Shreyas Iyer scored a magnificent, maiden double hundred and Aditya Tare, his captain, an unbeaten ton, as Mumbai took a huge first innings lead of 341 runs over Punjab on Day 2 of their Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai on Friday.
At stumps, Mumbai were 495 for 6 in 112 overs, in reply to Punjab's 154, with Tare (111) and Dhawal Kulkarni (30) at the crease, and two days left to play in the Group B game.
Resuming the day on the overnight score of 61, Iyer scored briskly to register the fourth fastest double century by an Indian batsman in first class cricket.
The list includes Ravi Shastri's 123 for Mumbai against Baroda in 1985 and Virender Sehwag's 168-ball double ton for India against Sri Lanka in 2009.
Iyer reached the coveted double off just 175 balls, which included 25 fours and five sixes.
The 20-year-old batsman displayed superb timing in his strokes before falling for 200 off the next ball he faced after reaching the landmark with a single.
Iyer, who batted for 292 minutes in scoring his third first class ton, was dismissed in trying to clear the rope for the sixth time in his innings by his Delhi Daredevils teammate and Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh.
He and Suryakumar Yadav (78 in 162 balls) had put on 233 runs for the third wicket after joining forces on Thursday and the blistering pace at which the former, who completed his first hundred in 90 balls, scored enabled Mumbai to reach 300 in just 61 overs.
Later, he and captain Tare, who has faced 140 balls and struck 15 fours, combined to add 64 runs for the fourth wicket to completely demoralise the Punjab attack in which left-arm pacer Barinder Singh Sran was the lone bright spot with a three-wicket haul.
Though Mumbai lost the wickets of Sidhesh Lad and Abhishek Nayar cheaply, Tare - who reached his sixth first class ton in 128 balls - and Kulkarni kept the Punjab fielders chasing leather with a stand of 71 runs for the seventh wicket.
Brief scores:
Punjab (1st innings): 154
Mumbai (1st innings): 495 for 6 (S Iyer 200, S Yadav 78, A Tare 111 not out, D Kulkarni 30 not out; Barinder Singh Sran 3-87).
Debutant Rana impresses after Ishant's six-for
New Delhi: Ishant Sharma’s six-wicket haul enabled Delhi to restrict Vidarbha to 298 on Day 2 of their Ranji group league encounter.
Delhi, in reply, crawled to 132 for two in 60 overs, with skipper Gautam Gambhir playing a painstaking unbeaten 62 off 180 balls, including six fours.
The India discard consumed 30 of the 60 overs as Vidarbha’s bowlers adopted a negative line, bowling way outside the off-stump.
The highlight of the day, apart from Gambhir’s knock and Ishant’s bowling, was solid batting by debutant left-hander Nitish Rana, who scored 57 off 139 deliveries, including eight boundaries.
Along with Gambhir, he added 112 runs for the unbroken third-wicket stand.
Delhi need 167 runs to get the first innings lead.
The 21-year-old Rana was impressive during his stay at the wicket. Strong off the backfoot, the youngster packed a lot of punch in his shots. Especially square off the wicket, his shots were top class.
A square cut followed by a straight drive off Shrikant Wagh was appreciated by one and all. He completed his half century with a glorious on-drive coming down the track against off-spinner Akshay Wakhare.
But Gambhir's subdued form was the reason that Delhi could not press the initiative, scoring barely two runs per over.
In the morning, Ishant showed that he is a class apart from other bowlers as he intimidated Vidarbha’s lower-order with pace and bounce.
The standout was a bouncer that nearly took Wakhare's head. The batsman was so dazed that he gave a tame catch off the next delivery.
Brief scores:
Vidarbha: 298 (Faiz Fazal 55, S Badrinath 44, Ishant Sharma 6-36).
Delhi: 132-2 (Gautam Gambhir batting 62, Nitish Rana batting 57).
Saurashtra beat Jharkhand by 8 wickets, clinch 6 points
Rajkot: Saurashtra defeated Jharkhand by eight wickets on the second day of their Group C match at the Madhavrao Scindia cricket ground.
The hosts clinched six points from the victory.
Jharkhand were bowled out for 168 and 122 in the first and second innings respectively.
Ravindra Jadeja, who had six wickets from the first innings, took seven more in the second on a spin-friendly track. He was well-supported by Kamlesh Makwana, who claimed three wickets.
Saurashtra, who had taken a lead of 37 runs in their first innings after being dismissed for 205, needed 85 runs to win the game.
The hosts achieved the target by losing two wickets. Avi Barot was dismissed for 8 while Sagar Jogiyani got out on 46.
Cheteshwar Pujara (23) and Chirag Jani (8) remained unbeaten.
Saurashtra had defeated Tripura by an innings and 118 runs to bag a bonus point in teir opening match.
Jadeja has now taken 24 wickets in just two games this Ranji Trophy season.
Brief scores:
Jharkhand: 168 and 122 (Ishank Jaggi 31, Ravindra Jadeja 7-55).
Saurashtra: 205 and 86 for 2 (Sagar Jogiyani 46, Cheteshwar Pujara 23 not out.
Deepak Hooda’s ton hoists Baroda
Vadodara: Deepak Hooda led the way with a century as Baroda amassed 448 for six to extend their lead to a healthy 282 runs in their Ranji Trophy Group B encounter against Railways.
At stumps on the second day at the Moti Bagh Stadium, the home side's Hardik Pandya and Ketan Panchal were batting on 41 and 17 respectively.
Hooda was assisted by opener Kedar Devdhar (88) and skipper Aditya Waghmode (87) as the hosts dominated proceedings for the second consecutive day. India discard Yusuf Pathan contributed 62 off 87 balls, with the help of eight fours and a six.
Railways were bowled out for 166 in their first innings on the opening day.
Hooda, who hit 20 boundaries and two sixes in his 179-ball knock, was involved in a stand of 124 runs for the third wicket with Waghmode and 111 runs for the fourth wicket with Pathan.
Before that, there was a 113-run partnership for the second wicket between Devdhar and Waghmode, who found the fence 12 times while facing 216 balls. Devdhar hit 14 fours in his 160-ball knock.
Anureet Singh was the best bowler for the visiting Railways, returning impressive figures of 4-80 in 33 overs even as the others struggled with their line and length.
Gangta's ton puts Himachal in command against J&K
Dharamsala: Middle-order batsman Nikhil Gangta scored an unbeaten century to hand Himachal Pradesh the crucial first innings lead over Jammu and Kashmir on the second day of their Group C Ranji match.
His unbeaten 111 off 158 balls, inclusive of 12 boundaries and five fours, enabled Himachal Pradesh post 300 for five in their first innings by stumps on the second day in reply to Jammu and Kashmir's 293.
Besides Gangta, Robin Bist also chipped in with a handy contribution of 66 that came off 137 balls and was studded with seven fours, while wicket-keeper Ankur Bains scored 37 up the order.
At the close of play, Rishi Dhawan was giving Gangta company at the crease with a run-a-ball 40.
For Jammu and Kashmir, pacer Ram Dayal (2-63) and skipper Parvez Rasool (2-76) claimed two wickets each.
Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir could add just 19 runs to their overnight score before being bowled out for 293.
Skipper Parvez Rasool remained stranded on an unbeaten 114 as Himachal Pradesh polished off Jammu and Kashmir's innings in 4.5 overs of the morning session.
Rasool's century knock came off 185 balls during which he hit 10 boundaries and three sixes.
With figures of four for 107, Rishi Dhawan was Himchal’s most successful bowler.
Brief scores:
Jammu & Kashmir (1st innings): 293 in 94.5 overs (Parvez Rasool 114 not out, Rishi Dhawan 4-107).
Himachal Pradesh (1st innings): 300 for five in 83 overs (Nikhil Gangta 111 not out, Robin Bist 66; Ram Dayal 2-63).
Services amass 403 against Goa
Porvorim (Goa): Services batsmen continued to dominate Goa’s bowling, amassing 403 in their first innings on the second day of their Ranji Group C at the GCA ground.
In reply, Goa were straightaway under pressure, losing two early wickets and ending the day on 63 for 2, still 340 runs in arrears with eight wickets in hand.
Opener Amogh Desai was trapped by Diwesh Pathania for one while Sagun Kamat was caught by Sharma off P S Poonia for 24.
Opener Swapnil Asnodkar batted cautiously to remain not out on 25, with Dheeraj Jadhav (12), when the stumps were drawn.
Earlier, resuming at their overnight first innings score of 230-3, Services added 173 runs before being dismissed for 403 in 137.1 overs.
Yashpal Singh was first to go, caught behind by wicketkeeper Rahul Keni off Saurabh Bandekar for 13 with the score 263.
Rajat Paliwal then found an able partner in Sufiyan Alam as they kept the scoreboard ticking. Paliwal, who looked well-set for a century, was unlucky as he was trapped leg before by Darshan Misal for 93. He put on 42 runs for the fifth wicket with Sufyan Alam and hit 13 fours and one six in 123 balls.
Sufiyan Alam too was trapped by Rituraj Singh for 63. He hit seven fours off 111 balls.
Rituraj Singh then snared Shadab Nazar for his third wicket before Shadab Jakati dismissed Shashaank Sharma (23).
P S Poonia was the other successful bowler with figures of 3 for 80.
Brief scores:
Services (1st innings): 403 in 137.1 overs (Rajat Paliwal 93, Sufiyan Alam 63; Shadab Jakati 3-80, Rituraj Singh 3-89).
Goa (1st innings): 12-1 in six overs.
Podder keeps Odisha in hunt against Maharashtra
Cuttack: Govind Podder scored an unbeaten 78 to take Odisha to 167 for four in reply to Maharashtra's 281 on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Group A fixture at the Barbati Stadium.
Podder scored his runs off 167 balls, with the help of 12 boundaries. Giving him company at stumps was Pratik Das on 32.
Medium-pacer Shrikant Mundhe (3-40) picked up three crucial wickets for Maharashtra.
With two more days to go, Odisha still trail Maharashtra by 114 runs with six wickets in hand.
Earlier resuming at the overnight score of 231 for five, Maharashtra's last five batsmen could add just 50 runs before being bundled out for 281 in 101.2 overs.
Suryakant Pradhan (4-90) was the pick of the Odisha bowlers, while Biplab Samantray (3-31) and Basant Mohanty (2-41) also chipped in with useful wickets.
Brief scores:
Maharashtra (1st innings): 281 in 101.2 overs (Harshad Khadiwale 74, Ankit Bawne 60; Suryakant Pradhan 4-90).
Odisha (1st innings): 167 for four in 67 overs (Govind Podder 78 not out; Shrikant Mundhe 3-40).
