A summary of all the action from day three of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Thursday.
Skipper Priyank Panchal hammered an unbeaten 257 to help Gujarat take a massive 292-run first-innings lead against Chandigarh on day three of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match in Ahmedabad, on Thursday.
Resuming at an overnight score of 249 for 3, Panchal marched on to score a superb double century and his mammoth 307-run unbeaten stand for the fifth wicket with M A Hingrajia (151 not out, 12 fours, 2 sixes) put Chandigarh on the mat.
At stumps, the home team had reduced Chandigarh to 46 for 2 still, 246 runs behind and staring at an innings defeat.
Panchal, who has been one of the prolific scorers on the domestic circuit, showed why he is a tough customer, as he ground the opposition bowling attack with his 353-ball knock which included 22 fours and 2 sixers.
Hingrajia proved to be an able foil for Panchal as the two sent the Chandigarh bowlers on a leather hunt, capitalising on the loose deliveries. In Nagpur, left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq bowled Jammu & Kashmir to a 39-run win over Vidharbha, returning with an eight-wicket haul.
Chasing 141 to win, the home team was shot out for 101 with Mushtaq running through the Vidharbha batting line-up as they collapsed from 40 for 2 in the 16th over to be dismissed in 34 overs.
Brief Scores:
At Ahmedabad: Chandigarh 304 in 116 overs (Bhagmender Lather 87, Arslan Khan 56, Gaurav Puri 51; Shen Patel 4/85, Hardik Patel 3/39, Siddharth Desai 2/74) and 46 for 2 in 15 overs vs Gujarat 596 for 4 declared in 134 overs (Priyank Panchal 257 (22 fours 2 sixes), M A Hingrajia 151 not out, Priyesh Patel 62, Bhagmender Lather 3/147).
At Indore: Railways 274 and 195 all out in 72 overs (Shivam Chudhary 53, Vivek Singh 31, Kumar Kartikeya Singh 5/54, Saransh Jain 4/82) vs Madhya Pradesh 255 all out in 84.5 overs (Rajat Patidar 54, SS Jadhav 5/34) and 36 for no loss in 13 overs.
At Nagpur: Jammu and Kashmir 191 and 221 all out in overs (Shubham Khajuria 109, Akshay Wakhare 4/50, Aditya Sarwate 3/45) beat Vidarbha 272 all out in 83.5 overs (Aditya Sarwate 75, Umar Nazir Mir 5/39) and 101 all out in 34 overs (Atharva Taide 42, Abid Musthaq 8 for 18) by 39 runs. J&K: 6 points, Vidarbha: 0.
At Agartala: Punjab 203 all out in 64.2 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 55, Manisankar Murasingh 5/48) vs Tripura 184 for 4 in 68 overs (Sudip Chatterjee 59 batting, Sridam Paul 55, Wriddhiman Saha 23 batting).
Himachal on a shaky wicket against Uttarakhand
Weather and Himachal Pradesh middle-order batters, Akash Vasisht and Rishi Dhawan, continued to frustrate hosts Uttarakhand's push towards victory on day three of the Ranji Trophy Group A match with the visitors reaching 327 for four at stumps.
After being bundled out for just 49 in the first innings and staring at an innings defeat following Uttarakhand's 336, Himachal have made amends in the second innings by wiping out the deficit and also taking a small 40-run lead.
For the visitors, Vasisht and Dhawan continued from where they had left off on Wednesday on 277 for 4, with the former just eight runs short of his century.
Dhawan completed his half-century in the 14 overs that were possible on Thursday due to bad light.
Himachal are still not out of the woods as a flurry of early wickets on the last day of the match on Friday will be enough to send them hurtling towards defeat.
Starting the day 10 runs short of wiping out Uttarakhand's first-innings deficit, the two batters concentrated on the task at hand, grafting for 14 overs and adding 50 valuable runs to their overnight score.
Their partnership has so far fetched 144 runs and the duo could well be Himachal's saviours if they manage to negotiate the tricky first session on day four.
Vasisht added 19 runs to his overnight score of 73 to be unbeaten on 92, while Dhawan, unbeaten on 32 on Wednesday, completed his half-century and remained not out on 57.
If Vasisht reaches the century mark on Friday, the left-hand batter will have scored his third first-class ton, while if Dhawan, a former India player, achieves the mark, it will be the veteran cricketer's fifth first-class ton.
Brief Scores:
At Dehradun: Himachal Pradesh 49 and 327/4 in 90 overs (Akash Vasisht 92 n.o., Rishi Dhawan 57 n.o.) versus Uttarakhand 336 in 75.4 overs.
At Cuttack: Haryana 338 and 119/1 in 37 overs (Yuvraj Singh 38, Ankit Kumar 59 n.o.) versus Odisha 414 in 128.5 overs (Anurag Sarangi 63, Shantanu Mishra 60, Subhranshu Senapati 63, Kartik Biswal 101, Suryakant Pradhan 60; Yuzvendra Chahal 3/107). Haryana lead by 43 runs.
At Sovima: Nagaland 166 and 123 (Karan Lal 5/47, Shahbaz Ahmed 3/38) lost to Bengal 450/4 decl by an innings and 161 runs.
At Vadodara: Uttar Pradesh 258 and 177 (Dhruv Jurel 50; Ninad Rathva 5/56) versus Baroda 249 and 72/4 (Saurabh Kumar 2/29). Baroda trail by 115 runs.
Tamil Nadu have victory over Delhi firmly in their sights
Young left-hander Pradosh Ranjan Paul showed admirable character while notching up his maiden first-class ton, keeping Tamil Nadu firmly in sight of their first outright win against a circumspect Delhi on day three of the Ranji Trophy Group B game, in New Delhi, on Thursday.
Courtesy, a career-best 124 from Pradosh along with useful contributions from all-rounder Vijay Shankar (52) and tailender Aswin Crist (32), Tamil Nadu declared their first innings on 427 for 8.
Delhi lost Anuj Rawat by close of play to reach 28 for 1 and are still 96 runs behind going into the final day.
Only one team can log home full points from this game and that is Tamil Nadu, provided they can bundle out Delhi within two sessions keeping the light factor in mind.
On three days, 76, 75.1 and 70 overs of play has been possible due to poor visibility as the light deteriorates quickly in this part of the country during the winter. Tamil Nadu captain Baba Indrajith rightly declared even though they had a chance of stretching the lead in the region of 175 but the sporting declaration was more about keeping the time factor in mind.
"There was no plan as such. We were told to play till tea and then the light suddenly dropped so it was decided that we would declare and try to get two wickets by the end of the day," Pradosh told media persons after the end of the day's play.
No credit will be enough for Pradosh, who hit 16 fours in his 212-ball knock while adding 103 runs for the sixth wicket with the seasoned Vijay and another 88 for the eighth wicket with Crist. Delhi's inexperienced attack once again couldn't bowl a disciplined channel for sustained periods.
Not very tall, nor of muscular built, Pradosh, who had to come in at No. 7 to accommodate all the seniors, isn't one of the most beautiful batters to watch but what stands out is his application and temperament.
He knew his hitting zones and punished the loose deliveries accordingly. It only helped that Delhi's senior-most bowler, slow left-arm orthodox Vikas Mishra (1/111 in 32 overs) was disappointing once again. There weren't even 10 deliveries in his entire spell where he looked like getting a wicket, failing to extract any purchase from the track.
Paul was quick on using his feet against both Mishra and off-spinner Lalit Yadav (1/50 in 21 overs) while any delivery from the seamers drifting down leg-side were clipped with disdain.
The Delhi pacers like Harshit Rana (3/121 in 26 overs) could not use the short ball as effectively as they did on the second day while left-arm quick Kuldip Yadav (1/92 in 20 overs) got the maximum punishment. He also bowled the bulk of the six no-balls in Tamil Nadu innings.
His animated celebration after getting to his first Ranji ton was a sight as he leapt in the air, pumped his fists and then held his patched U-19 India helmet aloft with his bat.
"It was a special moment for me as I made my debut four years back. I didn't get to play more matches. I expected the hundred to come a little earlier but I am very happy," a beaming Pradosh.
Brief Scores:
At Delhi: Delhi 303 and 28/1 in 8 overs (Dhruv Shorey 10 batting, Washington Sundar 1/3). Tamil Nadu 1st Innings 427/8 decl in 116 overs (PR Paul 124, Vijay Shankar 52, B Indrajith 71, B Aparajith 57, Harshit Rana 3/121).
At Mumbai: Saurashtra 289 and 220 in 52.4 overs (Dharmendra Jadeja 90, Shams Mulani 6/65). Mumbai 230 and (target 280) 218/8 (Prithvi Shaw 68, Suryakumar Yadav 38, Parth Bhut 4/56, Yuvraj Dodiya 3/80).
At Hyderabad: Assam 205 and 252. Hyderabad 208 and (target 250) 228/9 (Tanmay Agarwal 123 batting, Bhavesh Seth 41, Riyan Parag 3/90).
At Vizianagaram: Maharashtra 200 and 250 in 81.1 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 63, Nitish Reddy 3/66). Andhra 211 and (target 240) 100/4 in 36 overs (Hanuma Vihari 36 batting).
Karnataka is in control against Goa
Karnataka looked set to secure a big first innings lead against Goa despite fighting half-centuries by three of the home team's batters on day three of their Elite Group C match in Porvorim, on Thursday.
At stumps, Goa were 321 for 8 with captain Darshan Mishal battling it out on 66 not out (134 balls, 9 fours, 1 six) after Karnataka piled up 603 for 7 declared.
Resuming at the overnight score of 45 for 1, Suyash S Prabhudesai (87, 165 balls, 12 fours) and Sumiran Amonkar (30) added 19 runs before the latter was dismissed by Shubang Hegde (2/79).
Prabhudesai was involved in a half-century stand with Snehal Kauthankar (21) before the latter fell to off-spinner K Gowtham (3/109).
After the dismissal of Prabhudesai and Kd Eknath (5), Siddhesh Lad (63) and skipper Darshan Mishal (66 batting, 134 balls, 9 fours, 1 six) dug in and put on 65 runs for the sixth wicket.
Mishal was battling it out at stumps with Lakshay Garg (20 not out) for company.
However, the efforts of the batters were not enough as Gowtham and the other Karnataka bowlers persevered to break through when the Goa batters appeared set to post a sizable stand.
At Thumba, hosts Kerala saw Chattisgarh fight back through its captain Harpreet Singh Bhatia as they looked to set a fighting target after having conceded a big first innings lead.
Bhatia's 152 (228 balls, 12 fours, 3 sixes) was the lone bright spot as the other batters failed to offer him support. The experienced all-rounder Jalaj Saxena followed up his five-wicket haul in the first innings with an encore in the second to help Kerala seize the advantage.
Saxena's six-wicket effort in the second innings helped Kerala bowl out Chhattisgarh for 287 in 89.4 overs, a lead of 125 runs.
Brief Scores:
At Porvorim: Karnataka 603 for 7 declared in 148.2 overs (Manish Pandey 208 not out, R Samarth 140, Vishal Onat 91, Mayank Agarwal 50, Darshan Misal 3/145) vs Goa 321 for 8 in 109 overs (Suyash Prabhudesai 87, Darshan Mishal 66 batting, Siddhesh Lad 63, K Gowtham 3/109).
At Thumba: Chhattisgarh 149 all out in 49.5 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 40, Jalaj Saxena 5/48) and 287 all out in 89.4 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 152 (228 balls, 12X4, 3X6), Amandeep Khare 30, Jalaj Saxena 6/75) vs Kerala 311 all out in 107.1 overs (Rohan Prem 77, Sachin Baby 77, Sumit Ruikar 3/37).
At Jamshedpur: Services 367 in 90 overs (Rajat Paliwal 76, M S Rathee 69, Rahul Singh Gahlaut 60, Sufiyan Alam 58, Anukul Roy 6/67) and 22 for 1 in 5 overs vs Jharkhand 551 for 8 declared in 142 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 165, Kumar Suraj 83, Kumar Deobrat 62, Shahbaz Nadeem 60 not out, Anukul Roy 57, Virat Singh 56, Arpit N Guleria 3/138).
