A round-up of the second day's play of the Ranji Trophy matches across the country on Monday.
Khajuria scores ton; Mumbai falter again
Jammu and Kashmir opener Shubham Khajuria compiled a maiden first-class century before former champions Mumbai bounced back to dismiss the visitors for 254 in the first innings on Day 2 of their four-day Group 'A' match.
Medium pacers Ram Dayal, who picked three wickets in the first innings with his disciplined bowling, bagged two more in the second, while fellow-seam bowler Umar Nazir claimed the other two Mumbai wickets.
At stumps, after an absorbing day's play, Mumbai captain Suryakumar Yadav (17) and night-watchman Dhawal Kulkarni (1) were at the crease with seasoned Wasim Jaffer, who suffered a hairline fracture while fielding, left to bat.
In the morning, Khajuria, who began the day on 47 with teammate Bandeep Singh (34) in an overnight team score of 88 for one, in reply to Mumbai's paltry 236, saw his partner depart in the fourth over. But Khajuria continued his good work to complete his century with a six over long on off Vishal Dabholkar.
He was run-out for a well-made 107 off 215 balls after a six-hour vigil during which he struck four sixes and 12 fours. His dismissal triggered a dramatic collapse as J&K lost eight wickets for the addition of just 51 runs, including the last five for one run, and were dismissed for 254.
Brief scores:
Mumbai: 236 & 66 for 4 (Ram Dayal 2-31, Umar Nazir 2-8).
J&K: 254 all out (Shubham Khajuria 107, Ian Chauhan 70; Vishal Dabholkar 3-30, Dhawal Kulkarni 2-47, Iqbal Abdullah 2-47)
Awana, Narwal put Delhi on top vs Saurashtra
Delhi's new ball bowlers Parvinder Awana and Sumit Narwal wielded their willows to great effect as the hosts got themselves to an advantageous position against Saurashtra on the second day of their Group B match.
Courtesy entertaining half-centuries from Awana (61) and Narwal (65), Delhi posted a respectable first innings score of 442 in 127.2 overs.
In reply, Saurashtra were 152-6 at stumps, 290 runs in arrears. To save the follow-on Saurashtra still need 141 runs.
Having nicely warmed himself up with big hits, Awana (3-20) provided the initial breakthroughs while Rajat Bhatia (3-24), also chipped in with useful scalps rocking the middle order.
Brief scores:
Delhi: 442 in 127.2 overs (Gautam Gambhir 147, Sumit Narwal 65, Parvinder Awana 61, S Tyagi 3-95)
Saurashtra: 152/6 in 52 overs (Divyaraj Chauhan 40 batting, Arpit Vasavada 38, P Awana 3-20, Rajat Bhatia 3-24)
Samantray hits ton before Maharashtra's good start
Maharashtra made a strong reply after Biplab Samantray's century guided Odisha to a first-innings total of 311 all out on the second day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match in Pune.
At stumps, the hosts were sitting pretty at 126 for no loss with openers Harshad Khadiwale (76) and Chirag Khurana (48) at the crease.
Resuming at 223 for five, Odisha were bowled out in 123.1 overs with Samantray's 106 being the top score for the visiting side. In his 200-ball knock that took 313 minutes, Samantray struck 10 fours and two sixes, helping his side reach a respectable total.
Opener Natraj Behera (66) was the second best scorer while Halhadar Das, who was overnight batting on 28, managed 48 runs while adding 117 runs for the sixth wicket with Samantray.
Shrikant Mundhe (4-103) was the most successful bowler for Maharashtra while Domnic Joseph picked up 3-57. In reply, the hosts looked comfortable with both their openers playing some fine shots at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Khadiwale struck 12 fours in his 76-run knock that came off 175 balls, while Khurana found the fence nine times in his 161-ball 48. At the close of play, Maharashtra trailed by 185 runs with all their wickets intact.
Brief scores:
Odisha: 311 all out in 123.1 overs (Biplab Samantray 106, Natraj Behera 66; Shrikant Mundhe 4-103, Domnic Joseph 3-57)
Maharashtra: 126 for no loss in 56 overs (Harshad Khadiwale 76 batting, Chirag Khurana 48 batting)
Bains, Parida half-centuries drive Himachal ahead
Fighting half-centuries from opener Ankush Bains and Rashmi Parida gave Himachal Pradesh a vital first-innings lead against Services on Day 2 of the
Group C match.
Responding to Serives' 226 in the four-day encounter, the Bipul Sharma-led Himachal finished Monday on 255 for six - a lead of 29 runs.
Starting the day on 19 for no loss, wicketkeeper-batsman Bains (67) struck a 101-run opening stand with Raghav Dhawan (38) to the team a solid start.
A bit of a stutter in the middle but Parida (54 not out) soon stabilised the boat by registering his 48th first-class fifty and stayed on till stumps, with Nikhil Gangta (10 not out) giving him company.
Pace spearhead Suraj Yadav and left-arm spinner Abhishek Sakuja two wickets apiece to pull things back for the Yashpal Singh-led Services.
Brief Scores:
Services: 226 in 80.1 overs (Deepak Punia 64, Saumik Chatterjee 42; Vikramjit Malik 3-57. Rishi Dhawan 3-57)
Himachal Pradesh: 255-6 in 97 overs (Ankush Bains 67, Rashmi Parida 54 not out, Nikhil Gangta 10 not out; Suraj Yadav 2-55, Abhishek Sakuja 2-30)
Ton-up Arindam Ghosh puts Railways on top
Top-order batsman Arindam Ghosh struck a patient century to put Railways in command against Madhya Pradesh in a Group A Ranji encounter.
Responding to Madhya Pradesh's 181 in the first innings, Railways rode on Arindam's unbeaten 113 to end Monday on 253 for seven and manage a vital 72-run lead in the four-day encounter at the Karnail Singh Stadium.
Starting the day on 21 for no loss, Railways lost a couple of early wickets as medium-pacer Puneet Datey cleaned up Asad Pathan (24) and ran out Abhishek Kaushik (30).
Railways lost wickets at regular intervals but Arindam stitched a meaningful seventh-wicket 129-run partnership with Avinash Yadav (50) and take the Mahesh Rawat-led team well past MP's first-innings score.
Arindam, striking 13 fours and a six in his 218-ball stay stood still stumps along with with opening day hero Anureet Singh (10), who picked a five-wicket haul in the MP innings.
Brief Scores:
Madhya Pradesh: 181 all out in 79 overs (Jalaj Saxena 41, Rameez Khan 41; Anureet Singh 5-43)
Railways: 253-7 in 99 overs (Arindam Singh 113 not out, Avinash Yadav 50; Puneet Datey 3-69, Avesh Khan2-41)
Haryana take slight lead over Punjab
Jayant Yadav scored an unbeaten half-century as Haryana managed to take a slender 10-run first-innings lead over Punjab in their Group B match in Patiala.
In reply to Punjab's first innings total of 273, Haryana were all out for 283 in their first essay.
At stumps, Punjab were 21 for no loss in their second innings with openers Manan Vohra (11) and Jiwanjot Singh (10) at the crease.
Brief scores:
Punjab: 273 & 21 for no loss in nine overs.
Haryana: 283 all out in 86.2 overs (Jayant Yadav 51 not out, Abhimanyu Khod 42, Amit Mishra 40; Rajwinder Singh 3-62, Sarabjit Ladda 3-90)
Gujarat in driver's seat against Rajasthan
Visitors Gujarat found themselves in the driver's seat as they left Rajasthan tottering at 172 for eight after posting 340 all out of their Group B match in Jaipur.
Dishant Yagnik (16) and Manjeet Singh (15) were at the crease when stumps were drawn at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium.
Gujarat medium pacers Rush Kalaraia (3 for 47), Ishwar Choudhary (3 for 52) and Kushang Patel (2 for 39), who had started the slide by removing both the openers, made full use of the helpful conditions to rock the hosts on a track that has a tinge of grass on it.
The experienced Rajasthan batting line-up looked pathetic with only Rajesh Bishnoi (36) and Arjit Gupta (44) showing some resistance.
Brief scores:
Gujarat: 340 all out 116.1 overs (Bhargav Merai 74, Priyank Panchal 68, Samit Gohel 52, Kushang Patel 46; Pankaj Singh 3-55, Shailender Gehlot 3-67, Manjeet Singh 3-92)
Rajasthan 1st innings: 172 for 8 in 51 overs (Arjit Gupta 44, Rajesh Bishnoi 36; Rush Kalaria 3/47, Ishwar Chaudhary 3-52, Kushang Patel 2-39). P
Hyderabad tail wags to post 522 against Andhra
Hyderabad tail-enders frustrated Andhra Pradesh no end as Ashish Reddy and Chama Milind registered big fifties to help the Ravi Teja-led team post 522 in Visakhapatnam.
Starting the day on 281 for six in the four-day encounter, No.9 Reddy (95) and No.10 Milind (97 not out) dug in deep to stitch a 162-run ninth-wicket partnership and add to the Andhra woes after skipper Teja had troubled the hosts with his well-made 96 on the opening day.
Overnight batsman Ibrahim Khaleel (40) also contributed with a well-made 40 before Reddy and Milind took over to smash the ball around. The duo struck 29 fours and 3 sixes between themselves to help Hyderabad manage an overall run-rate of 3.51.
In reply to the mammoth first-innings score, the Mohammad Kaif-led Andhra ended Monday on 121 for no loss, trailing Hyderabad by 401 runs.
Openers Srikar Bharat (71) and Prasanth Kumar (50) remained unconquered after a dose of patience and aggression.
Brief Scores:
Hyderabad: 522 all out (D Ravi Teja 96, Ashish Reddy 95, Chama Milind 97 not out; Duvvarapu Shivkumar 4-84)
Andhra Pradesh: 121-0 (Srikar Bharat 71 not out, Prasanth Kumar 50 not out; Ashish Reddy 0-8)
Goa score 367; reduce Kerala to 60 for two
Goa posted a competitive 367 all out in their first innings before reducing Kerala to 60 for two on a rain-curtailed second day in Wayanad.
Resuming on 313 for six, yesterday's half-centurion Darshan Misal could add only nine runs to his overnight score to be dismissed for 76. His knock came off 168 balls and with the help of 10 boundaries.
The tailenders -- Robin D'Souza (18) and Shadab Jakati (23) made useful contributions before Goa's first innings folded.
Kerala's Basil Thampi (4/110) was the pick of the bowlers, while Nizar Niyas (3/74) chipped in with three wickets. In reply, Kerala lost opener VA Jagadeesh (8) and one-down batsman Rohan Prem (8) cheaply. At stumps, KB Pawan was unbeaten on 28 and Amit Verma was on nine.
Brief scores:
Goa: 367 all out (Darshan Misal 76; Basil Thampi 4-110, Nizar Niyas 3-74)
Kerala: 60 for two in 32 overs
Image: Jammu and Kashmir opener Shubham Khajuria celebrates his century against Mumbai at the Wankhede stadium.
Photo: PTI
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