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A round-up of the second day's play of the Ranji Trophy matches being played in different parts of the country.
A gritty 50 by Ian Dev Singh Chauhan and some lower-order resistance helped Jammu & Kashmir share honours with Bengal on Day 2 of their Group A fixture in Kolkata.
Replying to Bengal's tall first innings of 387, Jammu & Kashmir ended the day on 183 for 5, needing 54 more runs to avoid the follow-on.
The visitors had two mini batting collapses on both sides of the lunch break but in-form batsman Chauhan saved them again with a counter-attacking 103-ball 72 (10x4, 2x6) on an Eden Gardens track which has eased out considerably.
Shubham Singh Pundir (batting 34 batting) and Bandeep Singh (batting 27) were undefeated after a 55-run sixth wicket partnership that frustrated Bengal.
Ahead by 204, Bengal have the edge with two more days left. The home team will first look to secure a substantial first innings lead before pressing for an outright victory.
The highlight of the day was Wriddhiman Saha's magnificent 166 from 252 deliveries (23x4, 2x6). The wicketkeeper took Bengal to 387 after a top-order flop show on Tuesday, Day 1.
Resuming at 312 for 7, with Saha unbeaten on his overnight score of 129, Bengal lost Ashok Dinda (25) in the sixth over of the day. It brought an end to their 42-run ninth-wicket stand.
Watched by former India captain Sourav Ganguly, Saha played his natural game and completed 150 off 245 balls with a six to Mohammed Mudhasir but eventually lost concentration with wickets falling at the other end.
It was Jammu & Kashmir skipper Parveez Rasool (3-70) who brought about Saha's downfall; the off-spinner's flighted delivery breached the Bengal batsman's forward defence and ended his innings five minutes short of six hours. Saha also ensured that Bengal’s lower order contributed handsomely; the last four added 96 to the team tally.
With the ball doing little on the flat pitch, Saha was also brilliant behind the wickets and stumped Obaid Haroon behind his legs to trigger a Jammu & Kashmir slide in the post-lunch session.
Chauhan, who scored 93 (vs Karnataka) and 103 (Uttar Pradesh) in the two previous matches, rescued the J & K innings as he stitched two useful partnerships, of 44 and 40 with Obaid Haroon and Pundir respectively.
On a surface that offered little turn, it was left-arm orthodox spinner Banerjee, who was the most effective as he bowled a tight line en route to figures of 2 for 51.
Brief Scores:
Bengal: 387 all out in 108.5 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 166, Laxmi Ratan Shukla 72; Ram Dayal 4/115, Parvez Rasool 3/70)
Jammu & Kashmir: 183/5 in 69 overs (Ian Dev Singh Chauhan 72).
Delhi all out for 353 against Odisha on weather-hit day
A gritty 84 from veteran Mithun Manhas and a late-flourish from tailender Navdeep Saini took Delhi to 353 all out against Odisha as inclement weather
allowed just 35 overs of play on the second day of their Group B match New Delhi.
Resuming at overnight 248 for 5, Delhi added another 105 runs from 27.2 overs at the cost of losing five wickets as light rain and bad light affected the day's play at the Feroze Shah Kotla.
Delhi lost two quick wickets in the form of Puneet Bisht (3) and Shivam Sharma (0) before Manhas also fell as eighth batsmen dismissed at team total of 286. It was then left to Varun Sood (27) and Saini (42 not out), the number nine and number 10 batsmen respectively, to stitch 67 runs for the ninth wicket and take the Delhi score past 350.
Manhas, who was on 55 overnight, added 29 more runs, hitting seven fours and a six in his 205-ball innings of nearly five hours. Saini hit six boundaries and a six in his run-a-ball unconquered innings of 54 minutes.
For Odisha, pacer Basant Mohanty took four wickets on Wednesday to end with innings figures of 5/76. In reply, Odisha were 25 for one in their first innings with opener Girjia Rout and Govinda Podder batting on 14 and one respectively at the draw of stumps.
Brief Scores:
Delhi: 353 all out in 111.2 overs (Unmukt Chand 117, Mithun Manhas 84, Navdeep Saini 42 not out; Basant Mohanty 5/76).
Odisha: 25 for 1 in 7 overs.
Pandey approaches ton in Karnataka's strong reply
Manish Pandey (92 not out) remained on course for his 14th first class century as Karnataka came up with a splendid batting effort against Madhya Pradesh by ending the day two of their Ranji Trophy Group A contest at 214 for three Indore.
Karnataka bowled out for Madhya Pradesh for 303, allowing the hosts to add only 33 runs to their overnight total 270 for seven as paceman Abhimanyu Mithun took all the remaining three wickets.
Karnataka batsmen were hardly troubled by the home bowlers even as openers Robin Uthappa (31) and Ravikumar Samarth (57) squandered good starts.
In the 43-run opening stand, Uthappa scored 31, which had four shots to the fence. His innings was cut short by Ankita Sharma, who trapped the shot-maker.
Kunal Kapoor (1) departed early but Pandey was solid from the one end and he was ably supported by Samrath and Karun Nair, who was batting with him on 30. With Samrath, Pandey raised a 102-run stand for the third wicket. The stand was broken by Jalaj Saxena, who had Samarth caught by Puneet Datey. Samrath's knock came off 150 balls with the help of eight boundaries.
Pandey kept the other end tight, scoring an unbeaten 92 off 179 balls, hitting eight boundaries. With Nair he has already stitched a 64-run stand for the fourth wicket and their was now trailing the hosts by 89 runs.
Brief Scores:
Madhya Pradesh 1st innings: 303 all out in 99.2 overs (Aditya Shrivastava 91, Naman Ojha 54; Abhimanyu Mithun 4/66).
Karnataka 1st innings: 214 for 3 in 78 overs.(Manish Pandey 92 batting, Ravikumar Samarth 57; Puneet Datey 1/32).
Mukund ton puts Tamil Nadu in commanding position
Skipper Abhinav Mukund led from the front with a patient century to help Tamil Nadu reach a strong position on the second day of their Group A match against Uttar Pradesh Chennai.
At stumps, Tamil Nadu were 360/7 in reply to Uttar Pradesh's first-innings score of 182 all out, a lead of 178 runs with three wickets remaining at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Baba Indrajith was batting on 77 and Malolan Rangarajan was giving him company on 16 at close of play. Besides Mukund and Indrajith, Baba Aparajith contributed with a knock of 59 off 144 balls, hitting four boundaries and two sixes.
Starting at an overnight score of 53/2 with Mukund (26) and Baba Aparajith (1) at the crease, the hosts have so far batted for 122 overs. During his 277-ball innings, Mukund found the fence 11 times. By the end of day's play, Indrajith had hit eight boundaries while facing 118 balls.
Mukund and Aparajith added 127 runs for the third wicket, the highest so far in the match, while Indrajith and Rangarajan had stitched an unbroken partnership of 53 runs for the eighth wicket.
Slow left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza was the most impressive bowler for Uttar Pradesh, returning figures of 4/117 in 42 overs.
Vidarbha post 583/9 declared; reduce Saurashtra to 20/2
Having posted a massive first innings total of 583 for nine declared, Vidarbha reduced Saurashtra to 20 for two at the end of the second day's play
of their Group B match in Nagpur.
Resuming on 352 for three, overnight batsman S Badrinath, who started the day on 62, Ravi Jangid (83) and all-rounder Shrikant Wagh (81) helped the team register a huge total before declaring the innings.
Although Vidarbha lost three wickets including Badrinath for 159-ball 89 that consisted of eight fours and a six, in the morning session, Jangid and Wagh coupled well to enable the hosts cross 550-run mark.
The duo shared a crucial 101-run stand for the seventh wicket with Jangid's innings comprising eight fours and a six, while Wagh's knock included 10 fours and two sixes. For Saurashtra, Kamlesh Makvana ended with figures of four for 122.
In reply to Vidarbha's mammoth score, Saurashtra lost opener Bhushan Chauhan (4) and one-down batsman Makvana (0) cheaply, to be reeling at 20 for two in 17 overs at the close of day's play. Wagh accounted for both the wickets that fell today.
At stumps, Sagar Jogiyani was batting on 13 and Cheteshwar Pujara was yet to open his account.
Brief scores:
Vidarbha 1st inngs: 583 for nine decl (S Badrinath 89, Ravi Jangid 83, Shrikant Wagh 81; Kamlesh Makvana 4/122).
Saurashtra 1st inngs: 20 for two in 17 overs (Shrikant Wagh 2/07).
Image: Vidarbha batsman Ravi Jangid in action against Saurashtra on the second day of their Ranji Trophy match in Nagpur.
Photo: PTI