A summary of all the action from Day 3 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Thursday.
Bengal tightens the net around Uttar Pradesh
Opener Koushik Ghosh hit an unbeaten 69, while Anustup Majumdar also remained not out on 44 as Bengal closed in on an outright win over Uttar Pradesh in a Group A Ranji Trophy match in Kolkata, on Thursday.
Bengal were 156 for 2 in their second innings at stumps on the third day, still needing 101 runs on Friday.
Ghosh hit 10 boundaries during his 121-ball unbeaten knock, while Majumdar struck six fours. Besides the duo, Sudip Kumar Gharami made 22.
Right-arm pacer Shivam Mavi (2/46) picked up both wickets.
Earlier, resuming Uttar Pradesh's second innings at 122 for 4, Rinku Singh added 45 runs to his overnight score before being dismissed for 89, while Akashdeep Nath made 53.
Opener Madhav Kaushik (19) was the only other Uttar Pradesh batter to register a double-digit score. UP added 105 runs for the loss of six wickets to their overnight score to be bowled out for 222 in 65.3 overs.
Bengal right-arm medium pacer Akash Deep (3/52) scalped three wickets, while Sayan Mondal (2/24), Pritam Chakraborty (2/48) and Ishan Porel (2/70) picked up two wickets each.
Rinku turned out to be the star performer with the bat for Uttar Pradesh with knocks of 79 and 89 in the two innings.
Brief Scores:
At Kolkata: Uttar Pradesh 198 and 222 all out in 65.3 overs (Rinku Singh 89, Akshdeep Nath 53) vs Bengal 169 and 156 for 2 in 42 overs (Koushil Ghosh 69 not out, Anustup Majumdar 44 not out; Shivan Mavi 2/46). Bengal trail by 100 runs.
At Sovima: Uttarakhand 282 and 127 for 1 in 30 overs (Priyanshu Khanduri 52 not out, Kunal Chandela 37 not out; Akash Singh 1/29) vs Nagaland 389 (Shrikant Mundhe 161, Yugandhar Singh 73; Swapnil Singh 5/47). Uttarakhand lead by 20 runs.
At Cuttack: Odisha 457 all out in 154.2 overs (Debabrata Pradhan 89, Abhishek Raut 70, Shantanu Mishra 61, Subhranshu Senapati 52; Ninad Rathva 5/106) vs Baroda 416 for 5 in 115 overs (Shashwat Rawat 135, Priyanshu Moliya 113 not out, Jyotsnil Singh 63; Basant Mohanty 2/31). Baroda trail by 41 runs.
At Rohtak: Haryana 46 and 323 for 7 in 112.2 overs (Chaitanya Bishnoi 97, Himanshu Rana 87; Sidharth Sharma 2/43) vs Himachal Pradesh 487/4 decl in 130.2 overs (Raghav Dhawan 182, Prashant Chopra 137, Amit Kumar 81; Chaitanya Bishnoi 2/15). Haryana trail by 118 runs.
Delhi not out of trouble yet
Maharashtra holds the edge over Delhi with their bowlers restricting the Yash Dhull-led side to 233 for 5 on the third day of a Ranji Trophy Group B match in Pune on Thursday.
With a lead of just 100 runs and five batters in the dugout, Delhi could find themselves in trouble if they lose the remaining wickets early on day four.
The Maharashtra bowlers would look to utilise the early-morning freshness of the wicket on the last day to keep Delhi's lead to below 200 runs and then make a strong push for victory.
Earlier on day three, Maharashtra could add just 19 runs to their overnight score before losing the three remaining wickets to be bundled out for 324.
However, 33-year-old Ashay Palkar, who was on 94 at stumps on day two, completed his maiden first-class century before being dismissed on 100, caught by Lalit Yadav off Simarjeet Singh.
Pace bowler Simarjeet emerged as the most successful bowler for Delhi, claiming four wickets for 69 runs, while Mayank Yadav and Vikas Mishra took two wickets apiece.
After taking a 133-run first-innings lead, Maharashtra bowlers quickly put Delhi under pressure dismissing Dhruv Shorey for a duck and Anuj Rawat for five runs.
However, young Dhull (57) and Nitish Rana (40) played cautiously but confidently to put Delhi back on track.
When Rana was dismissed in the 35th over, he had put Delhi in a comfortable position for the middle order to take charge.
But with skipper Dhull departing 10 runs later, Delhi again found themselves in trouble at 109 for 4.
Vaibhav Rawal (55) and Himmat Singh (67 not out) kept the scoreboard ticking and it looked like Delhi wouldn't lose any more wickets on day three. But a thick edge from Rawal's bat off pacer Ashay Palkar flew to the wicketkeeper, reducing Delhi to 213 for 5.
Another 20 runs were added before stumps were called.
Brief scores:
At Pune: Delhi 191 and 233/5 in 72 overs (Yash Dhull 57, Nitish Rana 40 Vaibhav Rawal 55, Himmat Singh 67n.o.) vs Maharashra 324 in 124.5 overs (Naushad Sheikh 45, Azim Kazi 124, Ashay Palkar 100; Simarjeet Singh 4/69, Mayank Yadav 2/46, Vikas Mishra 2/83). Delhi lead by 100 runs.
At Guwahati: Assam 286 and 115/1 in 31.3 overs (Kunal Saikia 55 n.o.) vs Saurashtra 492 in 115.1 overs (Harvik Desai 108, Jay Gohil 227, Parth Bhut 49; Mukhtar Hussain 3/95, Akash Sengupta 3/136, Riyan Parag 4/119). Assam trail by 91 runs.
At Vizianagaram: Andhra 238 and 131 (Tushar Deshpande 3/34, Siddharth Raut 2/26, Tanush Kotian 2/18) lost to Mumbai 331 (Armaan Jaffer 116, Tanush Kotian 63n.o.) and 40/1. Mumbai won by nine wickets.
At Hyderabad: Hyderabad 395 and 28 for no loss vs Tamil Nadu 510 for 4 decl in 111.5 overs (Sai Sudharshan 179, Narayan Jagadeeshan 116, Baba Aparajith 115 n.o.) Hyderabad trail by 87 runs.
Jharkhand is not calling it quits just yet
Ishan Kishan continued his imperious run as he smashed a second consecutive century to script Jharkhand's fight back against Kerala in their Ranji Trophy Group C match at Ranchi, on Thursday.
Less than a week after he blazed away to the fastest ODI double century against Bangladesh, Kishan was a picture of grit and determination in a 195-ball 132 (9x4) as he led Jharkhand's recovery from being 114/4 to 340 all out.
Giving him support was Saurabh Tiwary who missed out on a century by just three runs after being cleaned up by Jalaj Saxena.
The duo put on 202 runs for the fifth wicket to revive Jharkhand after Basil Thampi (3/55) and Vaisakh Chandran (2/81) rocked the top-order to have them reeling at 56/3. For Kerala, Saxena grabbed a splendid 5/75. At close, Kerala were 60/1 with an overall lead of 195 runs as the match seems to be heading for a draw at the JSCA International Stadium.
Resuming the day on 87 for three, Jharkhand lost their skipper Virat Singh (30) with the addition of just 27 runs. But Kishan and Tiwary saw off the attack from Saxena and Thampi to bat through the first two sessions.
Saxena however, triggered the collapse dismissing Tiwary and Kishan off successive overs en route to his five-wicket haul as Jharkhand folded their first innings in 105.3 overs. A day after scoring a century in his maiden first-class match to emulate his legendary father, left-arm seamer Arjun Tendulkar grabbed 2/77 on day three of Goa's match against Rajasthan.
Arjun dismissed a well-set Mahipal Lomror (63) and Salman Khan (40) in his four overs. Mohit Redkar returned with 3/46 as Rajasthan ended the day at 245/6, trailing Goa by 302 runs.
Goa earlier declared their first innings at 547 for 9.
Brief Scores:
At Ranchi: Kerala 475 and 60/1; 15 overs (Rohan Prem 25 batting, Shoun Roger 28 batting). Jharkhand 340; 105.3 overs (Ishan Kishan 132, Saurabh Tiwary 97; Jalaj Saxena 5/75, Basil Thampi 3/55). Kerala lead by 195 runs. Match to continue.
At Bengaluru: Karnataka 304 and 90 for no loss (Ravikumar Samarth 40 batting, Mayank Agarwal 47 batting). Services 261in 83.2 overs (Rajat Paliwal 124, Ravi Chauhan 56; Vidwath Kaverappa 4/64, Ronit More 3/54). Karnataka lead by 133 runs. Match to continue.
At Puducherry: Chhattisgarh 162 and 184 b Puducherry 37 and 177; 65.3 overs (Arun Karthik 55 not out, Neyan Shyam Kangayan 49; Ajay Mandal 6/56, Shubham Agarwal 2/48, Sumit Ruikar 2/51) by 132 runs. Points: Chandigarh 6, Puducherry 0.
At Porvorim: Goa 547/9 declared. Rajasthan 245/6; 71 overs (Yash Kothari 96, Mahipal Lomror 63, Salman Khan 40; Mohit Redkar 3/46, Arjun Tendulkar 2/77). Rajasthan trail by 302 runs. Match to continue.
Madhya Pradesh squash Jammu and Kashmir
Madhya Pradesh bowlers, led by Avesh Khan, produced yet another impressive performance to notch up a massive, innings and 17-run win over Jammu and Kashmir with a day to spare in their Group D Ranji Trophy match in Jammu, on Thursday. Khan took three wickets for 53 runs to help MP bowl out J&K for 193 in 60.5 overs in their second innings on the third day after following on. J&K were all out for just 98 in their first essay on Wednesday in reply to MP's 308.
Khan, who has played five ODIs and 15 T20Is for India, was the wrecker-in-chief, helping MP bundle out J&K for 98 in their first innings with figures of 5/33.
J&K were reduced to 45 for 7 in the 22nd over of their second innings but lower-order batters Yudhvir Singh (30), Sahil Lotra (66) and Auqib Nabi (44) delayed the inevitable for a while.
For MP, Saransh Jain, Kumar Kartikeya and Anubhav Agarwal also took two wickets apiece. MP got seven points from the win. The outright-winning team gets six points while a victory of an innings or 10-wickets fetches seven points.
Brief Scores:
At Jammu: Madhya Pradesh: 308 beat J&K 98 and 193 all out in 60.5 overs (Sahil Lotra 66, Avesh Khan 3/53) by an innings and 17 runs. MP: 7 points
At Nagpur: Vidarbha: 213 and 420/8 declared (Faiz Fazal 103, Akshay Wadkar 130, Aditya Sarwate 64; Adarsh Singh 3/52) vs Railways 161 and 47 for 3 in 21 overs. Railway trail by 425 runs.
At Mohali: Punjab: 586 for 4 declared vs Chandigarh 310 for 6 in 119 overs (Arjit Pannu 112, Gaurav Puri 76 batting; Sanvir Singh 2/30).
At Agartala: Gujarat: 271 and 204 for 6 in 56 overs (Priyank Panchal 79; Manisankar Murasingh 4/71) vs Tripura 293 all out in 100 overs (Rajat Dey 63, Sankar Paul 57, Sudip Chatterjee 58; Shen Patel 3/67). Gujarat lead by 182 runs.
Plate Group
Sachin Kumar impressed with an all-round show, while Malay Raj (5/35) grabbed a five-for as Bihar thrashed Arunachal Pradesh by an innings and 221 runs in their Ranji Trophy Plate Group match in Patna, on Thursday.
Following up his 3/29, the left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Sachin smashed three sixes and 17 fours en route to a 198-ball 156 as Bihar posted a huge 517 to take a first-innings lead of 305.
Sakibul Gani fell early without any addition to his overnight score of 66. But thereafter, it was Sachin who took control of the proceedings lower down the order and was the last wicket to fall to take Bihar to 517.
In their second essay, only three Arunachal batters managed double-digit scores as medium pacer Malay Raj reigned supreme with 5/35 to skittle them out for 84 in just 29.4 overs. Bihar secured seven points, inclusive of one bonus point.
Brief Scores:
At Patna: Arunachal Pradesh 212 and 84 in 29.4 overs (Malay Raj 5/35) lost to Bihar 517 in 133.5 overs (Sachin Kumar 156, Adhiraj Johri 118; Nabam Abo 5/164, Techi Doria 3/25) by an innings and 221 runs. Points: Bihar 7, Arunachal Pradesh 0.
At Rangpo: Manipur 186 and 193 in 84 overs (Ronald Longjam 50; Palzor Tamang 5/52, Sumit Singh 4/56) vs Sikkim 220 and 21 for no loss in 9 overs. Sikkim need 139 runs.
At Nadiad: Mizoram 252 and 216 in 80.3 overs (Shreevats Goswami 64, Taruwar Kohli 40; Rajesh Bishnoi 5/61) vs Meghalaya 171 and 75/3 in 32 overs (Kishan Lyngdoh 40; Avinash Yadav 3/13). Meghalaya need 223 runs.
