Ranji Trophy: Dhruv Shorey ton puts Delhi in sight of outright victory against Himachal Pradesh

Earlier, Delhi dismissed HP for 223 in their first innings taking a first innings lead of 94 runs and also ensuring at least three points.

At stumps on the third day, Himachal were 44 for 1 with their best bet Prashant Chopra being dismissed by Ishant Sharma (1/14 in 5 overs).

With 332 needed on the final day, it will be more about how Himachal survive against left-arm spin duo of Vikas Mishra and Varun Sood on a fourth day track with considerable wear and tear.

Not to forget that Ishant will also bowl full tilt in short spells and is more dangerous on these kind of tracks. Other seamer Kulwant Khejroliya is expected to stem the flow of runs.

In the morning, after quickly disposing off the remaining two HP batsmen for an addition of seven runs, Delhi got off to a brisk start courtesy Gautam Gambhir (49, 52 balls) and Hiten Dalal (25, 32 balls), who added 64 in only 10.5 overs.

Opening bowlers Rishi Dhawan (0/37 in 10 overs) and Pankaj Jaiswal (0/33 in five overs) were hit for a flurry of boundaries.

Once Dalal and Gambhir were gone, Shorey and skipper Nitish Rana (32) added 62 for the third wicket.

Shorey, a surprise exclusion from India A’s tour to New Zealand, hit 10 boundaries and two sixes. The second six brought up his fourth first-class hundred as he keeps on maintaining a healthy 50 plus average.

He added 50 with Himmat Singh (26), who hit three sixes and 67 for the unbroken fifth wicket stand with wicketkeeper Anuj Rawat (21 no) as Delhi finished with an overall lead of 375.

Brief Scores: Delhi 317 and 281/4 decl (Dhruv Shorey 106 no, Gautam Gambhir 49) Himachal Pradesh 223 and (target 376) 44/1 (Ishant Sharma 1/14 in 5 overs).

Abhinav Mukund’s ton leads TN reply to massive Hyderabad total

Tirunelveli (TN), Nov 14 (PTI): Test discard Abhinav Mukund led Tamil Nadu’s riposte to Hyderabad’s massive first innings total of 565 for 8 declared with a superb ton (101 batting) as the host reached 163 for 2 at stumps on day three of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘B’ match here Wednesday.

Hyderabad skipper P Akshath Reddy could add only two runs to his overnight score of 248 and the team declared at 565 after C V Milind (33 not out) and Mehdi Hasan (14 not out) put on 27 runs for the ninth wicket.

M Mohammed was the best bowler for Tamil Nadu, picking up 3 for 102 while K Vignesh and Rahil Shah scalped two each.

Tamil Nadu skipper B Indrajith used eight bowlers in the innings as the visiting batsmen piled on their misery on a flat wicket.

Left-handed opener Mukund looked in fine form, striking the ball all round the wicket. He and fellow opener M Kaushik Gandhi (21 off 117 balls, 1X4) put on 80 runs to set the platform for Tamil Nadu.

Mukund was the dominant partner as he reached his 50 in 116 deliveries. He was on the lookout for runs despite losing Gandhi and No.3 batsman B Aparajith (4). Both wickets were taken by C V Milind (2 for 19).

Mukund, who has so far hit 15 fours, and captain B Indrajith (24 batting) added 69 runs and saw the team through to close of play without any further slip-ups.

Brief scores: Hyderabad 565 for 8 in 186 overs (Akshath Reddy 250, B Sandeep 130, M Mohammed 3 for 102, K Vignesh 2 for 102) vs Tamil Nadu 163 for 2 in 79 overs (Abhinav Mukund 101 batting, C V Milind 2 for 19).

At Kolkata: Bengal 510 for 9 declared in 149.3 overs (Manoj Tiwary 201 not out, Koushik Ghosh 100, A R Easwran 86, Shubham Sharma 5 for 59) vs Madhya Pradesh 254 for 5 in 86 overs (Naman Ojha 74, Rajat Patidar 49, Anustup Majumdar 2 for 20).

At Thiruvananthapuram: Andhra Pradesh 254 in 99.4 overs (Ricky Bhui 109, Shiv Charan Singh 45, Akshay KC 4 for 64) and 102 for 8 in 46 overs (Jalaj Saxena 7 for 44) vs Kerala 328 all out in 119.2 overs (Jalaj Saxena 133, K B Arun Karthick 56, Rohan Prem 49, Manish Golamaru 3 for 81, Shoaib Mohamed 3 for 89).

Ranji Group C: Jammu and Kashmir trail Goa by 222 runs

Jammu and Kashmir have a mountain to climb as they trail Goa by 222 runs at stumps on day 3 of their Elite Group C Ranji Trophy game here Wednesday. Asked to bat first, Goa rode on a century by opener Snehal Kauthankar (130) to post a mammoth 468/9 (declared) in their first innings.

Kauthankar, batting at his over-night score of 106, added another 24 runs to his tally and remained unbeaten. He laced his knock with 24 boundaries.

Jammu and Kashmir had an uphill task to gain a first-innings lead, but they slumped to 246/7 at stumps on the penultimate day of the four-day game.

For J&K, their opener Shubham Khajuria (53) struck a half-century, but three other top-order batsmen, Ahmad Omar Bandey (25), Ian Chauhan (37) and Paras Sharma (22), failed to convert their starts into big scores. But all-rounder and skipper Irfan Pathan, who came in at number 7, remained unbeaten on 42 and will look to hold the fort on the last day. Left-handed Pathan has company of Amir Aziz (22 batting) but with just three wickets remaining Goa are looking poised to take the first innings lead.

For Goa, Lakshay Garg (2-77) and Amogh Desai (2-23) picked two wickets each.

Brief Scores: At Porvorim: Goa 468/9 Declared (Snehal Kauthankar 130 not out, Sumiran Amonkar 73, Irfan Pathan 3-69) versus Jammu and Kashmir 246/7 (Shubham Khajuria 53, Irfan Pathan 42 batting, Amogh Desai 2-23). Jammu and Kashmir trail by 222 runs.

At Bhubaneswar: Odisha 256 and 180/7 (Sandeep Pattnaik 46, Shivam Mavi 3-43) versus Uttar Pradesh 437 all out (Aksh Deep Nath 159, Basant Mohanty 6-62). Odisha trail by 1 run.

At Agartala: Assam 327 and 239/6 Declared (Riyan Parag 80) versus Tripura 139 and 68/4 (S K Patel 20, Ranjeet Mali 2-30). Tripura need 360 runs to win.

At Jaipur: Services 228 and 264 (Rahul Singh Gahlaut 107) against Rajasthan 136 and 95/0 (A V Gautam 53 batting, Chetan Bist 39 batting). Rajasthan need 262 runs to win.