Saurashtra thrash Haryana
Rohtak: Saurashtra seamers Jaydev Unadkat, Shaurya Sanandia and Chirag Jani shared seven wickets among them to bundle out Haryana for 140 in their second innings and lift their team to an innings and 31-run victory on the third day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match, on Sunday.
After Haryana resumed on 93 for six, Unadkat and Jani shared four wickets between them, to finish off Haryana before lunch.
Forced to follow-on after being bundled out for 107 in their first innings, Haryana's batsmen failed to show any improvement in their second essay as well, except Chaitanya Bishnoi, who made 56.
Saurashtra could register an innings victory despite scoring less than 300 (278) when they batted in their only innings in the match.
Brief scores:
Saurashtra: 278 all out
Haryana: 107 and 140 all out (Chaitanya Bishnoi 56; Jaydev Unadkat 3-55, Shaurya Sanandia 2-18, Chirag Jani 2-12).
Debutant Anuj impresses as Delhi close in on win
New Delhi: Delhi looked firmly in sight of a huge victory after debutant Anuj Rawat's 71 propelled the hosts to a commendable 435 in their first innings on third day of the Ranji Trophy Group A encounter against Assam.
After taking a sizeable 177-run first innings lead, Delhi left Assam in tatters at 60 for three in their second essay with another 117 runs required to avoid innings defeat.
Navdeep Saini (2-13) proved to be too hot to handle as he dismissed both openers Pallav Das (5) and Rishav Das (9).
Left-arm pacer Kulwant Khejroliya sent back rival skipper Gokul Sharma to cripple the visitors further.
The highlight of the day was composed batting from Anuj, who is still 10 days short of his 18th birthday.
The young left-hander faced 146 balls, hitting seven fours and a six. More importantly, he added 122 runs for the seventh wicket with Mannan Sharma (69) after Delhi were 297 for six at one stage.
Gautam Gambhir (137) was out early in the day, adding only a single run to his overnight score.
Uttaranchal boy Anuj, who has learnt his cricket from Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma at West Delhi Academy, showed maturity beyond years.
He allowed his senior partner Mannan to go for his shots. The duo joined together at 297 for six with the lead being less than 40. But the manner in which Anuj handled the Assam pace duo of Abu Nechim (7-68) and Krishna Das (2-82) was praiseworthy.
He also used his feet well against the spinners, lofting off-spinner Sarupam Purkayastha for a straight six.
By the time, both were dismissed, Delhi had taken complete control of the proceedings.
Brief scores:
Assam: 258 and 60 for three (Navdeep Saini 2-13).
Delhi 1st innings: 435 (Gautam Gambhir 137, Nitish Rana 110, Anuj Rawat 71, Mannan Sharma 69; Abu Nechim Ahmed 7-68).
Captain Mukund keeps TN afloat
Chennai: Tamil Nadu captain Abhinav Mukund fought back with a resolute half-century in the second innings after a century by B Sumanth gave Andhra Pradesh an important 133-run lead on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Group C match.
At stumps, Tamil Nadu reached 112 for two in their second innings with Mukund batting on 52 in respone to Andhra's first innings total of 309.
They had an injury scare when Test opener Murali Vijay retired hurt when on 13 after appearing to have rolled his ankle.
Resuming at 231 for seven, Andhra extended their lead as Sumanth in the company of Shoaib Mohammed Khan added a further 52 runs as the host's misery continued.
Khan fell for 43, a crucial knock as it helped his team build an important lead, when he was leg-before wicket to Ravichandran Ashwin.
Sumanth continued to defy the TN bowlers and reached a well-deserved century of 254 balls.
He was the last man to be dismissed off Ravichandran Ashwin. His 280-ball knock contained five fours and one six and went a long way in making sure of first innings points for his team as the match appears headed for a draw.
Ashwin finished with four for 71 for his efforts while K Vignesh scalped three wickets.
The home side began their second innings cautiously and Vijay seemed in good touch, before retiring hurt.
The left-handed Mukund looked solid and hit four boundaries in his half-century.
Brief scores:
Tamil Nadu 176 all out and 112 for 2 in 54 overs (Abhinav Mukund 54 not out).
Andhra Pradesh 309 all out in 123.4 overs (B Sumanth 109, Ashwin Hebbar 64, Shoaib Mohammed Khan 43, K S Bharat 32, R Ashwin 4-71, K Vignesh 3-73).
Debutants lead Punjab's strong reply
Dharamsala: Wicketkeeper Abhishek Gupta struck an unbeaten century on debut as Punjab reached 484 for six in reply to Himachal Pradesh's mammoth 729 for eight declared on the third day of a Group D Ranji Trophy match.
Gupta made a quickfire 129 not out off 116 balls with the help of 16 boundaries and four sixes to held the fort for Punjab in the company of his name sake and another debutant Abhishek Sharma (81 not out).
Himachal Pradesh will go into day four needing four more wickets to secure a first-innings lead but for that to happen the home team bowlers will have to break the 210-run seventh-wicket partnership between Gupta and Sharma.
The two batsmen, both on their first-class debut, came to their side's rescue after Punjab were down at 274 for six at one stage.
The duo then stretched Punjab to 484 for six by stumps on the third day.
Resuming the day at the overnight score of 110 for 1, Punjab captain Jiwanjot Singh (59) and No. 4 batsman Anmolpreet Singh (50) made fifties, before off-spinner Gurvinder Singh (5-118) accounted for both the batsman.
Elsewhere in another Group D match in New Delhi, a five- for from off-spinner Aamir Gani helped Bengal secure a first-innings lead of 193 over Services.
Bengal opted not to enforce the follow-on and stretched their lead to 270 by stumps on the third day.
Services opener Navneet Singh, who was unbeaten on 44 overnight, went on to score 121 on first-class debut, while Ravi Chauhan (53), Rahul Singh (43) and Shamsher Yadav (38) made fine contributions.
However, unlike Bengal, who had five half-centurions in their first innings to support Sudip Chatterjee's hundred, Services' batsman failed to build on their starts.
Right-arm off-break bowler Aamir Gani's impressive five for 109 figure spell was responsible for restricting in Services.
At stumps, Bengal reached 77 for no loss in their second innings.
