A summary of Sunday's action in the Ranji Trophy Elite group matches.
Experienced batter Karun Nair and promising Ravichandran Smaran scored double hundreds as Karnataka gained the upper hand over Kerala on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match, in Thiruvananthapuram, on Sunday.
Karun (233, 389 balls, 25x4, 2x6) and Smaran (220 not out, 390 balls, 16x4, 3x6) shared a massive stand of 343 runs for the fourth wicket as Karnataka declared their first innings at 586 for 5.
Karnataka pacers Vidwath Kaverappa and Vysakh Vijayakumar then struck with the new ball, leaving Kerala reeling on 21 for 3 at stumps, the hosts still trailing by 565 runs.
Karun, resuming on his overnight score of 142, continued his great run in domestic cricket after getting dropped from the India squad post the tour to England.
This was his second straight three-digit score after an unbeaten 174 against Goa in the previous match at Shimoga.
Smaran, who started the day on 88, hit his first hundred of the season before going on to score a double ton -- his second across 11 first class matches.
Karnataka and Kerala both need an outright win to reach the upper echelons of the points' table after two underwhelming outings in the first two rounds.
At Nashik, rain and wet outfield restricted the action on the day to just 12 overs, and Saurashtra were 61 for one at close against Maharashtra.
The entire first day's play on Saturday was washed out.
Brief scores
At Thiruvananthapuram:
Karnataka 586/5 declared in 167 overs (Karun Nair 233, Ravichandran Smaran 220 not out, KL Srijith 65; NP Basil 2/101) vs Kerala 21/3 in 10 overs (Vidwath Kaverappa 2/7).
At Indore:
Madhya Pradesh 384/8 in 106 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 116, Venkatesh Iyer 65, Aryan Pandey 40; Jagjit Singh Sandhu 5/69) vs Chandigarh.
At New Chandigarh:
Punjab 325 all out in 135.4 overs (Uday Saharan 126, Salil Arora 63; Deepraj Goankar 3/34, Darshan Misal 3/72) vs Goa 92 for no loss in 24 overs (Suyansh Prabhudesai 58 batting, Manthan Khutkar 32 not out).
Saurashtra 61/1 in 12 overs (Harvik Desai 28 not out, Jay Gohil 18 not out) vs Maharashtra.
Shikhar's double ton puts Jharkhand on top
Opener Shikhar Mohan struck a magnificent double century to power Jharkhand to an imposing 510/8 against Nagaland on the second day of their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match, in Ranchi, on Sunday.
Resuming at 91/2, overnight batter Shikhar made the most of his opportunity, smashing 21 fours and three sixes in his scintillating 207-run knock.
The 20-year-old stitched a 251-run partnership for the third wicket with Virat Singh (105) to put Jharkhand in command.
After Virat's dismissal in the 77th over, Shikhar added another 109 runs with Kumar Kushagra (58) to further pile on the agony for Nagaland.
Virat was dismissed by Jonathan R, with Tahmeed Rahman taking the catch, while Shikhar was finally removed by Rahman in the 95th over.
At the break, Robin Minz (75) and Sushant Mishra (4) were at the crease.
In Coimbatore, Nachiket Bhute's five-wicket haul, followed by fluent half-centuries from Aman Mokhade and Dhruv Shorey, put Vidarbha in the driver's seat after Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 291 on day two.
Resuming at 252/4, Tamil Nadu lost their remaining six wickets for just 39 runs, with Bhute (5/65) and Parth Rekhade (3/58) sharing eight wickets between them.
Baba Indrajith (96) could add only two runs to his overnight score before being cleaned up by Bhute, who broke the middle-order resistance, while Rekhade wiped out the tail.
In reply, Mokhade (80) and Shorey (80) shared a 123-run stand to guide Vidarbha to 211 for two at stumps. Ravikumar Samarth (24) was giving company to Shorey at the break.
In Cuttack, Shaik Rasheed (140 not out) produced a commanding hundred as Andhra declared their first innings at 475 for seven and then reduced Odisha to 80 for four by stumps.
Sandeep Pattnaik (24) and Govinda Poddar (1) were at the crease, with Odisha still trailing by 395 runs.
Earlier, Rasheed capitalised on the solid platform laid by openers Srikar Bharat (93) and Abhishek Reddy (76), hitting 18 boundaries in his unbeaten 140.
Andhra progressed to 333/5 at lunch from their overnight 222/3, before quick cameos from KV Sasikanth (46 off 67) and Saurabh Kumar (69 off 38; 8x4s, 4x6s) gave them a strong finish.
In Vadodara, play was called off for the second successive day due to a wet outfield following rain at the BCA Stadium.
Brief scores
Tamil Nadu 291 all out in 107.1 overs (Pradosh Ranjan Paul 113, Baba Indrajith 96; Nachiket Bhute 5/65) vs Vidarbha 211 for 2 in 68 overs (Aman Mokhade 80, Dhruv Shorey 80; R Sai Kishore 2/72).
Andhra 475 for 7 decl in 123.1 overs (Shaik Rasheed 140 not out, Srikar Bharat 93, Abhishek Reddy 76; Sambit S Baral 2/85, G Poddar 2/80) vs Odisha 80 for 4 in 20 overs (Gourav Choudhury 48; Kavuri Saiteja 2/16).
Jharkhand 510 for 8 in 105 overs (Shikhar Mohan 207, Virat Singh 105, Robin Minz 75 not out; Jonathan R 3/129) vs Nagaland.
Rohera ton puts Puducherry in command vs Delhi
Opener Ajay Rohera mixed caution with aggression en route an unbeaten 107 to put Puducherry on course for a first innings lead against a bungling Delhi in a Group D encounter of the Ranji Trophy in New Delhi on Sunday.
At stumps on the second day, Puducherry reached 240 for 4, riding on Rohera's 139-ball unbeaten knock, which was studded with 16 boundaries.
This was after Delhi’s below par first innings score of 294 after starting the day at 248 for 6.
While left-handed Sumit Mathur, who has had a steady presence in Delhi’s middle-order remained unbeaten on 71, inclusive of 11 fours and a six, there wasn't much support from the lower-order with Hrithik Shokeen (30) unable to convert his start.
For Puducherry, their player-cum-mentor Sagar Udeshi, the 39-year-old left-arm spinner, got 4 for 36 while Abin Matthew got three wickets.
When Puducherry batted, Rohera, a former MP ‘keeper-batter, was solid in both attack and defence, with Delhi’s bowlers not proving to be incisive enough, barring Simarjeet Singh (2/50), who produced two wicket-taking deliveries in first and last spell of the day.
Rohera added 91 for the second wicket with Paras Ratnaparkhe (43) and another 93 for the third wicket with Anand Bais (48) as Puducherry now require 55 runs to get the all-important first innings lead and ensure at least three points.
Deepak Hooda ton gives Rajasthan in lead vs Mumbai
Former India T20 specialist Deepak Hooda hit an unbeaten 121 as Rajasthan raced to a 83-run first innings lead against title contenders Mumbai in a group D encounter in Jaipur.
After Mumbai were bowled out for 254 on Day 1, Rajasthan ended the second day on a solid 337 for 4, thanks to Hooda's innings that had 13 boundaries.
The other significant contributor was opener Sachin Yadav (92 off 162 balls), who hit 15 fours and added 94 with skipper Mahipal Lomror (41) for the second wicket and 92 for the third wicket with Hooda.
Brief scores
At New Delhi
Delhi 294 (Sanat Sangwan 99, Sumit Mathur 71, Sagar Udeshi 4/36) vs Puducherry 240/4 (Ajay Rohera 107 batting, Simarjeet Singh 2/50).
At Jaipur
Mumbai 254 vs Rajasthan 337/4 (Deepak Hooda 121 no, Sachin Yadav 92).
At Nadaun
Himachal Pradesh 318 (Akash Vashist 118, Tanay Thyagrajan 4/80) vs Hyderabad 274/8 (Chama Milind 94 not out, Divesh Sharma 3/66).
At Raipur
Jammu and Kashmir 394 (Shubham Khajuria 190, Paras Dogra 59, Ravi Kiran 7/82) vs Chhattisgarh 75/1 (Ayush Pandey 32 batting, Umar Nazir Mir 1/23).
14 wickets tumble on Day 2 in rain-hit Gujarat-Haryana clash
As many as 14 wickets tumbled on the second day after a rain washout opening day as the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match between Gujarat and Haryana hung in the balance in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Put in to bat, Gujarat were bowled out for 163 in 63.5 overs, Kshitij Patel (50 off 107 balls, 4x4) providing the only substantial resistance.
Haryana's Nikhil Kashyap and Nishant Sindhu picked three wickets each.
In reply, Haryana were 90 for four in 34 overs at stumps, still trailing by 73 runs.
Gujarat pacer Vishal Jaiswal struck twice early to remove openers Ankit Kumar (5) and Lakshay Dalal (8) before Mayank Shandilya (28) and Sindhu (29) steadied the innings briefly.
Siddharth Desai later broke the stand to keep Gujarat ahead.
Gharami’s century puts Bengal on top
Making full use of the opportunity at the top, Sudip Kumar Gharami struck his sixth first-class hundred and shared a double-century stand with Shakir Habib Gandhi to put Bengal firmly on top against Tripura in Agartala.
At stumps, Bengal were 336 for nine with Shahbaz Ahmed holding the fort on 40 and ensuring the visitors are well-placed for three first-innings points.
Resuming at the overnight 171 for one, Gharami and Gandhi continued from where they left off, untroubled by the Tripura attack in the morning session.
Promoted to open in absence of skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran and injured Sudip Chatterjee, Gharami brought up his hundred with a well-timed sweep and went on to make a patient 108 off 250 balls, which included 15 fours.
It was, however, heartbreak for Gandhi, who missed a well-deserved maiden first-class hundred by just five runs.
He fell for 95, caught by substitute Rajat Dey at deep square leg off Rana Datta, who had earlier missed a chance to dismiss the batter on Saturday due to a dropped catch.
After the pair's departure, Bengal's middle order failed to capitalise on the solid foundation, losing four wickets for just 25 runs.
Anustup Majumdar (6), stand-in skipper Abhishek Porel (11) and Sumanta Gupta (5) fell cheaply.
Credit to Tripura captain Manisankar Murasingh, who played a key role by first denying Gandhi his century and then removing the experienced Majumdar.
From 262 for seven, all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed steadied the innings, adding valuable runs with debutant Rahul Prasad, who scored a brisk 35 off 46 balls with five fours. Shahbaz remained unbeaten on 40 off 82 deliveries with two boundaries, showing restraint and composure.
Rana Datta was the pick of Tripura's bowlers with figures of 3/76 from 23 overs, while Murasingh returned a tidy 2/56 from 27 overs.
Brief scores
At Ahmedabad:
Gujarat 163 in 63.5 overs (Kshitij Patel 50; Nikhil Kashyap 3/34, Nishant Sindhu 3/43) vs Haryana 90/4 in 34 overs (Vishal Jaiswal 2/36).
At Delhi: Uttarakhand 257 in 110.2 overs (J Suchith 67, Saurabh Rawat 56; Vikas Yadav 5/53, Arjun Sharma 4/79) vs Services 178/7 in 67 overs (Mohit Ahlawat 75, Ravi Chauhan 51; Mayank Mishra 3/69).
At Agartala:
Bengal 336/9 in 115 overs (Sudip Gharami 108, Habib Gandhi 95; Rana Dutta 3/76) vs Tripura.
At Guwahati: Railways 57/2 vs Assam.
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