Ranji Trophy Group B: Unmukt Chand’s 146 puts Delhi in control

After two fog-hit days, bright sunshine welcomed the Delhi batsmen at the Feroz Shah Kotla as Unmukt took centerstage to register his fifth first-class century, stitching a 93-run fourth-wicket partnership with Mithun Manhas (53).

Unmukt’s 235-ball stay was laced with 19 fours and a six while Manhas also maintained a good strike-rate after hitting nine boundaries.

Unmukt’s departure did not make things easy for the Ashok Menaria-led Rajasthan as Manhas stuck around with Rajat Bhatia (24) to not only put runs on board but also maintain a decent run-rate.

Deepak Chahar cleaned up Manhas and Shailender Gehlot bowled Bhatia only to see another partnership prosper and frustrate the Rajasthan bowlers.

Sumit Narwal (59) and wicketkeeper-batsman Puneet Bisht (16) also managed an unbeaten 75-run seventh-wicket stand to help Delhi take command.

The Gautam Gambhir-led side’s good batting show comes after a great start provided by Virender Sehwag (64) on the second day when the dashing batsman managed a 128-run third-wicket partnership with Unmukt.

Sharing the new ball with Chahar, Aniket Choudhary picked up three wickets while Gehlot bagged two. Getting behind a 239-run trail to avoid an innings defeat, Rajasthan were 78 for two at stumps with Siddharth Saraf (42 not out) and Menaria (12 not out) battling on.

Pace spearhead Sumit Narwal’s new-ball partner Navdeep Saini got opener Vineet Saxena (1) caught behind early but Saraf, who batted with a positive intent by hitting 6 fours and a six so far, and Robin Bist (17) stuck around for a while.

Narwal then broke a 43-run second-wicket partnership by getting Bist caught behind and dim Rajasthan’s hopes of saving the match.

Brief Scores:

Rajasthan 141 and 78/2 in 31 overs (Siddharth Saraf 42 not out; Sumit Narwal 1-11)

Delhi 380/6 declared (Unmukt Chand 146, Virender Sehwag 64; Aniket Choudhary 3-81)

Jadhav strikes ton before Bawne gets hit on helmet

Kedar Jadhav struck an unbeaten century to lead a rearguard action by Maharashtra in their Group B Ranji Trophy cricket match against Punjab on a day that witnessed a tense moment when visiting side’s Ankit Bawne retired hurt after being hit on the helmet in Pune on Tuesday.

Resuming on 370 for eight, Punjab were all out for 391 in their first innings.

In their second essay, Maharashtra were in trouble at 23 for two, before opener Harshad Khadiwale (61) and Jadhav (109 batting) staged a recovery on the third day of the game at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

Jadhav was then associated in an unbroken 148-run stand for the fourth wicket with Rahul Tripathi (59 batting), as the hosts reached 259 for three in 73 overs at close of play.

Brief scores

Maharashtra: 210 and 259/3 in 73 overs (Kedar Jadhav 109 batting, Harshad Khadiwale 61, Rahul Tripathi 59 batting)
Punjab 1st innings: 391 all out in 103 overs (Yuvraj Singh 136, Jiwanjot Singh 68; Samadh Fallah 3/78, Anupam Sanklecha 3/88.

Haryana take 2-run first-innings lead over Vidarbha

Abhimanyu Khod’s defiance helped Haryana gain a slender but all-important first-innings lead over Vidarbha in their weather-hit Group B Ranji Trophy cricket match in Rohtak on Tuesday.

Khod remained undefeated on 38 off 88 balls as the hosts managed to eke out a crucial 2-run lead at the CH Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Lahli.

At stumps on the third and penultimate day, Vidarbha were struggling at 23 for the loss of two wickets in their second innings, taking their lead to 21 runs with eight wickets remaining and a day’s play left.

Brief scores:

Vidarbha: 154 and 23/2 in 9 overs
Haryana 1st innings: 156 all out in 61.5 overs (Abhimanyu Khod 38 not out, Nitin Saini 35, Sunny Singh 30; Ravikumar Thakur 4/38, Swapnil Bandiwar 3/65, Shrikant Wagh 2/39).
Jackson’s unbeaten 124 takes Saurashtra to a strong position
Sheldon Jackson struck an unbeaten century to take Saurashtra to a strong position by reaching 280 for three in their second innings on the third and penultimate day of their Ranji Trophy cricket match against Gujarat in Rajkot Tuesday .

Jackson (124 batting) stitches a 212-run third wicket partnership with Arpit Vasavada (88) to steer Saurashtra out of a potentially slippery situation at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

Left-arm spinner Akshar Patel, who will fly to Australia after this match as a replacement of injured Ravindra Jadeja in India’s Test squad for the ongoing series, took two Saurashtra wickets for 69 runs.

Starting their second innings trailing by 41 runs, Saurashtra were still a run short of drawing level when they lost their second wicket, that of opener Bhushan Chauhan (19).

Brief Scores:

Saurashtra: 207 and 280/3 in 90 overs (Arpit Vasavada 88, Sheldon Jackson 124 batting; Akshar Patel 2/69).
Gujarat: 248 all out in 90.5 overs.