A roundup of Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches on Friday.
Rohan's century leads Kerala's strong reply
Opener Rohan Kunnummal stroked a century to lead Kerala's strong reply against Gujarat on Day 2 of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium in Rajkot.
Rohan hit a fluent 129, hitting 16 fours and four sixes in his 171-ball knock, putting on 85 runs for the opening wicket with Ponnam Rahul, who made 44.
Jalaj Saxena perished for 4 before Rohan stitched another useful stand of 119 runs for the third wicket with Sachin Baby (53).
Rajkot: Gujarat 388 (Het Patel 185, Karan Patel 120; Nidheesh MD 5/54) vs Kerala 277/4 (Rohan Kunnummal 129, Sachin Baby 53).
Prasad's six puts Karnataka in control
Pacer Prasidh Krishna starred with a six-wicket haul to demolish Jammu and Kashmir and help Karnataka seize control of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match in Chennai on Friday.
Karnataka extending the overall lead to 337 runs after dismissing the opposition for 93 on the second day of the four-day match.
Fast rising Krishna (6/35), fresh from his stint with the Indian ODI team, blew away Jammu and Kashmir batting line-up, bundling the opposition out in 29.5 overs.
Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 268 for eight, Karun Nair moved to 175 and helped Karanataka post 302 all out in their first innings.
Nair's superb effort ended when experienced off-spinner Parvez Rasool (4/60) trapped him leg before wicket.
In reply, Jammu and Kashmir openers -- Qamran Iqbal (35) and Jatin Wadhwan (25) began well, putting on 55 runs for the first wicket before Krishna produced an impressive spell and took six of the first seven wickets of his rival side.
Krishna removed Iqbal first and then dismissed Shubham Singh Pundir (5) and Wadhawan in quick succession before Shreyas Gopal got into the act by scalping Jammu and Kashmir captain Ian Dev Singh for a duck.
Jammu and Kashmir were reeling at 75 for seven when Prasidh Krishna had Abdul Samad (3) caught behind by B R Sharath.
Jammu and Kashmir innings folded quickly as Vidhyadhar Patil (2/10) and K Gowtham (1/5) picked up the last three wickets.
Batting a second time, Karnataka got off to a bright start with R Samarth (62) and Devdutt Padikkal (49) putting on a century stand in 31 overs before the latter fell to Abid Mushtaq.
Samarth fell close to stumps after a well compiled fifty as Karnataka extended the overall lead to 337 runs reaching 128 for two in their second innings.
With two days to go, Manish Pandey & Co hold all the aces in the four-day game.
In the other match of the group, Railways replied strongly to Pondicherry's first innings score of 342, built on Paras Dogra's 107, ending the day at 205 for three.
Opener Vivek Singh hit 92 to lead Railways' strong reply. He was involved in a half-century stand with Shivam Chaudhary (51).
Brief scores:
Chennai: Karnataka 302 all out in 103.1 overs (Karun Nair 175, R Samarth 45; Mujtaba Yousuf 2/52, Parvez Rasool 4/60, Umran Malik 2/35) and 128 for 2 in 42 overs (R Samarth 62, Devdutt Padikkal 49) vs Jammu and Kashmir 93 all out in 29.5 overs (Prasidh Krishna 6/35).
Chennai: Pondicherry 342 all out (Paras Dogra 107, Neyan Shyam Kangayan 49) vs Railways 205 for 3 (Vivek Singh 92, Shivam Chaudhary 51).
Sharma, Raghuwanshi put MP in driver's seat
Shubham Sharma's stroke-filled 111 coupled with Akshat Raghuwanshi's 100 firmly put Madhya Pradesh in a commanding position against Meghalaya on the second day of their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy game in Rajkot.
After bundling out Meghalaya for a meagre 61, MP posted a mammoth 499 for 6 declared in their first innings, courtesy on centuries by Shubham and Raghuwanshi at the Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium ground 'C'.
Experienced campaigner Rajat Patidar and Yash Dubey also chipped in by scoring 86 and unbeaten 85 respectively.
MP resumed from their overnight score of 141 for 2 and Sharma, who played a vital role in the team's win over Gujarat in the lung-opener, hammered a listless Meghalaya attack, striking 15 boundaries in his 169-ball knock.
Patidar played perfect second fiddle, even as he struck 12 boundaries and forged a 131-run stand for the third wicket.
But then Aryan dismissed Sharma to peg back MP.
Patidar also missed a deserving hundred, as he was removed by Akash Kumar, leaving MP at 297 for 4.
Skipper Aditya Srivastava (42) also played his part to perfection.
But there was more agony in store for Meghalaya as then Raghuwanshi and Yash Dubey joined forces and took on the opposition attack with gusto.
While Raghuwanshi hit 12 fours and a maximum, Dubey in his unbeaten knock struck 10 boundaries and two sixes. The duo conjured a staggering 160-run stand for the sixth wicket.
After Raghuwanshi departed, the MP skipper declared the innings, as the central team had a sizable first innings lead.
In the second essay, Meghalaya was 16 for 0 when stumps were drawn and the north eastern side now has a tough task at hand of saving the game or even settling for a draw.
Brief Scores:
Rajkot: Meghalaya 61 all out (Gaurav Yadav 5/11) and 16/0 vs Madhya Pradesh 499/6 dec (Shubham Sharma 111, Akshat Raghuwanshi 100, Rajat Patidar 86).
Satish's double ton puts Vidarbha in control
Ganesh Satish pummeled the Maharashtra attack into submission as his elegant 275 put Vidarbha in a commanding position on the second day of their Elite Group G Ranji Trophy game in Sultanpur, Haryana, on Friday.
Satish, who registered his highest individual score and his second first class double hundred, took the Maharashtra attack to task as Vidarbha posted a mammoth 569 for 5 declared in their first essay. His previous best was 237 against Andhra in the 2019-20 season.
The right-handed batter, who walked in number four, played shots at will and round the park as he tore into a pedestrian Maharashtra attack.
He in the company of wicketkeeper batter Akshay Wadkar, who also notched up his seventh first class hundred with a brilliant 145 not out, added a staggering 288 runs for the fourth wicket.
Wadkar, who notched up his second hundred of the season, played the perfect second fiddle, hammering 17 fours in his 283-ball knock.
Satish struck 33 fours and five maximums in his 482-ball knock before being cleaned up by experienced Maharashtra left-arm spinner Satyajeet Bachhav (2/134), but till then the damage had been done at the Gurgaon cricket ground.
Akshay Karnewar (39) also played his part well. Wadkar remained unbeaten on 145 as skipper Faiz Fazal decided to declare the innings.
In reply, Maharashtra lost opener Yash Nahar (22).
Last match's hero Pawan Shah, who made a double hundred on debut, was unbeaten on 24, when stumps were drawn, with Maharashtra at 46 for 1.
Maharashtra has a mountain to climb, as they trail by 523 runs.
Brief Scores:
Vidarbha 569/5 dec (Ganesh Satish 275, Akshay Wadkar 145 not out) vs Maharashtra 46/1.
At Rohtak: Assam 265 (Riyan Parag 91, Subham Mandal 56, Karan Sharma 3/31) and 5/1 vs Uttar Pradesh 274 (Samarth Singh 70; Dhruv Jurel 55).
Rana, Sharma lead Haryana fightback vs Punjab
Skipper Himanshu Rana led from the front with his fourth first-class century as Haryana reached 204/3 in a strong reply to Punjab's mammoth 444 on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group F fixture in New Delhi on Friday.
Rana slammed 16 fours en route to his unbeaten 113 from 177 balls, while Yashu Sharma, who scored his maiden first-class century against Tripura in the last match, gave him good support at the other end with 69 not out.
Haryana trail Punjab by 240 runs at the end of day two's play.
Haryana had a jittery start and were 4/2 after losing both the openers Subham Rohilla (4) and Mayank Shandilya (0) inside the second over before the skipper rebuilt their innings.
Rana got a 50-plus stand with Shivam Chauhan and looked to carry on the momentum but Siddharth Kaul (2/49) Punjab gave another breakthrough.
Kaul cleaned up Chauhan (18) with the team's score at 65/3 and Haryana looked to slip again before Rana resisted the collapse, building a fine partnership with the in-form Yashu Sharma.
The duo saw through the day putting up an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 139 runs.
Earlier, resuming the day at 368/5 Punjab lost their remaining five wickets for 76 runs in 23 overs as Haryana staged a spirited fightback riding on rookie off-spinner Aman Kumar's fine 4/88.
The 22-year-old ran through the lower-order after seamer Ajit Chahal (3/74) gave the first breakthrough in the first hour's play.
Punjab senior batter Mandeep Singh was stranded on 159 as wickets kept falling around him, eventually folding in 111 overs.
Tripura bowled out for 202 against HP
In another match Group F match, Tripura were all out for 202 in reply to Himachal Pradesh 365.
K B Pawan top-scored for Tripura with 34, while Bishal Ghosh and Rajat Dey chipped in with 30-run knocks each but the rest of the team collapsed as left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar snared five wickets in 21.2 overs, conceding just 55 runs.
Earlier, Himachal, who were 304/6 overnight, folded for 365.
Skipper Ankit Kalsi was the star of that innings with a 271-ball 147.
Brief Scores:
At Arun Jaitley Stadium: Punjab 444 (Mandeep Singh 159 not out, Anmol Malhotra 100) vs Haryana 204/3; 57 overs (Himanshu Rana 113 not out, Yashu Sharma 69 not out).
At Palam A Ground: Himachal Pradesh 365 (Ankit Kalsi 147, Raghav Dhawan 68, Akash Vasisht 43) vs Tripura 202 (KB Pawan 34, Bishal Ghosh 30; Mayank Dagar 5/55).
Bhui hits century before Andhra collapse
Former India Under-19 skipper Ricky Bhui's 149 and Karan Shinde's 96-run knock helped Andhra post 389 in the first innings against Services in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group E match in Thiruvananthapuram.
Resuming at their overnight score of 277 for 3, Andhra continued to add runs as Bhui and Shinde took the score to 337 before the latter fell to off-spinner Pulkit Narang for four short of a well-deserved hundred.
The 218-run fourth wicket partnership between Bhui and Shinde was the cornerstone of the Andhra innings as the rest of the batters did not make substantial contributions. From 350 for 4, Andhra slipped to 389 all out with Narang finishing with 6 for 56.
Services lost the wickets of Anshul Guta (14) and Rahul Singh (9) to C V Stephen and K V Shashikanth and finished the day at 75 for 2, 314 runs in arrears.
In the other match of the group, Swapnil Singh's 97 and Kunal Chandela (89) helped Uttarakhand post a score of 337 in the first innings.
Left-arm spinner Mayank Mishra then got into the act and picked up four wicket to put Rajasthan in trouble at 117 for 5 at close of play. His victims included Manender Singh (52), skipper Ashok Menaria (5), Aditya Garhwal (3) and Yash Kothari (26).
Brief scores:
Thiruvananthapuram: Andhra 389 all out (Ricky Bhui 149, Karan Shinde 96, U M S Girinath 54, Pulkit Narang 6 for 56) vs Services 75 for 2.
Thiruvananthapuram: Uttarakhand 337 all out (Swapnil Singh 97, Kunal Chandela 89, Dikshanshu Negi 61) vs Rajasthan 117 for 5 (Manender Singh 52, Mayank Mishra 4 for 41).
