Ranji round-up: Gambhir leads Delhi's strong reply vs Mumbai

Gautam Gambhir scored a patient half-century, but Virender Sehwag failed again, as Delhi put up 191 for 3 in reply to Mumbai's 324 in their Group A Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai on Friday.

At stumps on the second day, Mithun Manhas (60) and Manan Sharma (13) were at the crease.

Gambhir top-scored for the visitors with 64.

Having bowled out Mumbai for 324 after the hosts resumed at overnight score of 252 for 6, Delhi trail the defending champions by 133 runs in the first innings.

While Sehwag was out caught behind for just nine off another out-of-favour India player, pacer Zaheer Khan, Gambhir struck 12 fours during his 147-ball knock at the Bandra Kurla Complex.

Manhas scored his runs off 103 balls while hitting nine fours and a six.

Pacer Parvinder Awana was the star performer for Delhi with ball, returning impressive figures of five for 72 in 27 overs.

While he could get just one wicket, Mumbai captain Zaheer smashed an entertaining 50-ball 51 to prop up his side's innings. He hit four sixes and three fours during his brisk knock.

Brief scores:

Mumbai (1st innings): 324 in 112.2 overs (Siddhesh Lad 74, Wasim Jaffer 61, Aditya Tare 53, Zaheer 51; Parvinder Awana 5-72).

Delhi (1st innings): 191-3 in 56 overs (Gautam Gambhir 64, Mithun Manhas 60; javed Khan 2-36).

Bengal fight back with Arindam's unbeaten half-century

Kolkata: Bengal made a strong reply, with opener Arindam Das scoring a gritty unbeaten fifty, after Madhya Pradesh folded for 431 in their first innings, in the Group B Ranji Trophy league match at the Eden Gardens.

The hosts still have a mountain to climb to avoid the first innings deficit as they trail by 314 runs with Arindam looking steady on unbeaten 70 (118b; 11x4s) while Anustup Majumdar was not out on 12 at close on Day 2.

Earlier, resuming at his overnight score of 14, Udit Birlac completed his half-century. But Naman Ojha, who was unbeaten on 101, was the first to depart after Sib Shankar Pal once again gave Bengal the first breakthrough to break the fifth-wicket partnership of 73 runs.

The veteran Bengal medium pacer, who returned figures of 3-68, added his third scalp while Ashok Dinda (2-124), after a listless display, impressed in his fifth spell (9-0-37-2) after being brought in from the High Court end with a two-wicket burst, including Birla's wicket, to reduce Madhya Pradesh to 378 for 8.

But Bengal struggled to snap the tail-enders as the last two wickets -- Ankit Sharma (34 not out) and Ishwar Pandey (17) -- added 53 crucial runs, including three boundaries in Dinda's last and 39th over, to give a fillip to MP's first innings total.

With little help from the Eden strip for the new ball duo of Ishwar Pandey and Anand Rajan, the Bengal openers looked at ease.

Luck too aided Bengal as Rohan Banerjee was dropped on 8 by Birla, in what was a difficult chance, only to hurt his left hand.

Left-arm spinner Sharma, who impressed with the bat earlier in the second session, broke the opening 70-run partnership when he trapped Banerjee in front of the wicket.

But Arindam looked comfortable as he steadied the Bengal innings in an unbroken 47-run stand with Majumdar.

Brief scores:

Madhya Pradesh (1st innings): 431 in 135.5 overs (Naman Ojha 115, Udit Birla 68, Ankit Sharma 38 n.o.; Sib Shankar Paul 3-68, Anustup Majumdar 3/42, Ashok Dinda 2/124).

Bengal (1st innings): 117-1 in 36 overs (Arindam Das 70 batting).

Maharashtra post 616 for 9

Hyderabad: Maharashtra rode on a double century from Kedar Jadhav and a ton from Rohit Motwani to get into a commanding position at the end of second day's play in the Ranji Trophy Group C match against Hyderabad.

Jadhav scored 204 off 267 deliveries (29x4, 1x6), while Motwani hit a 239-ball 107 laced with nine fours to power Maharashtra to 616 for nine declared.

Sangram Dilp Atitkar (98) also chipped in with valuable runs.

At stumps on Day 2, Hyderabad were on 53 for no loss, with TL Suman unbeaten on 28 and Akshath Reddy on 20.

Resuming on 337 for 4, overnight batsmen Jadhav and Motwani completed their double century and hundred respectively.

The duo also put on a 145-run stand for the fifth wicket.

Motwani then coupled with Atitkar to put on a solid 179 runs together for the sixth wicket.

M Ravi Kiran finished with four for 116, while Amol Shinde took three wickets.

Brief scores:

Maharashtra (1st innings): 616 for 9 decl (Kedar Jadhav 204, Rohit Motwani 107; M Ravi Kiran 4-116).

Hyderabad (1st innings): 53 for no loss (TL Suman batting 28).

Vasavada's double ton takes Saurashtra to 570 against UP

Rajkot: Arpit Vasavada struck his maiden double century as Saurashtra piled up a huge 570 for 7 against Uttar Pradesh on the second day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match.

Apart from Vasavad, Kamlesh Makwana (batting 63) and Chirag Jani (35) contributed to the hosts’ cause.

Resuming at the overnight 235 for 4, Saurashtra added 335 runs, losing three wickets, at the Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium at Khandheri.

Overnight batsmen Sheldon Jackson, batting on 102, and Vasavada, who was on 17, stretched their association to 111 before Jackson was out after scoring 140, off 240 balls, which included 19 fours and a six.

Southpaw Vasavada then built two useful partnerships. He put on 105 runs with Jani for the sixth wicket and then added 157 runs for the seventh with Makwana.

Playing his 13th Ranji Trophy match, Vasavada completed his maiden double hundred off 317 balls, hitting 25 fours.

He, however, got out in the second last over of the day after scoring 205, including 26 fours, and spending 433 minutes at the crease, facing 321 balls.

Giving Makwana company was Dharmendra Jadeja (2) when stumps were drawn for the day.

For Uttar Pradesh, Piyush Chawla was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets for 152 runs; Imtiaz Ahmed took two wickets giving away 97 runs.

Brief scores:

Saurashtra: 570 for 7 off 180 overs (Arpit Vasavada 205, Sheldon Jackson 140, Piyush Chawla 3-157, Imtiaz Ahmed 2-97) vs Uttar Pradesh.

Mohit helps Haryana take first innings lead over Jharkhand

Rohtak: Right-arm pacer Mohit Sharma celebrated his inclusion in India's ODI team with an impressive four-wicket haul to give Haryana the vital first innings lead against Jharkhand on the second day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match.

Mohit, who was named in the 15-member Indian ODI squad for the upcoming three-match series against the West Indies, returned figures of four for 30 from his 10 overs as Jharkhand was dismissed for 231 in their first innings in reply to Haryana's 309.

Apart from Mohit, veteran Joginder Sharma scalped two wickets giving away 23 runs.

Left-handed batsman Saurabh Tiwary top-scored for Jharkhand with a 188-ball 95 which was studded with 10 boundaries.

Bhavin Takkar (35) and wicketkeeper Shiv Gautam (35 not out) also chipped in with useful runs for Jharkhand.

Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 296 for eight, the last two Haryana batsmen could add only 13 runs before being bowled out in 93 overs.

Fit-again pacer Varun Aaron was the pick of the bowlers for Jharkhand with figures of four for 48. Captain Shahbaz Nadeem (3-109) too excelled with the ball, scalping three wickets.

Brief scores:

Haryana (1st innings): 309 in 93 overs.

Jharkhand (1st innings): 231 in 83 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 95; Mohit Sharma 4-30).

Kerala in command against minnows Tripura

Kannur: Rohan Prem struck a fine half-century to put Kerala in a strong position against Tripura on the second day of a Ranji Trophy Group C match.

He scored 80 off 127 deliveries, with the help of eight fours and a six, as Kerala ended their first innings on 297 in reply to Tripura's paltry 140.

Apart from Prem, VA Jagadeesh (43) and Sanju Samson (42) made notable contributions with the bat for Kerala.

Kerala now lead Tripura by 157 runs with two full days to play in the match.

For Tripura, right-arm pacer Rana Dutta picked four wickets for 38 runs, while Abhijit Dey scalped three for 91.

Earlier, Tripura added just four runs to their overnight score of 136 for 9 before being bowled out in 67 overs.

Brief scores:

Tripura (1st innings): 140 in 67 overs

Kerala (1st innings): 297 in 91.1 overs (Rohan Prem 80; Rana Dutta 4-38).

Behera, Sahoo centuries put Odisha in command

Nagpur: Niranjan Behera and Subhrajit Sahoo slammed a century each as Odisha posted 453 for 6 declared before reducing Vidarbha to 14 for 2 at stumps on Day 2 their Ranji Trophy Group A match.

Deepak Behera (58 not out) also chipped in with an important half-century.

While Niranjan scored a patient 363-ball 131, studded with 14 boundaries, Sahoo remained unbeaten on 114 that came off 218 deliveries, including 10 fours and two sixes.

The day also saw Niranjan putting on a solid 100-run stand for the sixth wicket with Sahoo, who then joined hands with Deepak to share an unbeaten 111 runs partnership for the seventh wicket.

Odisha, after resuming at 226 for 3, with Niranjan on 90 and his overnight partner Biplab Samantray on 31, lost the latter early.

Samantray's 40 came from 126 balls.

Niranjan went on to complete his century, while Sahoo and Deepak took the visitors to a comfortable position.

For Vidarbha, Amol Jungade was the pick of the bowlers with figures of four for 56.

In reply to Odisha's 453, the hosts got off to a poor start, losing opener Amol Ubarhande (0) and one-down batsman Azhar Sheikh (4) for just 14 runs on the board.

At close of play, Faiz Fazal was batting on 10.

Brief scores:

Odisha (1st innings): 453 for 6 decl (Niranjan Behera 131, Subhrajit Sahoo not out 114, Deepak Behera not out 58; Amol Jungade 4-56).

Vidarbha (1st innings): 14 for two in 4 overs (Faiz Fazal batting 10; Basant Mohanty 1-05). 

Image: Gautam Gambhir