that reaped immediate dividends. Six overs into the first session, Harshal Patel dismissed Aakash Chopra (4), Hrishikesh Kanitkar (4) and Robin Bist (0) to leave the defending champions tottering at 17 for three. Rashmi Parida fell to Mohit Sharma soon after while adding only a solitary run against his name.

Patel then ripped through the Rajasthan lower order to complete his eight-wicket haul in 15.1 overs. Had it not been for opener Vineet Saxena’s dogged 32 (off 86 balls), Rajasthan may well have folded for a first-innings score of under 89.

But Haryana didn’t have much time to savour their effort. Rajasthan’s Rituraj Singh combined with fellow pacer Pankaj Singh to dismiss the hosts’ first five batsmen for single digit scores. At 12 for five it appeared that Rajasthan may still walk away with Day 1 honours despite being bowled out for under 100 runs.

Rituraj then added to Haryana’s misery by removing Amit Mishra (12) and Priyank Tehlan (11) with the hosts’ score at 40 for the loss of seven wickets in 16.4 overs. However, a spirited 33-run partnership, the best for the day, between Haryana’s Jayant Yadav and Mohit Sharma, brought the hosts to within 16 runs of the visitors’ first-innings score. Yadav (23) was eventually trapped lbw by medium pacer Sumit Mathur. Sharma, meanwhile, remained unbeaten on 16 and was batting with Harshal Patel (4*) when stumps were called. Haryana go into Day 2 trailing Rajasthan by seven runs with two wickets in hand.

Scorecard