Ranji Trophy, Round 2, Day 3: Karthik, Mukund tons help Tamil Nadu fight back

GROUP A

Tamil Nadu vs Railways, Bilaspur

There was some controversy at the Luhnu Cricket ground in Bilaspur after Abhinav Mukund was run out on 100 on the third day in the clash between Tamil Nadu and Railways. Mukund didn't complete the third run and started celebrating his ton before Deepak Bansal took off the bails and made an appeal. The Tamil Nadu captain did try to argue his case that the ball was dead after the wicketkeeper had collected but the umpires ruled him out.

Tamil Nadu, riding on Dinesh Karthik's 163 and Mukund's ton, went on to post 452 for 8 decl., setting Railways a target of 401. However, half-centuries from Saurabh Wakaskar (54 not out) and Shivakant Shukla (52 not out) meant Railways made a strong start and were 106 for no loss at stumps.

Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 121 and 452/8 (Dinesh Karthik 163, Abhinav Mukund 100; Karn Sharma 4-109) lead Railways 173 and 106/0 (Saurabh Wakaskar 54*, Shivakant Shukla 52*) by 295 runs.

Uttar Pradesh vs Bengal, Jaipur

Bengal managed to take the first-innings lead against Uttar Pradesh after keeping them to 410 on the third day of their Ranji Trophy clash at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur on Saturday (October 15). With the track offering no help to the bowlers, Bengal then ended the day on 30 for no loss with an overall lead of 86.

Starting the day on 129 for 3, UP made a strong start with Umang Sharma (136) and Sarfaraz Khan (85) dominating Bengal with some audacious strokeplay. UP managed to add 139 runs in the first session but kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Kuldeep Yadav fought hard with a 100-ball 63 before UP eventually ran out of steam.

Brief scores: Bengal 466 & 30/0 lead Uttar Pradesh 410 (Umang Sharma 136, Sarfaraz Khan 85, Kuldeep Yadav 63; Aamir Gani 3-72) by 86 runs.

Mumbai vs Baroda, Delhi

Kedar Devdhar's 145 helped Baroda end the third day on 321 for 5 against Mumbai at the Airforce Complex Ground in Delhi. Baroda were leading by 303 runs.

Devdhar with Aditya Waghmode (77) scored 177 for the first wicket to give Baroda a solid start. They then did well to build partnerships with the middle-order making useful contributions. Deepak Hooda was unbeaten on 66 at stumps. Tushar Deshpande picked two wickets while Balwinder Sandhu, Abhishek Nayar and Akhil Herwadkar picked one each.

Earlier, Mumbai, who started the day at 313 for 8, having already taken the first-innings lead, added only 10 runs to their overnight total before being bowled out. Irfan Pathan and Sanjay Mangalorkar picked up three wickets apiece. Balwinder Sandhu, who ran out of partners, remained unbeaten on 64.

Brief scores: Baroda 305 and 321/5 (Kedar Devdhar 145, Aditya Waghmode 77, Deepak Hooda 66*; Tushar Deshpande 2-39) lead Mumbai 323 (Akhil Herwadkar 106, Suryakumar Yadav 54; Irfan Pathan 3-30, Sagar Mangalorkar 3-75) by 303 runs.

Madhya Pradesh vs Punjab, Lahli

Punjab's positive approach in their second innings has set up a cracking final day in Lahli against Madhya Pradesh. Manpreet Singh Gony picked up a five-wicket haul and finished with six wickets to his name in the morning session to help Punjab bowl out MP for 247 in their first innings.

With a substantial lead of 131, Punjab began their second innings in disastrous fashion by losing two quick wickets before skipper Yuvraj Singh rescued them again with a fighting half-century. In quest for quick runs though, Punjab lost five wickets for 15 runs before declaring. Chasing 307, MP lost Mukul Raghav in the final over of the day.

Brief scores: Madhya Pradesh 247 & 26/1 (Mukul Raghav 16; Shubek Singh Gill 1-1) trail Punjab 378 & 175/9 decl. (Yuvraj Singh 76; Ishwar Pandey 3-25) by 280 runs.

GROUP B

Team Rajasthan vs Assam, Visakhapatnam

Rajasthan completed a thumping innings win over Assam in Vizag on the third day of their Group B clash. Rajasthan, who won with a bonus point, are now at the top of the Group B table with eight points.

Resuming at 208 for 3, Rajasthan were bowled out for just 272 with MK Lomror falling for 89. While Arup Das picked up four wickes, Krishna Das finished with a three-wicket haul.

After conceding a 77-run lead in the first innings, Assam had their task cut in the second but unfortunately they lost both their openers for ducks right at the start. With Amit Verma and KB Arun Karthick also perishing for ducks, Assam were reeling at 16 for 5 before eventually getting bowled out for a paltry 69 to give Rajasthan a win by an innings and 8 runs.

Brief scores: Assam 195 (Rishav Das 93; Pankaj Singh 5-39) & 69 (Rishav Das 16; AV Choudhary 5-35, Pankaj Singh 4-26) lost to Team Rajasthan 272 (MK Lomror 89, Ashok Menaria 44; Arup Das 4-53) by an innings & 8 runs.

Maharashtra vs Delhi, Mumbai

The run fest at the Wankhede Stadium continued as Delhi ended the third day on 376 for 5, still trailing by 259 runs, against Maharashtra. Rishabh Pant led Delhi's charge with an unbeaten 155 while Dhruv Shorey scored 71. Delhi lost their openers with 51 runs on the board but Pant, Shorey and Nitish Rana (44) kept Delhi afloat with useful contributions.

On the second day, Swapnil Gugale (351 not out) and Ankit Bawne (258 not out) had registered the highest partnership (594) in Ranji Trophy history before they declared on 635 for 2.

Brief scores: Maharashtra 635/2 decl. (Swapnil Gugale 351*, Ankit Bawne 258*) lead Delhi 376/5 (Rishabh Pant 155*, Dhruv Shorey 71; Mohsin Sayyed 3-73) by 259 runs.

Odisha vs Saurashtra, Hyderabad

The clash between Odisha and Saurashtra is heading for a thrilling finish in Hyderabad after the bowlers enjoyed another fruitful day. Odisha though will feel that they have slight advantage over their opponents after removing five opposition batsmen for 96 runs in the chase of 212.

Resuming at 62 for 2, Odisha were bowled out for just 169 in their first innings after Deepak Punia finished with a five-wicket haul. Saurashtra though suffered an early setback after Suryakant Pradhan removed Mohsin Dodia and Samarth Vyas cheaply to reduce them to 6 for 2. Sagar Jogiyani and Sheldon Jackson resurrected the chase and appeared to have put their side on top but Saurashtra lost three wickets for the addition of just six runs before the stumps to open up the game.

Brief scores: Saurashtra 186 & 96/5 (Sheldon Jackson 43; Dhiraj Singh 2-6) trail Odisha 228 & 169 (Subhransu Senapati 57; Deepak Punia 5-39) by 106 runs.

Karnataka vs Jharkhand, Noida

Ishan Kishan led Jharkhand's fightback against Karnataka with a well composed century on the third day in Noida. Ishan put on 72 for the fifth wicket with Saurabh Tiwary to bail his side out of trouble after they were struggling at 136 for 4 at one stage in reply to Karnataka's 577 for 6.

While Abhimanyu Mithun picked up two wickets, Stuart Binny, K Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal picked up a wicket each. Trailing by 268 runs, Jharkhand are still likely to concede the first innings lead but the Ishan's unbeaten century has now given them hope to hold on to a draw on the final day.

Brief scores: Jharkhand 309/6 (Ishan Kishan 118*, Saurabh Tiwary 91; Abhimanyu Mithun 2-54) trail Karnataka 577/6 decl. by 268 runs.

GROUP C

Kerala vs Himachal Pradesh, Kolkata

Himachal Pradesh came up with a strong all-round show to secure a six-wicket victory against Kerala in the Group C encounter at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The Rishi Dhawan-led team, with six points from this game, took their overall points tally to seven and in the process topped the Group C table.

Reduced to 198 for 8 at the end of Day 2, in reply to Kerala's first-innings total of 248, Himachal's lower-order batsmen staged a superb fightback to help their team gain a slender lead. Sumeet Verma scored an unbeaten 50 as Himachal managed to add a total of 77 runs for the last two wickets to finish with 261.

The Himachal spinners then came to the party as Gurvinder Singh and Mayank Dagar picked up eight wickets between them, with the former bagging a fifer, to bowl out Kerala for a paltry 115 in their second innings. Needing only 103 runs for victory, Himachal lost four wickets, but Paras Dogra and Sumeet Verma managed to take the team over the line without further hiccups.

Brief scores: Kerala 248 (Sachin Baby 61; Rishi Dhawan 4-66) & 115 (Rohan Prem 20; Gurvinder Singh 5-37, Mayank Dagar 3-25) lost to Himachal Pradesh 261 (Prashant Chopra 60, Sumeet Verma 50; Jalaj Saxena 5-76) & 103/4 (Paras Dogra 27*) by 6 wickets.

Goa vs Jammu & Kashmir, Surat

Despite coming up with a better performance in their second innings, Goa were well short of their target of 412 as Jammu & Kashmir secured a comfortable 116-run victory at the Lalabhai Contractor Stadium in Surat. J&K moved up to the second spot with an overall tally of seven points, while Goa, who suffered two back-to-back losses, were at the bottom of the table.

Goa, who were bowled out for 77 in the first innings, started Day 3 at 22 for 0 in a chase of 412. They got off to a good start with Swapnil Asnodkar and Darshan Misal adding 87 runs for the opening wicket. Goa, however, suffered a collapse as Parvez Rasool and Co. got amongst the wickets to reduce them to 145 for 6. Samar Dubhashi came up with a fighting 79, but Rasool's fifer handed J&K a comfortable victory.

Brief scores: Jammu & Kashmir 227 (Parvez Rasool 82, Ian Dev Singh 67; Shadab Jakati 4-48) & 261 (Puneet Bisht 87, Ian Dev Singh 64; Amulaya Pandrekar 3-39) beat Goa 77 (Swapnil Asnodkar 18; Ram Dayal 4-15, Umar Nazir 3-10) & 295 (Samar Dubhashi 79*, Swapnil Asnodkar 47; Parvez Rasool 5-89) by 116 runs.

Andhra vs Chhattisgarh, Kalyani

Chhattisgarh's impressive show in their maiden Ranji season continued as they bowled out Andhra in their first innings and struck four more times after enforcing the follow-on. Andhra were trailing by 73 runs with six wickets in hand at the end of Day 3 of the Group C encounter at the Bengal Cricket Academy Ground in Kalyani.

Starting the day at 151 for 5, in reply to Chhattisgarh's first-innings total of 394, Andhra's middle-order failed to come to the team's rescue as debutant Pankaj Kumar Rao added two more wickets to his overnight tally of two to bowl out Andhra for 199. Asked to follow on, Andhra openers got off to a steady start, adding 75 runs before they lost quick wickets late in the day to be reduced to 122 for 4 at stumps.

Brief scores: Chhattisgarh 394 lead Andhra 199 (Prasanth Kumar 62; Pankaj Rao 4-70, Ajay Mandal 2-39) & 122/4 f/o (Srikar Bharat 57; Ajay Mandal 2-19) by 73 runs.

Haryana vs Hyderabad, Jamshedpur

Mehdi Hassan, the Hyderabad left-arm orthodox bowler, picked up a six wicket haul, but Haryana were in a position of strength at the end of Day 3 at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur. Hyderabad were reduced to 102 for 5 in their second innings, still trailing by 38 runs.

Haryana, who started the day at 236 for 4 in reply to Hyderabad's first-innings total of 191, added 95 runs to their overnight total before being bowled out. Chaitanya Bishnoi, the 22-year-old left-hander, scored a patient 73 before he became the first batsman to depart on Day 3 when he was run out. Hassan then ran through the lower order, finishing with figures of 6 for 93 to bowl out Haryana for 331.

Mohit Sharma delivered an early breakthrough by sending back opener Tanmay Agarwal for 13. Sanjay Pahal and Yuzvendra Chahal then picked up two wickets apiece to leave Hyderabad in further trouble. Kolla Sumanth, the wicketkeeper-batsman, was unbeaten on 19 at stumps.

Brief scores: Hyderabad 191 & 102/5 (Balchander Anirudh 33; Yuzvendra Chahal 2-15, Sanjay Pahal 2-23) trail Haryana 331 (Chaitanya Bishnoi 73; Mehdi Hassan 6-93) by 38 runs.

Services vs Tripura, Guwahati

Unbeaten centuries from Udiyan Bose and Smit Patel helped Tripura to a position of strength at the end of Day 3 of their Group C match against Services at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. After a disciplined performance from the bowlers handed Tripura a slender 42-run lead, Bose and Patel came up with an undefeated 266-run second-wicket stand to help their team end the day with a sizeable lead of 322.

Earlier, Shamsher Yadav scored a fighting 101 not-out and put on a fighting partnership for the final wicket with Raj Bahadur to keep the Tripura bowlers waiting. Reduced to 202 for 9 at stumps on Day 2, Yadav came up with a defiant knock as he tried to take Services closer to Tripura's score. However, the 10th wicket stand, which yielded 39 runs, came to an end when Raj Bahadur was bowled by skipper Manisankar Murasingh.

Having already secured the first-innings lead, Tripura will look at declaring their second innings early on Day 4 as they attempt to seal an outright victory.

Brief scores: Tripura 275 & 280/1 (Udiyan Bose 152*, Smit Patel 104*) lead Services 233 (Shamsher Yadav 101*; Rana Dutta 3-48, Manisankar Murasingh 3-58) by 322 runs.