Ranji Trophy: Embarrassed Delhi lose 15 wickets, Kerala set for big win; Shubman Gill on the verge of double ton

Only four Delhi batsmen reached double figures as Saxena ran through the line-up to set things up nicely for Kerala, who are aiming for a spot in the knockouts.

The Delhi batsmen did not fare any better in the second innings, slipping to 41 for five at stumps on the second day, as Sandeep Warrier prised out the openers.

Resuming at an overnight 291 for seven, Kerala could add only 29 runs, as Shivam Sharma took two more wickets to take his tally to six.

Delhi got off to a poor start, losing opener Sarthak Rajan (4) in the first over. Basil Thampi struck in the second over, having Hiten Dalal caught behind by Vishnu Vinod to leave Delhi at 4 for 2.

Skipper Dhruv Shorey (30) and Vaibhav Rawal (18) went about repairing the damage before the latter became Saxena’s first victim.

The visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals as Saxena bowled a nagging line and length.

Delhi collapsed from 132 for six to 139, as Saxena and Sijomon Joseph got among the wickets.

Shubman Gill on verge of double ton as Punjab takes control

Mohali: Young Shubman Gill hit a superb unbeaten 199 (234 balls, 21X4, 4X6) Saturday to power Punjab to 308 for 2 in reply to Tamil Nadu’s first innings score of 215 on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘B’ match here.

The host wrapped up Tamil Nadu’s innings in one over when R Sai Kishore (1) was run out by Baltej Singh, adding two runs to its overnight score.

Punjab began its reply in a solid manner as 19-year-old Gill and Jiwanjot Singh (33, 94 balls, 6X4) blunted the TN pace attack, comprising T Natarajan, M Mohammed and K Vignesh with a mix of caution and aggression.

While Jiwanjot showed a lot of patience and kept the rival bowlers at bay, Gill was all elegance as he unfurled numerous shots on both sides of the wicket. Some of the shots, especially the cover drives, stood out as he looked untroubled during his knock.

@RealShubmanGill after his unbeaten knock of 199 runs against Tamil Nadu in Ranji Trophy at PCA Stadium, Mohali. @IExpressSports @IndianExpress @BCCI @TeamRanjiPunjab pic.twitter.com/NXPjyqmlvK

— Nitin Sharma (@Nitinsharma631) December 15, 2018

It was a struggle for the Tamil Nadu bowlers as Gill proved unstoppable, hitting shots at will while skipper Mandee Mandeep Singh (50 batting) batted in a calm manner at the other end.

Gill and Jiwanjot added 107 for the first wicket as Tamil Nadu captain Baba Indrajith rung the changes in an attempt to get a breakthrough.

Sai Kishore got the first wicket for Tamil Nadu when he had Jiwanjot caught by Shahrukh Khan at silly-point.

The talented, young Anmolpreet Singh (7) didn’t last long, raising the visitor’s hopes.

However, the partnership between Gill and Mandeep went from strength to strengh and helped Punjab gain the ascendency.

Gill kept hitting boundaries and was not afraid to hit the ball in the air, while Mandeep overcame spells of slow scoring to keep the runs flowing.

Gill, one of the stars of India’s triumph in the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year, spoken of highly by the legendary Rahul Dravid, underlined his class, unleashing beautiful strokes and never looked in trouble.

Bad light ended his quest for a maiden Ranji double ton and Gill would resume on Sunday hoping to extend Punjab’s current lead of 93 and take control of the match.

He is the second Indian batsman after Rahul Dravid in Adelaide 2003, in first-class history to remain not out on 199 at the end of a day’s play.

Solanki hits unbeaten ton as Baroda make strong reply

Mumbai: Riding on one-down batsman Vishnu Solanki’s unbeaten century and opener Aditya Waghmodes patient, unconquered half ton, Baroda made a strong reply to Mumbai’s tall first innings total in their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy game here on Saturday.

Answering to the home team’s tally of 465, Baroda had advanced to 244 for the loss of opener and captain Kedar Devdhar’s wicket, 221 runs behind the Mumbai total at stumps on day two of the four-day clash at the Wankhede Stadium.

Waghmode and Solanki were not out on 87 and 128 respectively after the early fall of Devdhar to Shivam Dube for 11 against the listless Mumbai attack.

While Waghmode was circumspect for the large part and struck 9 fours and 2 sixes in his 237-ball innings, his second wicket partner Solanki was a little bit more aggressive in his 231-ball innings, sprinkled with 17 fours.

The duo, who got together when Devdhar was trapped leg before in the second over with 12 on board, have added 232 runs so far.

The Mumbai bowlers, eight of whom were used by captain Siddhesh Lad, toiled hard to separate the duo, without success.

Earlier, the 41-time champions – overnight 439 for 8 -were dismissed in seven overs this morning.

Hardik Pandya, back in action after a near-three month-long injury lay-off, must have pleased the Indian selectors as he packed off overnight batsman Akash Parkar and Royston Dias to finish with an impressive five-wicket haul for 81 runs, by adding to the three scalps he secured yesterday.

Karsh Kothari, the other overnight unbeaten batsman, was dismissed by Bhatt who finished with four wickets to his credit.

Meanwhile at Surat, Karnataka have managed to take the crucial first innings lead against hosts Gujarat.

At Nashik, Maharashtra have a mountain to climb against Saurashtra who posted 398 in their first essay.

Maharashtra ended day 2 at 86/3 with Kedar Jadhav unbeaten on 38 as they still trail by 312 runs.

And Railways were 170/2 at New Delhi in their first essay after Vidarbha posted 331 in their first Innings.

Aman spins Bihar to bonus point win against Meghalaya

Shillong: Left-arm spinner Ashutosh Aman returned an astonishing match haul of 14 wickets to help Bihar crush hosts Meghalaya by an innings and 71 runs in their Ranji Trophy Plate Group encounter here on Saturday.

The 32-year-old had figures of 6/17 in the second innings for a match haul of 14/68, as Bihar skittled out the home outfit for 46 on way to a bonus-point victory with two days to spare.

The Services veteran now has 39 wickets to his kitty from eight innings at a jaw-dropping average of 4.79 to be second in the leading wicket takers’ tally this season behind Uttarakhand pacer Deepak Dhapola (42 wickets).

This was Bihar’s third win, and all of them have come with bonus points. They now have 21 points from five matches.

Aman also chipped in with the bat with an unbeaten 35 (4×4, 1×6) on a day Bihar folded for 242 after resuming the day on 80/2.

Bihar lost wickets at regular intervals but the 117-run first innings lead proved to be enough.

All hell broke loose in Meghalaya’s second innings as Aman and leg-spinner Quadri (4/24) running through the opponent’s batting lineup.

Only one batsman, Gurinder Singh (10), could manage a double digit score as Meghalaya’s innings ended in 26.5 overs.

Paras Dogra slammed 139 from 143 balls (19×4, 1×6) while Fabid Ahmed proved handy with the bat as well scoring 88 as Puducherry secured a massive 334 runs win over Arunchal Pradesh with two days to spare.

The duo’s stellar batting helped Puducherry notch 351 in their second innings to hand Arunachal Pradesh a stiff 406 run target.

In reply, Arunachal Pradesh were bundled out for 71 with former India pacer Pankan Singh (5/25) and Damodaren Rohit (4/7) sharing nine wickets between them.

In Jorhat, Ishwar Chaudhury returned with brilliant figures of 5/57, his sixth five-wicket haul, as Sikkim bowled out Mizoram for 161 to remain in sight for a third victory.

Sikkim were 75/3 in their second essay with an overall lead of 246 going into the third day.

Earlier, Milind Kumar’s 139 along with Bipul Sharma’s 50 helped Sikkim notch up 332 in their first innings.

In reply, Mizroam batting centred around Taruwar Kohli who scored a valiant 74 from 150 balls before being dismissed by Bipul Sharma (2/36).

Chaudhary was the wrecker-in-chief, while Milind Kumar also played a part in bowling returning with 2/35.

Odisha-Rajasthan game evenly poised on Day 2

Bhubaneswar: The Ranji Trophy Group C game between Odisha and Rajasthan was evenly poised on day two with the hosts needing 167 runs for outright win.

On a day when the momentum swung back and forth, Odisha were 6 for 2 at stumps having lost their opener and one down batsman in their second essay in pursuit of 173.

On Friday, Odisha bundled out Rajasthan for 135 in their first innings and continued from their overnight score of 78/4.

But Rajasthan pacers Aniket Choudhary (5-49) and T M Haq (5-14) rattled the Odisha middle order to bowl them out for 111 in their first essay. Odisha thus conceded a 24-run lead to Rajasthan.

But Odisha came back strongly in the game by skittling out Rajasthan for 148 in their second innings with Basant Mohanty returning with figures of 5-29.

For the visitors, opener Amitkumar Gautam top-scored with 51, while Salman Khan, who came in at number 6, played a crucial knock of 39. First-innings hero and skipper Mahipal Lomror and other batsmen failed.

However, Odisha started their second innings on a disastrous note losing opener Ranjit Singh (1) and wicket-keeper Roshan Kumar Rao (0) to end the day in a difficult situation.

Meanwhile, in Agartala Pratyush Singh slammed 110 as Tripura posted 358 on the board in their first innings. In reply, Goa finished the day at 107 for 4 and are adrift by 251 runs.

In Rohtak, Jammu and Kashmir were pressing for a win after reducing Haryana to 49 for 4, with the hosts still needing another 173 runs to win.

In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh’s hopes for a first innings lead hung on veteran Suresh Raina, who was batting on 65, against Jharkhand who posted a competitive total of 354 in their first innings.