A summary of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Wednesday.
Himachal Pradesh's top and middle-order batted with purpose to bail them out from a hopeless situation as they were just 10 runs away from wiping out a massive deficit against Uttarakhand at stumps on day two of their Ranji Trophy Group A match in Dehradun on Wednesday.
Uttarakhand seamer Deepak Dhapola, who was unplayable on Tuesday and returned with enviable figures of 8 for 35 to dismiss Himachal for just 49 runs in the first innings, could not recreate the same magic on Wednesday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
At stumps, Himachal were 277 for four, just 10 runs away from Uttarakhand's first innings lead of 287 runs.
With Akash Vasisht and Rishi Dhawan batting on 73 and 32 runs respectively, the duo have, for now, ensured Himachal will not suffer an innings defeat, though with two full days of play left, Uttarakhand are in pole position to win the contest and earn full points -- and perhaps a bonus if they win by 10 wickets.
Earlier, Uttarakhand continued from where they had left off on Tuesday at 295 for six, with Aditya Tare adding just one run to his overnight score of 91 before being dismissed by Vaibhav Arora.
The other overnight batter Abhay Negi added 28 more runs and eventually the home team's first innings wound up at 336 off 75.4 overs.
With a massive lead of 287, and the fragility of the opponents laid bare by Dhapola in the first innings, Uttarakhand would have fancied their chances of finishing the game inside two days. But the determination showed by openers Raghav Dhawan (32) and Prashant Chopra (43), rubbed off on later-order batters, especially Ankit Kalsi (44) and Akash Vasisht (73 not out), as they played sensibly to make amends for their first-innings recklessness.
Dhapola sent down 12 overs but only got the wicket of Ankit Kalsi, while left-arm spinner Mayank Mishra was the most successful home team bowler, returning figures of 22-1-85-2.
Brief Scores:
At Dehradun: Himachal Pradesh 49 and 277/4 in 76 overs (Raghav Dhawan 32, Prashant Chopra 43, Ankit Kalsi 44, Amit Kumar 37, Akash Vasisht 73 n.o., Rishi Dhawan 32 n.o.) versus Uttarakhand 336 in 75.4 overs (Jiwanjot Singh 45, Aditya Tare 92, Abhay Negi 70; Vaibhav Arora 4/80, Rishi Dhawan 3/65). Himachal trail by 10 runs.
At Cuttack: Haryana 338 in 100 overs (Nishant Sindhu 142, Rohit Sharma 55, Jayant Yadav 41; Suryakant Pradhan 6/93, Prayash Singh 3/66) versus Odisha 204 for 3 in 78 overs (Anurag Sarangi 63, Shantanu Mishra 60, Subhranshu Senapati 42 n.o.) Odisha trail by 134 runs.
At Vadodara: Uttar Pradesh 258 in 100.5 overs (Priyam Garg 52, Akshdeep Nath 71; Bhargav Bhatt 3/81) verus Baroda 221 for 6 in 78 overs (Ninad Rathva 93 n.o.) Baroda trail by 37 runs.
At Sovima: Nagaland 166 (Chetan Bist 64; Pradipta Pramanik 6/43) versus Bengal 336 for 4 in 82 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 170, Sudip Gharami 104). Bengal lead by 170 runs.
Pranshu, Harshit lead Delhi fightback against TN
New Delhi: Young Delhi all-rounder Pranshu Vijayaran put up a gutsy show before twins Aparajith and Indrajith were dismissed in identical fashion by speedster Harshit Rana as Tamil Nadu reached 214 for five at stumps on day two in a Ranji Trophy game here on Wednesday.
Vijayaran, playing his second first-class game, smashed spinners Washington Sundar (0/36 in 11 overs) and R Sai Kishore (0/32 in 4 overs) to score 58 off 79 balls to take Delhi to a respectable first innings score of 303.
He (1/14 in 8 overs) then bowled on a good channel and got the dangerous N Jagadeesan (34) caught behind but it was Harshit (3/73 in 16 overs), who tirelessly dug it in short and induced identical miscued pull shots from Aparajith (57) and Indrajith (71), both caught at mid-wicket.
Tamil Nadu, however, batted with a lot of positive intent right from start as Sai Sudharshan (25) hit six fours in a jiffy during the pre-lunch session before left arm seamer Kuldip Yadav (1/50 in 10 overs) got one to move away, getting a nick.
Aparajith and Indrajith added 86 runs with consummate ease as they kept the run rate over 4 runs per over.
Left arm spinner Vikas Mishra (0/56 in 12 overs) was once again ineffective as he bowled to a defensive field which allowed Baba brothers to rotate strike with ease.
However, credit must be given to big bodied youngster Harshit, who learnt from his erratic first spell and started digging it in short, trying to take advantage of the two paced track.
"I was ready to concede a few boundaries but plan was to keep on bowling the short ball and allow the brothers to play their shots and wait for a mistake," Harshit, who has been coached by former India seamer Amit Bhandari, told reporters after the day's play.
Both Aparajith and Indrajith committed to the short ball early but it didn't come to them at a pace that they expected and hence there was no power in both strokes.
Another man who would be very disappointed is Washington Sundar, who was dismissed by an ordinary delivery drifting down leg side and his tickle ended in keeper Anuj Rawat's gloves.
While Tamil Nadu need 90 runs with seasoned Vijay Shankar (14 batting) at the crease alongside Pradosh Ranjan Paul (2 batting), skipper Indrajith conceded that the five fours and three sixes hit by Pranshu in the morning hurt them.
"Yes, we gave 40 runs too many. In the morning, I was forced to bowl with spinners as we were running short on over rate. At this point, I am not even thinking about outright win and want to ensure first innings lead first," Indrajith said.
Suryakumar's 95 helps Mumbai reach 230 against Saurashtra
Mumbai: India's white ball star Suryakumar Yadav smashed 95 off 107 balls to take Mumbai to 230 all out in response to Saurashtra's first innings total of 289.
Mumbai lost the first innings lead but bounced back to reduce Saurashtra to 120 for six in their second innings. Mumbai left arm spinner Shams Mulani once again did the bulk of the damage with four wickets.
Going into day four, Saurashtra lead Mumbai by 179 runs and would be looking to add another 50 runs at least to make a match out of it on a turning track.
The 2020 Ranji champions will be relying a lot on left-arm spinner Dharmendra Singh Jadeja and young offie Yuvrajsingh Dodiya, who took four wickets in the first innings.
Brief Scores:
Delhi 1st Innings 303 in 97.1 overs (Dhruv Shorey 66, Jonty Sidhu 57, Pranshu Vijayaran 58, L Vignesh 4/50). Tamil Nadu 214/5 in 54 overs (Baba Indrajith 71, Baba Aparajith 57, Harshit Rana 3/73).
In Mumbai: Saurashtra 1st Innings 289 in 79.1 overs and 120/6 in 32 overs (Prerak Mankad batting 25, Dharemendrasingh Jadeja batting 24; Shams Mulani 4/50) vs Mumbai 1st Innings 230 all out in 63.3 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 95, Sarfaraz Khan 75; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 4/70, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya 4/43).
In Hyderabad: Assam 1st Innings 205 in 56.4 overs and 182/6 in 39 overs. Hyderabad 1st Innings 208 all out in 66.5 overs (Rohit Rayudu 60; Riyan Parag 4/48, Mukhtar Hussain 3/62).
In Vizianagaram: Maharashtra 1st Innings 200 and 89/1 in 27 overs (Ruturaj Gaekwad 51 batting) vs Andhra 211 all out in 79 overs (Hanuma Vihari 49, Karan Shine 52; P C Dadhe 3/56).
Suthar stars in Rajasthan's big win over Puducherry
Puducherry: Manav Suthar completed a match haul of 11 wickets to compliment his unbeaten 96 as Rajasthan romped to a 101-run win over Puducherry in a Ranji Trophy match here on Wednesday.
A day after the 20-year-old propped their first innings total to 335 with a 97-run last wicket partnership, Suthar returned to grab the limelight with his left-arm spin in a match haul of 11/62 as Rajasthan bowled out Puducherry twice in the day -- 104 and 130 while following-on -- to seal a seven-point victory.
Suthar was on a song in the first innings en route to 17-6-33-8, while Ravi Bishnoi claimed 2/33.
Paras Dogra was Puducherry's top-scorer with a 68-ball 33 but once Suthar dismissed him, the rest of the batters fell in addition of just 29 runs. Their first innings lasted just 38 overs.
Following-on, Puducherry lasted 40.1 overs this time with Mahipal Lomror claiming 4/38, while Deepak Hooda bagged 2/13.
Suthar this time opened the bowling but Rajasthan openers saw through his spell. Lomror gave the first breakthrough dismissing Neyan Shyam Kangayan (17), before Hooda chipped in to open the floodgates.
Pandey slams double in 100th first-class match
Manish Pandey slammed an unbeaten double century in his 100th first-class match as Karnataka declared their first innings score for a mammoth 603/7 against Goa.
Overnight on 90, Pandey continued his assault on the Goan attack to notch his double century off 183 balls.
Pandey remained unbeaten on 208 off 186 balls with 14 boundaries and 11 sixes. Opener Ravikumar Smarth struck 140 (14x4) and was dismissed by Arjun Tendulkar (2/79).
In reply, Goa were 45/1 in 23 overs.
Brief Scores:
In Puducherry: Rajasthan 335. Puducherry 104; 38 overs (Manav Suthar 8/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/33) and following on 130; 40.1 overs (Arun Karthik 38; Mahipal Lomror 4/38, Suthar 3/29). Rajasthan won by an innings and 101 runs. Points: Rajasthan 7, Puducherry 0.
At Thumba: Chhattisgarh 149; 49.5 overs (Harpreet Singh 40; Jalaj Saxena 5/48, Vaisakh Chandran 2/39, Sachin Baby 2/4). Kerala 100/2; 38 overs. Kerala trail by 49 runs.
At Porvorim: Karnataka 603/7 declared; 148.2 overs (Manish Pandey 208 not out, Ravikumar Samarth 140; Darshan Misal 3/145, Arjun Tendulkar 2/79). Goa 45/1; 23 overs Goa trail by 588 runs.
Panchal leads Gujarat's fightback against Chandigarh
Ahmedabad: Opener Priyank Panchal led from the front with an unbeaten half-century as Gujarat gave a strong reply to Chandigarh's 304 in their Ranji Trophy Group D match here on Wednesday.
Panchal was batting on 87 off 146 balls (8x4, 1x6) in company with wicketkeeper-batter Het Patel (37) in an unbroken 53-run stand as Gujarat were 249/3 at stumps on day two, trailing Chandigarh by 55 runs.
Panchal was also involved in two key partnerships; first with Kathan Patel (47; 66b), and then Priyesh Patel (62; 108b) to take the team forward.
Earlier, Chandigarh managed to add 57 runs to their overnight total before being dismissed in 116 overs.
Lather, who was unbeaten on 68, was dismissed 13 runs short of a century, becoming Hardik Patel's third victim (3/39).
Shen Patel claimed 4/85 while Sidharth Desai (2/74) ended Chandigarh's first innings dismissing Hartejassvi Kapoor.
In reply, Gujarat put on an opening stand of 76 with Panchal and Patel before the latter fell short of his half-century after being dismissed by Lather.
Having shone with the bat, Lather was also the pick of the bowlers for Chandigarh and took all the three wickets to fall.
After trapping Patel lbw, Lather accounted for Chandigarh No 3 Saurabh Chauhan (11) with the addition of just 17 runs. But Panchal held firm and forged a century-plus stand with Patel.
Brief Scores:
In Ahmedabad: Chandigarh 304; 116 overs (Bhagmender Lather 87, Arslan Khan 56, Gaurav Puri 51; Shen Patel 4/85, Hardik Patel 3/39, Siddharth Desai 2/74). Gujarat 249/3; 61 overs (Priyank Panchal 87 batting, Priyesh Patel 62, Kathan Patel 47; Lather 3/62). Gujarat trail by 55 runs.
In Indore: Railways 274. Madhya Pradesh 243/8; 83.3 overs (Rajat Patidar 54, Himanshu Mantri 48, Shubham Sharma 40; Sagar Jadhav 4/28). MP trail by 31 runs.
In Nagpur: Jammu and Kashmir 191 and 75/3; 28 overs (Shubham Khajuria 39 batting; Akshay Wakhare 2/17). Vidarbha 272; 83.5 overs (Aditya Sarwate 75, Atharva Taide 74, Harsh Dubey 55; Umar Nazir Mir 5/39, Abid Mushtaq 3/66).
In Agartala: Punjab 203; 64.2 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 55, Mandeep Singh 41; Manisankar Murasingh 5/48, Abhijit Sarkar 2/57, Ajay Sarkar 2/57). Tripura 17 for no loss. Tripura trail by 186 runs.
