Group A
Ranji Trophy wrap: Shreyas Iyer's 191 keeps Mumbai afloat
Gujarat vs Mumbai, Hubli
A scintillating unbeaten 191 from Shreyas Iyer kept Mumbai in the hunt against Gujarat on the third day of the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 clash in Hubli on Wednesday (November 23) as the defending champions finished with 328 for 6, still trailing by 109 runs. Iyer struck 18 fours and two sixes in his 310-ball knock and would be looking to score a double ton on the final day in order to guide Mumbai past Gujarat's first innings total.
Resuming at 58 for 3, Mumbai frustrated Gujarat in the morning session with nightwatchman Dhawal Kulkarni putting up a fight alongside Iyer. Kulkarni made a fifty and was dismissed for 61 by Jasprit Bumrah, who also later removed Abhishek Nayar, for his fourth wicket of the innings.
Brief scores: Gujarat 437 lead Mumbai 328/6 (Shreyas Iyer 191*, Dhawal Kulkarni 61; Jasprit Bumrah 4-49) by 109 runs.
Tamil Nadu vs Punjab, Nagpur
Kaushik Gandhi's masterful 164 helped Tamil Nadu fetch the vital first innings lead against Punjab on the third day in a contest that is likely heading for a draw. Kaushik lost Vijay Shankar for 33 ten overs into the day but continued to score at the other end to bring up his ton off 244 balls.
Wickets at the other end continued to fall at regular intervals as Manpreet Gony and Siddharth Kaul managed to pick seven wickets between them. Kaushik was the last man dismissed as TN were bowled out for 354, that fetched them a 70-run lead. While Jiwanjot Singh was dismissed for a duck in the second innings, contributions from Manan Vohra, Uday Kaul and Mandeep Singh helped Punjab reach 121 for 2 at stumps to extend the lead to 51.
Brief scores: Punjab 284 & 121/2 (Uday Kaul 43*; K Vignesh 1/18) lead Tamil Nadu 354 (Kaushik Gandhi 164; Manpreet Singh 4-81) by 51 runs.
Madhya Pradesh vs Railways, New Delhi
Devendra Bundela led from the front to lead Madhya Pradesh to 356 for 5 at the close of play at the Feroz Shah Kotla. MP now trail Railways only by 15 runs are primed to take the first innings lead tomorrow. Resuming at 71 for 3, MP lost Naman Ojha for exactly 50 as Avinash Yadav broke through his defence.
MP were then dealt a major blow when Harpreet Singh Bhatia got dismissed for 22. Bundela though continued to be resilient at the other end and found an able partner in the form of Shubham Sharma. The youngster has been impressive this season and bailed his side out of trouble alongside his skipper to remain unbeaten on 91 at stumps. Bundela, who had reached his century off 244 balls, remained unbeaten on 131.
Brief scores: Railways 371 lead Madhya Pradesh 356/5 (Devendra Bundela 131*, Shubham Sharma 91*; Avinash Yadav 3-90) by 15 runs.
Group C
Hyderabad vs Chhattisgarh, Valsad
There was a minor scare when Tanmay Shrivastava was hit on the head while fielding at short leg during the game between Hydrabad and Chhattisgah at the Sardar Patel Stadium. Though he was rushed to the hospital, he walked out to bat putting pain to any concerns.However, Hyderabad were 115 for 9, leading Chhattisgarh by 278.
Starting the day on 124 for 1, Chhattisgarh suffered a big collapse to fold for 188, handing Hyderabad a lead of 163. Chama Milind and Akash Bhandari picked up three wickets each while Ravi Kiran, Mohammad Siraj and Mehdi Hasan bagged two sticks each.
Pushed against the wall, Pankaj Rao and Abhishek Tamrakar picked up four-wicket hauls to keep the Hyderabad batsmen under the mat. Bhandari scored 29 but found little support from the other batsmen.
Brief scores: 371 and 115-9(Akash Bhandari 29*; Pankaj Rao 4-37, Abhishek Tamrakar 4-19) lead Chhattisgarh 188 (Sahil Gupta 55, Abhimanyu Chauhan 55; Bhandari 3-27) by 278 runs.
Haryana vs Goa, Ghaziabad
Nitin Saini's unbeaten 211 led Haryana's charge in pursuit of Goa's 413 at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium. Haryana ended the day in a strong position with 393 for 3 on the board, trailing by just 21.
Starting the day on 197 for 6, it was Snehal Kauthankar who got Goa out of a tricky situation and stroked a 374-ball 225. Amit Mishra (4 for 147) and Harshal Patel (4 for 75) were the pick of the bowlers as the match headed for the first-innings shootout.
Brief scores: Goa 413 (Snehal Kauthankar 225; Harshal Patel 4-75) lead Haryana 393-3 (Nitin Saini 211*) by 21 runs.
Jammu & Kashmir vs Tripura, Mumbai
A 91-run stand between Ian Chauhan (67 not out) and Parvez Rasool (60 not out) helped Jammu & Kashmir end the day with a slight edge over Tripura at the Bandra Kurla Complex.
Early in the day, Gurinder Singh's unbeaten 84 took Tripura close to J&K's target but with no support coming from the other end, they folded for 297 - conceding a lead of 18 runs.
J&K started well but lost both their openers with 44 on the board. Pranav Gupta collaborated with Chauhan to add 63 before Chauhan and Rasool took charge of the proceedings.
Brief scores: 315 and 198-3 (Ian Chauhan 67*) lead Tripura 297 (Gurinder Singh 84*; Parvez Rasool 3-67) by 216 runs.
Services vs Himachal Pradesh, Surat
Services took a firm grip of their contest against Himachal Pradesh at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium and ended the day on 194 for 4, an overall lead of 302.
The bowlers did well to shoot Himachal down for just 296 and earn their side a 105-run lead. Sachidanand Pandey and Anshul Gupta shared six wickets between them while Sumeet Verma scored an unbeaten 40 before he ran out of partners.
With the bowlers doing a tremendous job, Gupta and Nakul Verma strengthened their position with a 91-run opening wicket stand. However, they wobbled late in the day to lose four but will still enter the final day with an advantage.
Brief scores: Services 401 and 197-4 (Anshul Gupta 60) lead Himachal 296 (Paras Dogra 70; Gupta 3-20) by 302 runs.
Kerala vs Andhra, Guwahati
In a tight race for the first innings, Andhra edged past Kerala to post 226 and take a seven-run lead at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium. Kerala though ended the day on a strong note with an overall lead of 222 and the scorecard reading 229 for 5.
Starting the day om 173 for 6, Ricky Bhui fell on 62 with 19 more needed for the first innings lead. Monish Kareparambil (14) and Basil Thampi (14) then held their nerve to take the team past Kerala's score.
In reply, Rohan Prem (89) and Bhavin Thakkar (56) made useful contributions to the Kerala total while P Vijay Kumar picked up 3 for 48 to keep things in check and set up and interesting final day.
Brief scores: Kerala 219 and 229-5 (Rohan Prem 89; P Vijay Kumar 3-48) lead Andhra 226 (Ricky Bhui 62; Basil Thampi 3-33) by 222 runs.
Group B Wrap
Vidarbha v Saurashtra, Delhi
Unless a batting collapse ensues on Day 4, the fixture between two of the bottom-placed sides in Group B is headed for a draw, with Vidarbha getting bragging rights due to a first-innings lead. Resuming on 242 for 3, it was Jitesh Sharma's 49 and Mohammad Azhar Sheikh's 117-ball unbeaten 25 that ensured the side earned a first-innings lead, despite losing last six wickets for just 44 runs. Vidarbha got 347 when their innings ended, taking a 46-run lead.
In reply, Saurashtra finished the day on 92 for 2, with Snell Patel unbeaten on 60.
Brief Scores: Saurashtra 301 and 92-2 (Snell Patel 60*; Shrikant Wagh 1-4) lead Vidarbha 347 (Faiz Fazal 94, Sanjay Ramaswamy 77; Vandit Jivrajani 4-93) by 46 runs
Delhi v Team Rajasthan, Wayanad
Another day ended with the close contest remaining on even-keel as Team Rajasthan bowlers pegged Delhi back in a small chase. That came after a hard-fought solo batting effort from Rajesh Bishnoi (89) kept Rajasthan from a meek surrender at the Krishnagiri stadium in Wayanad. Delhi spinners Manan Sharma (3 for 59) and Milind Kumar (2 for 19) were amongst the wickets after Pradeep Sangwan (3 for 31) did all the damage with exceptional bowling in the morning session.
Bishnoi, batting at No. 6, added a crucial 55-run partnership with Chetan Bist and batted nearly till the end to drag Rajasthan's lead towards 150. His 162-ball 89 included eight fours and four sixes.
Asked to chase 153, Delhi endured a shaky start as Pankaj Singh steamed in and sent Gambhir packing for 2 in the 5th over. Dhawan began just as he did in the first innings, chancing his arms at every opportunity. However, a couple of overs after Gambhir's exit, left-arm pacer Aniket Choudhary trapped Unmukt Chand leg before to give Rajasthan some hope.
Rajasthan were well and truly back in the reckoning when Rishabh Pant was run out without facing a single delivery. Nightwatchman Vikas Tokas and Dhawan played out 5.3 overs after Pant's exit to take Delhi to 51 for 3 at stumps, setting up an engaging Day 4 when they will need 102 runs to amass all the points on offer.
The tussle for the third spot in Group B is very intense, with four teams - Odisha, Delhi, Rajasthan and Maharashtra - fighting for it. In that context, a win will boost Delhi's chances.
Brief Scores: Rajasthan 238 and 221 (Rajesh Bishnoi 89; Pradeep Sangwan 3-31, Manan Sharma 3-59) lead Delhi 307 and 51-3 (Shikhar Dhawan 35*) by 102 runs.
Odisha v Karnataka, Delhi
Odisha bowlers lapped up the efforts of the batsmen to put Karnataka in all sorts of trouble at the Palam A ground in New Delhi, and thereby strengthen their chances of making the knockouts. Resuming on 318 for 9, the last-wicket pair of Basant Mohanty (40) and Alok Mangaraj (10 not out) added 24 runs in the morning, taking their partnership to 50 and the first-innings lead to a healthy 163.
CM Gautam scored his second fifty of the game and once again anchored Karnataka's innings as the top-order failed to convert starts. Mayank Agarwal fell for 49 while Robin Uthappa departed for 32, both to left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh. Vinay Kumar too got a start but departed for 41 as Odisha bowlers restricted Karnataka to 244 for 6 at stumps.
With seven points up for grabs, Odisha bowlers have the task of getting rid of Gautam at the earliest on Day 4 to ensure Karnataka don't extend the lead beyond their reach on the final day.
Brief Scores: Karnataka 179 and 244-6 (CM Gautam 68*, Mayank Agarwal 49; Dhiraj Singh 3-54) lead Odisha 342 (Saurabh Rawat 85, Biplab Samantaray 58; Shreyas Gopal 5-75) by 81 runs
Maharashtra v Assam, Chennai
Anupam Sanklecha carried forward his incredible form with the ball and picked up as many as 11 wickets, including an eight-wicket haul in the first innings, against Assam to put Maharashtra just four wickets short of a massive victory by an innings at the IIT Chemplast Stadium.
Resuming the day on 132 for 3, in reply to Maharashtra's mammoth 542, Assam failed to avoid follow-on as Sanklecha ran through the line-up, dismissing them for 256. Rishav Das (86), KB Arun Karthick (47) and Kunal Saikia (38) fought, albeit briefly, as the top and lower middle-order folded meekly. Following on, Assam were once again befuddled by Sanklecha's bowling. The pacer picked up three of the six wickets to fall, leaving Arun Karthick to wage a lone, and perhaps, a losing battle. At stumps, Assam reached 115 for 6, still trailing by 171 runs.
Brief Scores: Maharashtra 542 (Kedar Jadhav 115, Chirag Khurana 112*, Naushad Sheikh 97; Abu Nechim 3-83, Syed Mohammad 3-91) lead Assam 256 and 115-6 (KB Arun Karthick 33*; Anupam Sanklecha 3-37) by 171 runs.
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