Debutant Pavan Shah slammed his maiden double hundred to take Maharashtra to an imposing 415 and put them in a commanding position against Assam on the second day of their Elite Group G Ranji Trophy game on Friday.
The 22-year-old Shah hammered 20 boundaries and two sixes enroute his 219 off 401 balls and stitched a 112-run stand with number seven Diyang Hinganekar (46; 7x4). Despite Mukhtar Hussain (5-88) dismissing Hinganekar, Assam's agony continued as Satyajeet Bachhav hit a patient 52 in 108 balls (6x4, 1x4) adding 74 with Shah for the seventh wicket.
After Bachhav fell, shortly after Maharashtra crossed the 400-run mark, Assam bowlers quickly rattled the tail. In reply, Assam lost opener Rishav Das (14) and Gokul Sharma (5) cheaply but Subham Mandal (34 not out) and Riyan Parag (26 not out) steadied the ship with a 49-run stand to end the day at 81/2.
Brief scores: Maharashtra 415 all out (Pawan Shah 219; Satyajeet Bachhav 52; Mukhtar Hussain 5-88, Arup Das 2-86) versus Assam 81/2 (Subham Mandal 34 not out, Riyan Parag 26 not out; Manoj Ingle 1-5). Assam trail by 334 runs.
At Sultanpur: Uttar Pradesh 301 all out (Akshdeep Nath 91, Rinku Singh 65; Dhruv Jurel 64; Aditya Sarwate 5-86, Aditya Thakare 2-43, Umesh Yadav 2-58) versus Vidarbha 256/2 (Faiz Fazal 142 not out, Sanjay Ramaswamy 96; Ankit Rajpoot 1-50, Saurabh Kumar 1-84). Vidarbha trail by 45 runs.
Arindam leads Railways' fightback
Arindam Ghosh hit an unbeaten half-century to lead Railways' strong response of 213/3 to Karnataka's huge first innings score of 481 on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match. The team's cause was helped by Ghosh's knock of 78 (108 balls, 12 fours, 1 six) and fifties by Mrunal Devdhar and Vivek Singh after Karnataka rode on skipper Manish Pandey's 156, (121 balls, 12 fours, 10 sixes) and K V Siddharth's unbeaten 146 (250 balls, 18X4, 2X6).
Resuming at 392 for 5, Karnataka lost the wicket of overnight batter Siddharth after he had added six runs to his score. Railways hit back with some quick wickets and had the opposition at 438 for 9. All-rounder K Gowtham then smashed four boundaries and four sixes in his 32-ball 52 to enable Karnataka to swell its total.
Railways openers Devdhar and Vivek Singh began in earnest in response by adding 110 runs for the first wicket. But Gowtham hit back by dismissing Devdhar and Shivam Choudhary (8) after which Vivek Singh and Ghosh added 80 runs to steady the ship. Singh's 174-ball vigil ended when Gowtham had him caught behind by S Sharath. Ghosh and Mohammad Saif (8 batting) saw through the last few overs safely. Railways are still 268 runs behind Karnataka's first innings score.
In the other match, Jammu and Kashmir ended day 2 at 260 for 3 after dismissing Pondicherry for 343 thanks to a battling, unbeaten 96 by opener Qamran Iqbal and half-century by debutant Jatin Wadhawan (69).
Brief scores: Stumps day 2: Karnataka 481 all out in 109.3 overs (K V Siddharth 146, Manish Pandey 156 (121b, 12x4, 10x6, K Gowtham 52, R Samarth 47, Yuvraj 5 for 93) vs Railways 213 for 3 in 65 overs (Arindam Ghosh 78 batting, Vivek Singh 59, Mrunal Devdhar 56, Gowtham 3 for 71).
Gujarat close in on lead against Madhya Pradesh
Wicketkeeper Het Patel hit a patient 72 off 139 balls to keep Gujarat in the hunt for a crucial first innings lead against Madhya Pradesh on the second day of their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match.
Madhya Pradesh, who started at the overnight score of 235 for 7, were bundled out for 274 in 96.3 overs. In reply, Gujarat ended the day at 244 for 6, thanks to Het Patel's vital knock, in which he slammed eight fours and a lone six. At one stage, Gujarat were reeling at 167 for 5 as their top-order faltered despite decent contributions from skipper Priyank Panchal and Manprit Juneja.
Het Patel found an able partner in Karan Patel (40 not out; 8x4), as the two forged a 70-run stand for the sixth wicket. Gaurav Yadav trapped Het Patel in front of the wicket, as Gujarat lost their sixth wicket for 237.
Skipper Priyank Panchal hit 52 (9x4) while seasoned campaigner Manprit Juneja made 53 as MP bowlers, led by pacer Ishwar Chandra Pandey (3/50), kept striking at regular intervals. When the stumps were drawn, Karan Patel had Roosh Kalaria (6 not out) for company.
Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh 274 all out (Shubham Sharma 92, Rajat Patidar 54; Arzan Nagwaswalla 5/59, Roosh Kalaria 2/52) against Gujarat 244/6 (Het Patel 72, Manprit Juneja 53; Ishwar Pandey 3/50, Gourav Yadav 2/59). Gujarat trail by 30 runs.
At Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium, Ground C:
Meghalaya: 148 all out (Punit Bist 93, Kishan Lyngdoh 26; Edhen Tom 4/41, Unnikrishnan Manukrishnan 3/34) versus Kerala 454 for 8 (Rahul P 147, Rohan Kunnummal 107, Vathsal 76 not out; Chirag Khurana 3/106, Md Nafees 2/48). Kerala lead by 306 runs.
Sarfaraz Khan smashes 275 as Mumbai declares at 577/7
Young Sarfaraz Khan hit a stroke-filled 275 to propel Mumbai to a mammoth 544/7 and put 41-time champions in a commanding position on the second day of their Elite Group D Ranji Trophy game against defending champions Saurashtra.
Sarfaraz, who continued from his overnight score on 121, took the Saurashtra attack to cleaners and hammered 30 boundaries and seven maximum in his 401-ball innings. Ajinkya Rahane fell for a patient 129 off 290 balls as he added 252 runs for the fourth wicket.
After experienced wicket-keeper Aditya Tare (22) and all-rounder Shams Mulani (12) fell cheaply, Sarfaraz found an able ally in Tanush Kotian (50 not out; 5x4; 1x6) as the duo added 118 runs for the seventh wicket. The pint-sized batter, however, missed a deserving triple hundred and was trapped by Mankad in front of the wicket, but till then the damage had been done. Saurashtra in reply were 18/0 with both the openers Harvik Desai (6) and Snell Patel (11) holding fort.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 544/7 declared (Sarfaraz Khan 275, Ajinkya Rahane 129; Chirag Jani 2/83, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 2/191) versus Saurashtra 18/0. Saurashtra trail by 526 runs.
Goa 181 and 87/2 (Amogh Desai 42, Abhishek Raut 1/10) versus Odisha 189 (Rajesh Dhuper 71, Abhishek Raut 29; Shubham Ranjane 5/49). Goa lead by 79 runs.
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