UP gain control over Punjab
Rinku Singh and Nitish Rana powered Uttar Pradesh to a commanding position against Punjab with entertaining fifties on day three of their Ranji Trophy Group C match in Mullanpur on Monday.
After opener Madhav Kaushik's career-best 163, the visitors came up with four more half-centuries to declare their first innings for a massive 556/9, taking a lead of 346 runs.
At stumps, Punjab were struggling at 49/1, trailing by 297 runs.
The Kolkata Knight Riders duo of Rana and Rinku laid the foundation with a crucial 120-run partnership for the third wicket.
Rana struck an aggressive 66 off 106 balls, hitting 11 fours, while Rinku made 68 off 131 balls, with eight fours and a six.
Saurabh Kumar joined the onslaught with a brisk 67-ball 69, smashing three sixes and five fours, while Shivam Sharma contributed an unbeaten 50 off 58 balls, including four sixes and two fours, to further frustrate the Punjab attack.
Harshal, Yuzi lift Haryana past MP
In Indore, Harshal Patel's unbeaten 72 at No. 9 and Yuzvendra Chahal's gritty 27 off 142 balls helped Haryana secure a vital first-innings lead over Madhya Pradesh.
Responding to MP's 308, Haryana ended the day at 431/9, with Patel still at the crease alongside last man Aman Kumar (4).
Opener Lakshay Dalal hit his maiden century (105 off 271 balls), while Dheeru Singh fell just short of three figures with a well-crafted 94.
Himanshu Rana (90) also missed his hundred in the nineties, but Dalal and Dheeru's 143-run partnership for the fourth wicket laid a solid foundation.
However, a collapse ensued before Patel steadied the innings with his resilient knock.
For MP, left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya was the standout bowler, finishing with 4/117.
Kerala fight back after Porel High 5
In Kolkata, Bengal pacer Ishan Porel took 5/83 to secure his fifth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, reducing Kerala to 83/5.
However, Kerala's middle-order, led by seasoned campaigner Jalaj Saxena, staged a resilient recovery to reach 267/7 at the Jadavpur Salt Lake Campus ground.
Saxena's fighting 84 off 162 balls, alongside a determined 64 from Salman Nizar, added 140 for the seventh wicket, frustrating Bengal's bowlers.
Nizar, who faced 205 deliveries, was accompanied by wicketkeeper-batter Mohammed Azharuddeen (30 off 48 balls) at close of play.
Porel's disciplined bowling proved effective on a flat pitch, where he dismissed Kerala's new signing Baba Aparajith for a golden duck and skipper Sachin Baby for 12.
Ton-up Mayank leads Karnataka to big lead
In Patna, veteran Mayank Agarwal came up with his 18th first-class century, 105, while Manish Pandey made a brisk 56 (55b) to help Karnataka overcome a difficult start to take first innings lead over Bihar.
In reply to Bihar's 143, Karnataka ended the day for 287/7.
Brief Scores
In Mullanpur: Punjab 210 and 49/1; 19 overs. Uttar Pradesh 556/9 declared; 141.1 overs (Madhav Kaushik 163, Saurabh Kumar 69, Rinku Singh 68, Nitish Rana 66, Shivam Sharma 50 batting).
In Indore: Madhya Pradesh 308. Haryana 431/9; 150.5 overs (Lakshay Dalal 105, Dheeru Singh 94, Himanshu Rana 90, Harshal Patel 72 batting; Kumar Kartikeya 4/117).
In Kolkata: Kerala 267/7; 102 overs (Jalaj Saxena 84, Salman Nizar 64 batting, Mohammed Azharuddeen 30 batting; Ishan Porel 5/83) vs Kerala.
In Patna: Bihar 143. Karnataka 287/7; 51 overs (Mayank Agarwal 105, Manish Pandey 56; Himanshu Singh 4/51).
Group B: Shorey, Rathod fifties extend Vidarbha's command over Uttarakhand
Fifties by Yash Rathod and Dhruv Shorey helped Vidarbha continue their dominance, carrying them to 255 for six in the second innings against Uttarakhand after the third day of their Ranji Trophy match in Dehradun.
Vidarbha lead by 292 runs at stumps after bowling out the hosts, who resumed from 242 for seven, for 289 to garner a small yet important first innings lead of 37 runs.
But that slender nature of the lead mandated that Vidarbha should bat well in their second dig and Shorey (59, 114b, 5x4) took over that job, making a patient half-century.
Shorey's prudence and Danish Malewar's aggression (42, 63b, 7x4) sat together well and helped Vidarbha overcome a jittery start.
The visitors had lost opener Atharva Taide and one-down Aman Mokhade while adding just 24.
But the third wicket alliance worth 64 between Shorey and Malewar eased Vidarbha's nerves before the latter got out.
Shorey built another 68 runs for the fourth wicket alongside first-innings centurion Rathod (56, 75b, 3x4) as Vidarbha went past the 150-mark and the overall lead also neared 200.
However, Swapnil Singh ousted Shorey to keep Uttarakhand afloat.
But Akshay Karnewar struck an unbeaten 30 off 55 balls to take Vidarbha past the 250-mark as they stretched their lead close to 300.
Skipper Akshay Wadkar (16 batting) is giving company to him at close and Vidarbha will be eager to add a few more runs to the lead on the final day to keep their position and points safe.
Earlier, a four-wicket haul by veteran off-spinner Akshay Wakhare (4/62) helped Vidarbha earn a first innings lead.
Brief scores:
In Dehradun: Vidarbha 326 and 255/6 in 67 overs (Dhruv Shorey 59, Danish Malewar 42, Yash Rathod 56; Swapnil Singh 2/74) vs Uttarakhand: 289 all out in 107.2 overs (Ravikumar Samarth 119; Akshay Wakhare 4/62).
In Visakhapatnam: Andhra 344 all out in 92.4 overs vs Himachal Pradesh 478/9 in 150 overs (Ankit Kalsi 53, Akash Vasisht 52; Rishi Dhawan 195, Mukul Negi 42; KV Sasikanth 4/101, PVSN Raju 3/125).
In Jaipur: Gujarat 335 all out in 97.4 overs and 129/4 in 47 overs (Umang 44 batting, AV Choudhary 3/25) vs Rajasthan 335 all out in 97.4 overs (Abhijeet Tomar 77; ZA Khan 44, Ajay Kookna 47, AA Khan 42; Arsan Nagwaswalla 3/99, Jaymeet patel 3/26).
In Hyderabad: Hyderabad 536/8 declared in 163 overs vs Puducherry 153 all out in 49.2 overs (Ajay Rohera 27; G Anikethreddy 6/56) and 171/2 in 47 overs (V Ganga Sridhar 61, Ajay Rohera 69).
Tripura's Jiwanjot slams century, pacers make quick gains against Mumbai
Tripura pacers Manisankar Murasingh and Abhijit Sarkar rattled Mumbai in the closing minutes on day three by removing both their openers to leave the defending champions reeling at 7 for 2 in a Ranji Trophy Group A match in Agartala.
The 42-time champions had scored 450 in their first innings and then bundled out Tripura for 302 runs, thanks to young spinner Himanshu Singh's six-wicket haul (6/65), swelled their lead to 155, they could be in trouble if they lose early wickets on Tuesday.
A gutsy 14th first-class century by Tripura's veteran batter Jiwanjot Singh (118 off 188 balls, 15x4) and resolute half-tons in the middle-order by Sridam Paul (52, 100 balls) and captain Mandeep Singh (62 not out, 90 balls) saw the hosts bat stoutly all day long after starting at the overnight score of 60/1.
Their intrepid batting against the likes of India bowler Shardul Thakur and Shams Mulani saw Tripura cross the 300-run mark late into the post-team session and cut Mumbai's lead to 148 runs.
With three overs remaining in the day, Tripura pressed their new-ball bowlers Sarkar (1/4) and Manisankar (1/3) who quickly made an impact, getting rid of Angkrish Raghuvanshi (6) and Ayush Mhatre (1), who was caught behind by Sharath Srinivas.
However, with the seasoned skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul yet to come, Tripura will unlikely get a cakewalk on the fourth morning.
The hero of the day was undoubtedly Jiwanjot, who moved to Tripura from Uttarakhand this year after spending most of his domestic career with Punjab.
The soon-to-be 34 cricketer, who could reach the 6,000 first-class run mark if he continues to play in the same vein this season, came up with a polished century as he weathered the early onslaught that saw Parvez Sultan (6) and Tejasvi Jaiswal (4) depart quickly.
He finally got a stable partnership going with Sridam Paul which yielded 89 runs before the veteran of 94 first-class games departed, bowled by left-arm spinner Mulani.
A steady 40-run fifth-wicket stand between Paul and Mandeep saw Tripura motor on before they were all out for 302 with Mumbai's Himanshu being the chief wrecker. Mulani had fighres of 3/88 in 37 overs.
At stumps, Mumbai's Royston Dias (0) and Mohit Awasthi (0) were at the crease.
Brief Scores:
In Agartala: Mumbai: 450 & 7 for 2 in 3 overs vs Tripura 302 in 95.4 overs (Jiwanjot Singh 118, Sridam Paul 52, Mandeep Singh 62; Himanshu Singh 6/65, Shams Mulani 3/88).
In Vadodara: Odisha 193 & 165 in 34 overs (Anurag Sarangi 49, Kartik Biswal 53; Ninad Rathva 6/60) lost to Maharashtra 456 in 128.4 overs (Shivalik Sharma 96, Vishnu Solanki 98, Krunal Pandya 119; Govinda Poddar 5/131) by an innings and 98 runs.
In Aurangabad: Meghalaya 276 and 157 for 8 in 49 overs (Balchander Anirudh 36; Mukesh Choudhary 3/41, Pradeep Dadhe 2/29) vs Maharashtra 361 all out in 106.2 overs (Harshal Kate 128, Azim Kazi 66, Mandar Bhandari 73; Akash Choudhary 4/76).
