A round up of the second day's play from the Ranji Trophy games being played across the country.
Riding on lower-order batsman Shreyas Gopal's maiden first class century, defending champions Karnataka posted 408 in the first innings as Bengal
were left facing a huge trail on day two of the Group A match in Kolkata.
Coming to bat at number nine in the four-day encounter at Eden Gardens, Gopal struck a fluent 145 off 197 balls (19x4, 1x6) and combined with Sreenath Aravind (29 not out) to register a record 148-run 10th-wicket partnership for Karnataka.
In reply, Bengal had a terribly slow start before ending the day at 62 for one, still needing a huge 347 runs to ensure three points.
Brief Scores:
Karnataka 408; 108.1 overs (Shreyas Gopal 145, C M Gautam 63, Vinay Kumar 42; Ashok Dinda 7-87).
Bengal 62/1 in 25 overs (Rohan Banerjee 27 not out, Sudip Chatterjee 10 not out; R Vinay Kumar 1-22).
TN take control of Ranji match against J&K
Spinners Rahil Shah and Malolan Rangarajan shared eight wickets between them as Tamil Nadu bundled out Jammu and Kashmir for a paltry 132 in
their first innings at Dindigul (Tamil Nadu).
The home side, who made 254 all out in their first innings, began then their second innings on a strong note by scoring 199 for one at the draw of stumps.
Left-handed opening batsman Abhinav Mukund was unbeaten on 110 runs (144 balls, 11x4, 1x5) and he was in company of Baba Aparajith who was batting on 53 (97 balls, 5x4) at close of second day at NPR College Ground.
The home side have now taken a lead of 321 runs with nine second innings wickets intact.
Brief Scores:
Tamil Nadu: 254 and 199 for 1 in 49 overs (Abhinav Mukund batting 110, B Aparajith batting 53)
Jammu and Kashmir 1st Innings: 132 all out in 54.2 overs (Hardeep Singh 35 not out; M Rangarajan 4/35, Rahil Shah 4/61).
18 wickets fall on day two as Haryana take slender lead
Eighteen wickets fell on day two of the Ranji Trophy match between Haryana and Maharashtra in Lahli as hosts eked out a 31-run lead by bowling out the
visitors for 105.
While only 17.5 overs could be bowled on day one, the following day saw plenty of action.
Haryana, starting the day at 41 for two, were all out for 136 in 52.4 overs. Sachin Rana (41) was the innings' highest-scorer while star for Maharashtra was left-arm pacer Samad Fallah (5/36).
Batting on Lahli wicket is usually challenging and Maharashtra too experienced it when they came out to bat. Haryana medium pacers Joginder Sharma (3/27) and Ashish Hooda (5/27) wreaked havoc on opposition batsmen as Maharashtra innings ended in 39.1 overs.
Brief scores:
Haryana 136 (Sachin Rana 41; Samad Fallah 5/36; Anupam Sanklecha 3/31)
Maharashtra 105 (Shrikant Mundhe 27; Ashish Hooda 5/27, Joginder Sharma 3/27).
Kerala bundle out Andhra Pradesh for 141
Kerala put up a spirited bowling effort to dismiss Andhra Pradesh for 141 and gain first innings lead in a Group C match in Vizianagaram.
Kerala, resuming day two on 206 for seven, went on to score 229 in their first innings before cleaning up Andhra for a paltry total. Nizar Niyas (3/42), U Manukrishnan (3/37) and Raiphi Gomez (2/27) took the bulk of the wickets for Kerala.
Home team skipper Mohammad Kaif (44) and AG Pradeep (53) were the only ones who showed some resistance in the middle. Andhra lost wickets at regular intervals with batsmen failing to form substantial partnerships.
Brief scores:
Kerala 229 (Raiphi Gomez 81; D Shivkumar 3/51, CV Stephen 3/43)
Andhra Pradesh 141 (Mohammad Kaif 44, AG Pradeep; Nizar Niyas 3/42, U Manukrishnan 3/37).
Kaul brings Punjab back in game with five-for show
Paceman Siddarth Kaul returned a five-for in Punjab's terrific comeback against Vidarbha as an intense fight was on for the first innings lead in Nagpur.
Defending a modest first innings total of 195, Punjab reduced Vidarbha to 149 for six, with 24-year-old Kaul claiming five wickets for 44 runs.
Amol Ubarhande (15) and Rajesh Dhruv (7) were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day. The hosts trail Punjab by 46 runs.
Gujarat in command over Odisha
Riding on a superb 87 not out from Bhargav Merai, Gujarat put themselves in command in their match against Odisha by reaching 255 for four in their first innings.
After bundling out Odisha for 225 in the morning, Gujarat did not start their first innings too well as their openers Samit Gohel (14) and P K Panchal (25) were dismissed but Merai stood solid to take his side to a strong position.
Merai got support from his captain Parthiv Patel (44) and the duo stitched 92 runs for the third wicket in 27.2 overs. Merai shared another 58 runs for the unbroken four wicket stand with Akshar Patel (31 not out) at the draw of stumps.
Merai hit 13 fours in his 212-ball innings. Gujarat have now taken a 30-run first innings lead and they are now in a strong position to dictate terms on the home side.
For Odisha, Biplab Samantray took two Gujarat wickets for 42 runs while Suryakant Pradhan and Deepak Behera got a wicket apiece.
Brief Scores:
Odisha 1st Innings: 225 all out in 93.2 overs (Natraj Behera 75; Rush Kalaria 6/59).
Gujarat 1st Innings: 255 for 4 in 83 overs (Bhargav 87 not out, Biplab Samantray 2/42).
MP bowlers put UP on backfoot
On a day dominated by bowlers, the Devendra Bundela-led Madhya Pradesh put Uttar Pradesh on the backfoot in the Group A match in Indore.
Responding to MP's first-innings score of 296 in the four-day encounter at Holkar Stadium, the Piyush Chawla-led UP were also in trouble after ending Day 2 on 149 for six, still trailing the hosts by 147 runs.
If rising chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, bagging four wickets, was the destroyer-in-chief for UP in the first innings then the MP attack was ably led by Ishwar Pandey, who has picked up three wickets till now.
Medium-pacers Sanjay Mishra (2-36) and Datay (1-43) also contributed to the wickets column.
Chawla (19 not out) and Praveen (25 not out) were fighting hard to help UP see better days.
Brief Scores:
Madhya Pradesh 296 in 116.3 overs (Devendra Bundela 80, Puneet Datay 63 not out; Kuldeep Yadav 4-48, Praveen Kumar 3-43, RP Singh 3-68)
Uttar Pradesh 149/6 in 56 overs (Umang Sharma 58, Parvinder Singh 25; Ishwar Pandey 3-17).
AGENCIES
Image: Karnataka batsman Shreyas Gopal after scoring a century at a Ranji Trophy match against Bengal at Eden Gardens.
Photo: PTI
