Ranji Trophy: Gautam Gambhir, Unmukt Chand lead Delhi’s fight back against Rajasthan on Day 2

Gautam Gambhir’s 146-ball knock had eight boundaries as he was very cautious. (Source: Express File)

Skipper Gautam Gambhir in company of his deputy Unmukt Chand got into a damage control mode with fighting half-centuries as Delhi put up a much improved performance on the second day of their Ranji Trophy match against Rajasthan taking their overall lead to 74 runs.

After being skittled out for 138 on the opening day, the Delhi bowlers did a decent job to restrict Rajasthan to 240 keeping the first innings lead to 102. Delhi gave a better account of themselves finishing the day at 176 for one.

Skipper Gambhir took charge in the second essay with a fighting unbeaten 77 and added 166 for the opening stand with Unmukt who struck 84.

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While Gambhir’s 146-ball knock had eight boundaries as he was very cautious knowing that a lot rests on his experienced shoulders. Unmukt, also displayed maturity during his 147-ball stay at the wicket that yielded 13 boundaries and a six.

The former India U-19 captain should have got a century but was caught behind off Manjeet Singh’s bowling.

At close of play, nightwatchman Pradeep Sangwan (6 batting) was giving Gambhir company.

Even though Rajasthan got a handy 102-run first innings lead, it seems that the match will have an outright result.

Delhi might fancy their chances if they can set a target of 225 for Rajasthan in their fourth innings chase.

Rajasthan started the day at 74 for three and the two overnight batsmen Ashok Menaria (38) and Puneet Yadav (46) took the hosts past Delhi’s first innings score of 138.

Having added 71 runs for the fourth wicket, Parvinder Awana (2/24 in 14 overs) removed Puneet caught by Milind Kumar.

In his very next over, Awana removed Menaria, who nicked one to Mohit Ahlawat behind stumps.

Having lost two set batsmen in quick succession, Rajasthan were dealt a third blow as Rajesh Bishnoi (0) was trapped leg before by Sumit Narwal.

The home team were reduced to 143 for six after which Dishant Yagnik (40) and bowling hero Deepak Chahar (50) frustrated the visiting team bowlers with a 87 run stand.

It was a whirlwind counterattacking stand in only 13.3 overs as Chahar hit six fours and three sixes and Yagnik had seven boundaries to his credit.

But at 230 for six, there was another collapse as left-arm spinner Manan Sharma (3/59) wiped off the tail after part-time offie Milind Kumar ended the partnership cleaning up Chahar.

Brief Scores: Delhi 138 & 2nd Innings 176/1 (Gautam Gambhir 77 batting, Unmukt Chand 84)

Rajasthan 1st innings: 240 (Deepak Chahar 50, Puneet Yadav 46, Dishant Yagnik 40, Sumit Narwal 3/47, Parvinder Awana 2/24).

Haryana suffer late order collapse on curtailed 2nd day

Haryana lost their last four wickets for only four runs as only 19.1 overs of play was possible due to inclement weather on the second day of their Ranji Trophy opening group league encounter against Maharashtra.

Haryana were all-out in their first innings 335 after starting the day at 303 for six. At stumps, Maharashtra were 7 for no loss in three overs.

While Virender Sehwag hogged the limelight on the first day with his strokefilled 92, the second day was all about bad weather conditions.

Himanshu Rana (157) started the day with Jayant Yadav (29) as the duo took the score to 331 having added 87 runs for the seventh wicket.

Rana was unfortunately run-out having hit 21 boundaries in 271 balls in a knock that was shade under seven hours.

Disaster struck haryana as from 331 for six, they slumped to 331 for nine before being bowled out for 335.

Brief Scores: Haryana 1st Innings: 335 in 106.1 overs (Himanshu Rana 157, Virender Sehwag 92, Samad Fallah 3/78, Nikit Dhumal 3/55). Maharashtra 1st Innings 7/0 in 3 overs.

 

Umesh Yadav slams maiden First Class century on day two

India pacer Umesh Yadav smashed his maiden century across formats to put Vidarbha in a strong position against Odisha on day two of the Ranji Trophy Group A game in Nagpur on Friday.
Courtesy Yadav’s unbeaten 128 off 119 balls, Vidarbha ended at 467 all out after resuming the day at 256 for six.

Odisha in reply were 79 for two at stumps, trailing the hosts by 388 runs with Govinda Podder (21*) and Anurag Sarangi (9*) at the crease.

The star of the day undoubtedly was Yadav and this time his heroics were not with the ball. The 27-year-old, whose previous highest First Class score was 90, hammered seven sixes and as many fours in his entertaining knock.

Yadav got good support from tail-ender Akshay Wakhare, who chipped in with 34 off 90 balls.

On day one, opener Aditya Shanware struck 119 and held the innings together before being dismissed in the 88th over.

Brief scores: Vidarbha 467 in 143.4 overs (Aditya Shanware 119, Ganesh Satish 53, Umesh Yadav 128 not out; Basant Mohanty 3/65). Odisha 79/2 in 34 overs (Girija Rout 25; Ravikumar Thakur 1/11).
Assam take first innings lead against Karnataka in Ranji

Pallavkumar Das (55) and Amit Verma (57) came up with twin fifties as Assam grabbed a crucial first innings lead over defending champions Karnataka after posting 194 all out on the second day of their Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match in Guwahati.

Overnight batsmen Pallavkumar and Gokul Sharma (30) forged a crucial 82-run stand, while Arun Karthik and Verma added 42 runs for the fourth wicket to help Assam surpass Karnataka’s first innings total of 187 all out at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium.

At the draw of stumps, Karnataka had reached 77 for no loss with opening batsmen R Samarth (33) and MA Agarwal (44) at the crease.

Brief Scores:

Karnataka: 187 all out in 75.2 overs and 77 for no loss in 21 overs (Ravikumar Samarth 33 batting; Mayank Agarwal 44 batting).

Assam 1st Innings: 194 all out in 78.5 overs (Pallavkumar Das 55, Amit Verma 57; R Vinay Kumar 2/20, Shreyas Gopal 2/43, Karun Nair 2/11).