After shining with the ball, India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja's unbeaten 178 helped Saurashtra to take first innings lead versus Railways on the second day of their Ranji Elite Group A match in Rajkot on Tuesday.
Courtesy Jadeja's knock, Saurashtra lead Railways by 144 runs after they ended the Day 2 at 344/8.
After electing to bat, Railways were bundled out for a meagre 200 with skipper Mahesh Rawat top-scoring with 46.
For the hosts, Jadeja, a left-arm spinner (4-58), did most of the damage.
And Jadeja did not disappoint with the bat too.
After Saurashtra's top-order failed, left-handed Jadeja took the centre-stage at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, hitting 16 fours and four sixes in his 326-ball stay at the crease so far.
He hammered a listless Railways attack and completed his 100 off 216 balls and 150 in 285 balls, respectively.
Jadeja found an unusual partner in number 9 Kamlesh Makwana who made 62.
The duo frustrated the Railway bowlers, but Makwana's stay at the crease was cut short by Harsh Tyagi.
Saurashtra's hopes of increasing the lead now solely depend on Jadeja, who will be eyeing a double-hundred.
Brief Scores: At Rajkot: Railways 200 all out vs Saurashtra 344/8 (Ravindra Jadeja 178 batting, Kamlesh Makwana 62, Avinash Yadav 3-95).
Saurashtra lead by 144 runs.
At Vadodara: Baroda 322 all out (Yusuf Pathan 99, Swapnil Singh 79, Satyajeet Bachhav 4-81) vs Maharashtra 253/8 (Naushad Shaikh 65, Chirag Khurana 56, Swapnil Singh 4-73).
Maharashtra trail by 69 runs.
At Valsad: Gujarat 538/7 Declared (Dhruv Raval 116 not out, Manprit Juneja 107, Vishal Kushwah 3-92) vs Chhattisgarh 53/2.
Chhattisgarh trail by 485 runs.
At Nagpur: Vidarbha 307 (Ganesh Satish 57, SrikantWagh 57, J Suchith 4-33) against Karnataka 208/5 (Dega Nischal66 batting, Aditya Sarwate 2-44). Karnataka trail by 99 runs.
Aaron powers J'khand to 9 wickets win against Haryana
Jharkhand bowlers led by former India pacer Varun Aaron produced a stellar show for the second time as they thrashed Haryana by nine wickets in the Elite Group C Ranji Trophy encounter.
Jharkhand registered this thumping win on the second day of the four-day encounter, which was a low-scoring thriller.
After bundling out Haryana for a meagre 81 in the first innings on Monday, Jharkhand pacers again scuttled their oppostion for 72 in the second outing to contribute in the team's resounding win.
Resuming the overnight score of 120/6, Jharkhand managed to add only 23 runs to their total and were bowled out for 143. They had a slender 62-run first innings lead.
However, 29-year-old Aaron, who has played nine Tests and as many ODIs, had other ideas. He wreaked havoc on the Haryana batsmen and returned with exceptional figures of 6-32 in the second outing.
Aaron was ably supported by Ajay Yadav (3-31) and Rahul Shukla (1-9) as the pacers shared the wickets among them.
The Haryana batsman once again meekly surrendered before Aaron and company. Only four batters were able to score in doubles figures.
With just 11 runs needed for an outright win, Jharkhand completed the proceedings in four overs but lost captain Ishan Kishan in the process.
Brief scores: At Rohtak: Haryana 81 and 72 lost to Jharkhand 143 and 12/1 by 9 wickets.
At Bhubaneshwar: Odisha 256 all out vs Uttar Pradesh 361/6 (Aksh Deep Nath 151 batting, Rinku Singh 72, Basant Mohanty 3-44). Uttar Pradesh lead by 105 runs.
At Agartala: Assam 327 all out and 5/0 vs Tripura 139 all out (Pratyush Singh 47, Arup Das 5-42, Mukhtair Hussain 4-43). Assam lead by 193 runs.
At Porvorim: Goa 422/7 (Snehal Kauthankar 106 batting, Sumiran Amonkar 73, Irfan Pathan 2-49) vs Jammu and Kashmir.
At Jaipur: Services 228 all out and 127/4 (Rahul Singh Gahlaut 37 batting) against Rajasthan 136 (Chetan Bist 46, Sachidanand Pandey 5-58). Services lead by 219 runs.
Under pressure Tiwary smashes 201 not out against Madhya Pradesh
Skipper Manoj Tiwary silenced his critics by smashing an unbeaten double century before Bengal declared their innings at a mammoth 510/9 against Madhya Pradesh in a Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Resuming at overnight score of 246/4, Bengal plundered a further 264 runs with Tiwary (201 not out) completing his fifth first class double century on the eve of his 33rd birthday. Tiwary began the day on individual score of 31.
Madhya Pradesh bowlers had a tough outing despite a five-wicket haul by young Shubham Sharma (5/59).
At close on Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh were 15 for no loss with plenty to ponder with two more days to go.
For Tiwary, the build-up to the Ranji season was full of drama after the Sourav Ganguly-led Cricket Association of Bengal gave him an 'ultimatum' naming him skipper for first two matches.
Tiwary decided to step down after Bengal's Ranji Trophy opener in Himachal Pradesh but changed his mind after scoring a first innings half-century. He also had a lucky outing Monday as he was dropped twice.
Team mentor Arun Lal had said this morning that the team wanted a double hundred from him.
Tiwary did not let the team down and played with dogged determination to complete his century in 166 balls with a boundary off leg-spinner Mihir Hirwani.
An aggressive celebration followed with Tiwary pointing his bat towards the club house. The bat was also special for him as he had his four-month-old son Yuvaan's name embossed on it.
"There were a lot of emotional moments. That's why the special celebration," Tiwary said, rating his knock second to 210 that he had hit against Mumbai.
"This for the ones who don't like me or my batting. Hope they won't tell me to be dropped again. There were also talks that I would be removed from captaincy and the team. I have nothing to say," Tiwary said.
He said the uncertainty pumped him up, instead of being bogged down.
"Been honestly playing for 14-15 years. Took it as a challenge. Certainly there was pressure. So it felt sweeter," said Tiwary.
"I am also a human being. Family and friends were also disturbed. I will celebrate (my birthday) at home," he added.
Brief Scores:
Bengal: 510/9 declared in 149.3 overs (Manoj Tiwary 201 not out, Koushik Ghosh 100, Abhimanyu Easwaran 86; Shubham Sharma 5/59) vs Madhya Pradesh 15 for no loss in 10 overs.
Milind hits double century to put Sikkim in command against Nagaland
Continuing his impressive form, former Delhi batsman Milind Kumar struck his second consecutive double century to put Sikkim on top against Nagaland in a Ranji Trophy Plate group fixture in Dimapur on Tuesday.
Resuming on his overnight score of 78 in team total of 120/5, Milind hit a stroke-filled 224 from 215 balls (31x4, 3x6) to steer Sikkim to 374 in 82.5 overs.
Sikkim then reduced Nagaland to 97/5 in their second innings with Bipul Sharma and Pawan Suyal claiming two wickets apiece to take their side closer to a second successive bonus point victory.
The home side still need 95 runs to avoid an innings defeat.
Earlier, Milind, who hit a career-best 261 in Sikkim's innings and 27-run win over Manipur in Kolkata in their last round match, shared 174 runs with Bipul Sharma (90) to take a big first innings lead.
Milind batted with the lower order batsmen, adding further 78 runs before being dismissed by Tahmeed Rahman.
For Nagaland, left-arm medium pacer Pawan Suyal claimed 7/108.
In Dehradun, Manipur fought back after conceding a 91-run first innings lead to Uttarakhand with Lakhan Rawat overcoming a first innings failure to post an unbeaten 81.
At close, Manipur were 143/1 with a lead of 52 runs.
Earlier, Uttarakhand resumed the day at 123/5 but managed to add 105 runs for the remaining five wickets on day two with skipper Rajat Bhatia scoring 61 off 63 balls.
Vaibhav scored 54 while opener Karanveer Kaushal made 45 as Uttarakhand ended their first innings at 228.
For Manipur, Thokchom Singh (4/50) Bishworjit Konthoujam (4/68) did the main damage.
In reply, Rawat put on a stand of 92 runs with Prafullomani Singh for the opening wicket.
Dhapola though broke the stand claiming Prafullomani for 30, but one down batsman Priyojit K made a dogged unbeaten 23 in their unbroken 51 runs for the second wicket to give the team some hope.
Brief Scores:
In Dimapur: Nagaland 179 and 97/5 in 40 overs (KB Pawan 61; Ishwar Chaudhary 2/21, Bipul Sharma 2/21) vs Sikkim 374 in 82.5 overs (Milind Kumar 224, Bipul Sharma 90; Pawan Suyal 7/108).
In Dehradun: Manipur 137 and 143/1 in 60 overs (Lakhan Rawat 81 batting) vs Uttarakhand 228 in 73.1 overs (Rajat Bhatia 61; Thokchom Singh 4/50, Bishworjit Konthoujam 4/68).
In Jorhat: Arunachal Pradesh 220 and 251/5 in 67 overs (Kshitiz Sharma 57, Neelam Obi 56, Kamsha Yangfo 53) vs Mizoram 142 in 43.2 overs (Kshitiz 4/31, Techi Doria 4/26).
In Puducherry: Puducherry 389 in 127.3 overs (Rohit Damodaren 138, Paras Dogra 101, Abhishek Nayar 57; Gurinder Singh 4/106) vs Meghalaya 161/6 in 52 overs (Puneet Bisht 58, Yogesh Nagar 45; Pankaj Singh 3/20, Akshay Jain 2/52).
Reddy's double ton powers Hyderabad to 523 for 7 vs TN
Skipper Akshath Reddy's marathon double ton (248 not out) was the highlight of Hyderabad's massive total of 523 for 7 in the first innings against Tamil Nadu in a Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match in Tirunelveli, in Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday.
Resuming at the overnight 249 for 3, the visitors continued to pile on the misery of Tamil Nadu's bowlers as Akshath and B Sandeep (130, 221 balls, 15X4, 1X6) extended their partnership to 246 runs.
Akshath continued his good form into the second day and added eight boundaries to his overnight 14 and also hoisted two more sixers.
The mammoth partnership was ended when Sandeep gave a catch to B Aparajith off the bowling of the hard-working M Mohammed.
Mystery bowler C V Varun, making his debut, who could not create any impact yesterday, earned his maiden wicket, when he dismissed Akash Bhandari for 17.
Akshath was involved in a century partnership for the seventh wicket with Saaketh (42) to put Hyderabad in a position of strength.
The skipper has so far hit 22 fours and three sixers in his 477-ball knock of 248.
Tamil Nadu skipper B Indrajith has used eight bowlers so far in the innings. K Vignesh, Mohammed and Rahil Shah have been rewarded with two wickets each for their efforts.
Brief scores: Hyderabad 523 for 7 in 177 overs (Akshath Reddy 248 batting, B Sandeep 130, K Vignesh 2 for 81) vs Tamil Nadu.
At Kolkata: Bengal 510 for 9 declared in 149.3 overs (Manoj Tiwary 201 not out, Koushik Ghosh 100, A R Easwran 86, Shubham Sharma 5 for 59) vs Madhya Pradesh 15 for no loss in 10 overs.
At Thiruvananthapuram: Andhra Pradesh 254 in 99.4 overs (Ricky Bhui 109, Shiv Charan Singh 45, Akshay KC 4 for 64) vs Kerala 227 for 1 in 78 overs (Jalaj Saxena 127 batting, K B Arun Karthick 56).
HP tail wags as Delhi miss chance of enforcing follow-on
A gritty show from the Himachal Pradesh lower-order did not allow Delhi to enforce the follow-on in a Group B match of the Ranji Trophy in New Delhi on Tuesday.
At stumps on Day 2, Himachal Pradesh were 216 for 8 in reply to Delhi's first innings score of 317.
Delhi captain Nitish Rana will certainly feel that an opportunity to enforce follow on was lost after HP were reduced to 58 for 6.
Rishi Dhawan (64, 114 balls) and Ekant Sen (46, 71 balls) added 95 runs for the visitors, much to the frustration of the home team.
Mayank Dagar (21 batting) and Pankaj Jaswal (23 batting) added 35 runs for the ninth wicket to give the total some semblance of respectability.
Left arm spinner Varun Sood (4/53) was the pick of the bowlers. The other slow left arm orthodox bowler, Vikas Mishra (2/65 in 21 overs), was also in his elements.
Ishant Sharma (1/38 in 11 overs) was impressive in short bursts and distinctly unlucky as some of the edges didn't carry to keeper or the slips.
The senior fast bowler looked in good rhythm and got a lot of deliveries to straighten after pitching on the seam.
Delhi would rue the fact that they didn't go for the kill when Himachal were under the pump.
Most of the top order batsmen got out playing poor shots even though there was some hint of turn.
"None of our batsmen were out because of the pitch. The pitch played okay but it was poor shot selection," HP coach Vikram Rathour said.
While Sood mainly bowled arm balls, Misra got a few to turn but in most cases, batsmen were out to straight deliveries while playing for the turn.
Brief Scores:
Delhi 1st Innings 317 (Dhruv Shorey 88, Hiten Dalal 79, Mayank Dagar 3/63)
Himachal Pradesh 1st Innings 216/8 (Rishi Dhawan 64, Ekant Sen 46, Varun Sood 4/53).
