Ranji wrap, Round 6, Day 3: Sanklecha's 14-wicket haul carries Maharashtra to third spot

Group B

Maharashtra vs Vidarbha

Anupam Sanklecha's 14-wicket haul helped Maharashtra beat Vidarbha by an innings and three runs at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday (November 15).

Vidarbha, who were well placed at 141 for 1 at stumps on the second day, collapsed in the morning session on the third day after losing their skipper Faiz Fazal very early in the day. Sanklecha, who picked up seven wickets in the first innings to bowl out Vidarbha for 59, stepped up once again to make a huge impression. After rattling the middle order, Sanklecha came back to clean up the tail to pick up his second five-wicket haul of the game.

Shrikant Wagh was the only player to put up some resistance with the bat for Vidarbha as he remained stranded on 69 after running out of partners.The win now carries Maharashtra to the third spot in Group B with 14 points. They were languishing in the eighth spot prior to this game with seven points.

Brief scores: Vidarbha 59 (Anupam Sanklecha 7-25) & 270 (Shrikant Wagh 69; Anupam Sanklecha 7-69) lost to Maharashtra 332 (NS Shaikh 127; Lalit 5-81) by an innings and three runs.

Jharkhand vs Saurashtra

Saurashtra slumped to an innings defeat at the hands of Jharkhand after their batsmen collapsed on the third day. Even though they began the day on a positive note by picking up the last three wickets, Jharkhand still managed to fetch a massive 190-run lead in the first innings. Overnight centurion Ishank Jaggi was the last man dismissed for 173.

In the second essay, Saurashtra lost half their side with just 69 on the board. Prerak Mankad was the only batsman to offer some resistance as he remained unbeaten on 40 after making 96 in the first innings. Spinner Samar Quadri finished off proceedings by dismissing the last three batsmen to finish with a four-wicket haul.

The win gave Jharkhand seven points and sent them to the top of the table. Karnataka will reclaim the top spot though if they manage to defeat Rajasthan.

Brief scores: Saurashtra 277 (Prerak Mankad 96; Ashish Kumar 4-52) & 144 (Prerak Mankad 40; Samar Quadri 4-44) lost to Jharkhand 467 (Ishank Jaggi 173; Kushang Patel 5-95) by an innings and 46 runs.

Group A

Bengal vs Tamil Nadu, Rajkot

In a thrilling contest at the Madhavrao Scindia stadium in Rajkot, Tamil Nadu were able to take a 11-run first-innings lead against Bengal as they ended the third day on 348 for 9 on Tuesday (November 15).

Dinesh Karthik held the innings together, while there were also useful contributions from Abhinav Mukund (45) and Kaushik Gandhi (65). However, with the batsmen failing to capitalise and converting their score into big ones, Bengal looked set to first innings lead.

Tamil Nadu made a good start to the day before Mukund was run out. The match tilted in Bengal's favour when Sayan Ghosh nipped out both Baba Indrajith (34) and Baba Aparajith (2). Tamil Nadu failed to recover from those blows but a resilient 38-run stand between K Vignesh and Natarajan helped them go past Bengal's score.

Brief scores: Bengal 337 trail Tamil Nadu 348/9 (Dinesh Karthik 80; Pragyan Ojha 2-58) by 11 runs.

Mumbai vs Uttar Pradesh, Mysuru

Suryakumar Yadav's 90 helped Mumbai set Uttar Pradesh a target of 295 on Day 3.

Starting the day on 51 for 2, Mumbai slipped to 79 for 4 before Suryakumar and Abhishek Nayar (39) scored 81 runs for the fifth wicket to help the team recover from the slump. However, it was Shardul Thakur's crucial contribution of 48 towards the end that helped Mumbai set a more than competitive total. Saurabh Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav picked up three wickets each.

In reply, Shardul trapped Tanmay Shrivastava in front before Shivam Chaudhary and Samarth Singh saw off the remaining few overs and took the team to 43 for 1.

Brief scores: Mumbai 233 and 286 (Suryakumar Yadav 80; Saurabh Kumar 3-48) lead Uttar Pradesh 225 and 43/1 by 252 runs.

Railways vs Baroda, Nagpur

Railways reached within touching distance of completing their first win of the season as they ended the day on 90 for 2, needing just 23 more against Baroda at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground.

Deepak Hooda scored 98 to lift Baroda to a respectable total of 239, but since getting dismissed for just 183 in the first innings, they were always playing catch-up.

In their chase, Saurabh Wakaskar and Shivkant Shukla made a solid start and scored 71 runs for the first wicket to ease the team towards the chase.

Brief scores: Baroda 183 and 239 (Deepak Hooda 98; Avinash Yadav 3-50) lead Railways 310 and 90/2 (Saurabh Wakaskar 45) by 23 runs.

Gujarat vs Tamil Nadu, Nagothane

A lower-order collapse early on in the day meant Madhya Pradesh folded for 252, handing Gujarat a 50-run lead. Samit Gohil and Parthiv Patel then drove home the advantage by helping Gujarat end the day on 228 for 2, taking the lead to 278.

After starting the day on 162 for 5, MP were rattled by some irresponsible running between the wickets and Rush Kalaria, who picked up a four-wicket haul. Once the job of securing the first innings lead was done, the onus was on Gujarat to bat their opponents out of the game.

They made a solid start, and a 143-run stand between Parthiv and Gohil led Gujarat to a commanding position.

Brief scores: Gujarat 302 and 228-2 (Samit Gohil 93*, Parthiv Patel 80*) lead Madhya Pradesh 252 (Rajat Patidar 71; Rush Kalaria 4-72) by 278 runs.

Odisha vs Assam

Odisha took full control of their encounter against Assam by adding 309 runs on the third day, for the loss of five wickets. At stumps, they finished with 459 for 7, thus gaining a lead of 158 runs. The star of the day was skipper Govinda Poddar, who slammed his maiden first-class double ton. He eventually made 225 off 364 balls.

Poddar added 163 runs for the sixth wicket with Biplab Samantaray, who also went on to score a ton. Samantaray was dismissed just seven balls before stumps for 103. Odisha will now look to add some valuable runs in the first session on the final day and then bowl out Assam in order to fetch a crucial win.

Brief scores: Odisha 459/7 (Govinda Poddar 225, Biplab Samantaray 103; Arup Das 3-60) lead Assam 301 by 158 runs.

Karnataka vs Team Rajasthan

Karnataka were on the brink of going top of the table after a terrific day with both bat and ball against Rajasthan in Vizianagaram. Resuming at 78 for no loss, KL Rahul and Samarth added some quick runs in the morning session before the latter fell for 55. Rahul, who has been included in the Indian squad for the second Test against England, went on to score a century.

Mayank Agarwal then added to Rajasthan's woes with an 80-ball 63 before Karnataka declared at 298 for 6. Chasing a mammoth 525 for victory, Rajasthan made a disastrous and were reduced to 26 for 4. Skipper Vinay Kumar picked up three wickets while Sreenath Aravind nipped out two. Bad light brought an early end to the day's play but Karnataka are firm favourites to fetch the final four wickets and grab six points on the final day.

Brief scores: Team Rajasthan 148 & 118/6 (SF Khan 39; Vinay Kumar 3-45) need another 407 runs against Karnataka 374 & 298/6d (KL Rahul 106; RB Bishnoi Jr 4-87)

Group C

Chhattisgarh v Himachal Pradesh, Kanpur

Beginning their third day's play on 210 for 6, Himachal's overnight batsmen, Bipul Sharma and Sumeet Verma went on to score their fifties while taking their seventh-wicket partnership to 150 runs. Bipul Sharma was the first man to be dismissed, falling short of what could have been his seventh first-class hundred by 14 runs. The tail didn't last long as Sumit Ruikar came back to pick up a couple of wickets to bowl out Himachal for 314 runs, with Verma being the last one to depart for 68. Ruikar ended with stellar figures of 7-112 to stop Himachal from posting a three-figure lead.

Himachal garnered a lead of 76 runs before Chhattisgarh came out to bat for the second time in the game. Akshay Chauhan picked up the first wicket early before the other opener, Abhimanyu Chauhan dug in deep with an unbeaten 69. There were starts from the middle-order batsmen but none of them were able to carry on for long, leaving only Chauhan with the responsibility to hold one end up. Chhattisgarh ended the day's play on 175 for 4, leading by 99 runs. With the game headed towards a tame draw, Himachal would want to hold onto three points from their first-innings lead.

Brief Scores: Chhattisgarh 238 & 175-4 (Abhimanyu Chauhan 69*, Akshay Chauhan 1-15) lead Himachal Pradesh 314 (Bipul Sharma 86, Sumeet Verma 68; Sumit Sureshrao Ruikar 7-112) by 99 runs.

Kerala v Goa, Mumbai

Shadab Jakati saved Goa the blushes with a brilliant 85 while the tail couldn't add much to their overnight score of 169 for 6. His overnight partner Saurabh Bandekar added only 13 runs to his score, before getting out for 35. Jakati scored his 14th first-class fifty before Sandeep Warrier picked up two of the remaining four wickets on the day to hand Kerala a slender yet important 56-run lead.

Rohan Prem led the charge for Kerala again, following up his first-innings ton with an unbeaten 60 in the second innings. Saurabh Bandekar scalped thrice before Prem got into a 100-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Mohammed Azharuddeen, to help Kerala recover from 54 for 4. By the end of the day's play, Kerala had stretched their lead to 210 runs with Prem eyeing his 13th first-class hundred. En route, he also became the highest run-scorer for Kerala in Ranji Trophy. On the other hand, Azharuddeen scored his maiden first-class fifty.

Brief Scores: Kerala 342 & 154-4 (Rohan Prem 60*, Mohammed Azharuddeen 56*; Saurabh Bandekar 3/42) lead Goa 286 (Shadab Jakati 85; Vinod Kumar 4/68) by 210 runs

Jammu and Kashmir v Haryana, Cuttack

Things couldn't have changed more drastically for Jammu and Kashmir when they slumped from their overnight score of 84 for 1 to being bowled out for 262. While Shubham Khajuria and Pranav Gupta took the side off to a good start, Khajuria fell soon after getting to his fifty early on Day 3. Sanjay Pahal and Yuzvendra Chahal ran through the middle-order while Gupta fell short of a hundred by 6 runs. In the process, Jammu & Kashmir conceded a massive lead of 240 runs and were asked to follow on.

During a brief period in the last session's play, Jammu & Kashmir openers ensured there was no further damage as they completed the day on 38 for no loss. Haryana would look for early wickets on the final day and push themselves hard to bag an innings victory.

Brief Scores: Jammu & Kashmir 262 & 38-0 (f/o) (Uman Nazir 19*, Shubham Khajuria 14*) trail Haryana 502 all out (Rajat Paliwal 194, Nitin Saini 90; Parvez Rasool 3-43) by 202 runs

Hyderabad v Services, Mumbai

Hyderabad had a field day at the office with Bavanaka Sandeep and Chama Milind taking the Services bowling unit for a ride on the second day. While Sandeep compiled a wonderful double-hundred scoring an unbeaten 203, Milind scored his maiden ton in a superb eighth-wicket partnership worth 267 runs. Resuming play on 77 for no loss, opener Nakul Verma missed out narrowly on a hundred whereas middle-order batsman Shamsher Yadav scored his hundred coming in at number five. Despite good batting from the duo, Services lost as many as nine wickets with 360 on the board. Ravi Kiran led the attack with the ball by picking up three wickets and was well supported by Mohammed Siraj and Akash Bhandari who picked up two wickets apiece.

On the final day, Services would try to delay the inevitable for as long as possible but a big Hyderabad first-innings lead looks imminent at this stage, with the former still 220 runs behind.

Brief Scores: Services 360 for 9 (Shamsher Yadav 104, Nakul Verma 90; Ravi Kiran 3-68) trail Hyderabad 580/9 decl. ( Nakul Harpal Verma 34; Bhavanka Sandeep 203* Raushan Raj 5-73) by 220 runs

Tripura v Andhra, Valsad

Resuming his knock on 144*, Hanuma Vihari went on to score yet another double-hundred, his fourth first-class season in a row where he has got a double-ton. Andhra declared on a mammoth score of 524 runs losing six wickets. Tripura in reply didn't start too well with KV Sasikanth picking up a couple of wickets up front. They were reduced to 165 for 3 by the end of the day's play.

Andhra have already secured three points with a first-innings lead and would now look to bowl out Tripura early on the final day's play and better their standing in the points table. While Tripura would have other ideas, Andhra hold the edge at this stage of the game.

Brief Scores: Tripura 171 & 165-3 (Yashpal Singh 46*, Nirupam Sen Chowdhary 43; KV Sasikanth 2-41) trail Andhra 524/6 (Hanuma Vihari 233*, Prashanth Kumar 129; Gurinder Singh 4-166) by 188 runs.