Dhruv Shorey put Delhi in complete command on Wednesday, slamming a brisk hundred against Himachal Pradesh to set a target of 376. Ishant Sharma then removed Himachal Pradesh run machine Prashant Chopra in the chase.
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand routed Manipur by eight wickets courtesy of a 13-wicket haul by medium-pacer Deepak Dhapola, and now have two wins from as many games. Sikkim also got their second win on the bounce, beating Nagaland by eight wickets.
Madhya Pradesh skipper Naman Ojha battled hard for his side against Bengal but the home side still have the upper hand after registering a massive first innings score. Abhinav Mukund’s breezy unbeaten ton kept Tamil Nadu in the hunt against Hyderabad following Akshath Reddy’s heroics.
Delhi in sight of a win
Dhruv Shorey’s fourth first-class century put Delhi firmly in sight of an outright victory against Himachal Pradesh in the group B match in Delhi.
Shorey scored his fourth first-class hundred – 106 not out off 177 balls as Delhi declared their second innings at 281 for 4, leaving HP with a stiff target of 376.
Earlier, Delhi dismissed HP for 223 in their first innings taking a first innings lead of 94 runs and also ensuring at least three points. At stumps on the third day, Himachal were 44/1 with their best bet Prashant Chopra being dismissed by Ishant Sharma (1/14 in 5 overs).
With 332 needed on the final day, it will be more about how Himachal survive against left-arm spin duo of Vikas Mishra and Varun Sood on a fourth day track with considerable wear and tear. Not to forget that Ishant will also bowl full tilt in short spells and is more dangerous on these kind of tracks. Other seamer Kulwant Khejroliya is expected to stem the flow of runs.
Brief Scores
Delhi 317 and 281/4 decl. (Dhruv Shorey 106*, Gautam Gambhir 49) Himachal Pradesh 223 and 44/1 [target 376] (Ishant Sharma 1/14 in 5 overs)
Mukund hits ton
Test discard Abhinav Mukund led Tamil Nadu’s riposte to Hyderabad’s massive first innings total of 565/8 declared with a superb century (101*) as the hosts reached 163/2 at stumps on day three of the group B match in Delhi.
Hyderabad skipper Akshath Reddy could add only two runs to his overnight score of 248 and the team declared at 565 after CV Milind (33*) and Mehdi Hasan (14*) put on 27 runs for the ninth wicket.
M Mohammed was the best bowler for Tamil Nadu, picking up 3/102 while K Vignesh and Rahil Shah scalped two each. Tamil Nadu skipper B Indrajith used eight bowlers in the innings as the visiting batsmen piled on their misery on a flat wicket.
Brief scores: Hyderabad 565/8 (Akshath Reddy 250, B Sandeep 130, M Mohammed 3/102, K Vignesh 2/102) vs Tamil Nadu 163/2 (Abhinav Mukund 101*, C V Milind 2/19).
Sikkim, Uttarakhand taste victory
Deepak Dhapola returned with a match haul of 13 wickets as Uttarakhand secured their second straight victory after beating Manipur by eight wickets at Dehradun.
In Dimapur, Sikkim also registered their second win in their debut season beating hosts Nagaland by nine wickets. Sikkim have 13 points along with Uttarakhand but the former occupy the pole position in the Plate Group on the basis of better net run-rate.
Dhapola, who ripped apart Manipur in the first innings with a 7/50, returned with 5/46 as he along with Sunny Rana, who bagged an identical 5/46.
Manipur had four ducks in their innings and with the wicket of skipper Yashpal Singh for 15 taken by Sunny Manipur slumped to 164/8, thus losing seven wickets for just 21 runs. Manipur were eventually bowled out for 185 in the second essay, setting Uttarkhand a target of 95.
Uttarakhand lost opener Karanveer Kaushal (18), no 3 Vaibhav Bhatt (27) but Vineet Saxena remaining unbeaten on 32 to steer them home in 17.5 overs to help them bag six points.
Uttarakhand had beaten Bihar with a bonus point in their last match here with Dhapola claiming 6/13 and 3/48. In Dimapur, Sikkim were set a paltry target 79 as skipper Nilesh Lamichaney remained unbeaten on 33 alongside Ashish Thapa (27*) to win in 25.4 overs.
Former Delhi batsman Milind Kumar was their star player with second successive double century that gave them a 195-run first innings lead. Nagaland put up a strong show in their second essay with KB Pawan’s 134 and Imliwati Lemtur’s 61 as they finished at 273 in their second innings.
Brief Scores Manipur 137 and 185 (Lakhan Rawat 82; Deepak Dhapola 5/46, Sunny Rana 5/46) lost to Uttarakhand 228 and 99/2 (Vineet Saxena 32*) by eight wickets.
Nagaland 179 and 273 (KB Pawan 134, Imliwati Lemtur 61; Ishwar Chaudhary 5/70, Bipul Sharma 3/67) lost to Sikkim 374 and 81/1 (Nilesh Lamichaney 33*) by nine wickets.
Will Harsh Tyagi’s efforts be enough?
Riding on an unbeaten fifty by young Harsh Tyagi, Railways lead Saurashtra by 130 runs at stumps on the penultimate day of the four-day Ranji Trophy game against hosts Saurashtra.
For Railways, Tyagi was impressive in the second outing with his unbeaten innings of 73 in 182-balls. While all others batters failed, 18-year-old Tyagi kept the score-board ticking. His knock ensured that Railways managed to get past the 250-run-mark and ended the third day on 278/8.
After opting to bat, Railways were bowled out for 200 in their first outing. Saurashtra then took a crucial 148-run first-innings lead with Ravindra Jadeja remaining unbeaten on 178 as they posted 348 on the board.
Railways 200 and 278/8 (Harsh Tyagi 73 not out, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 4/79) versus Saurashtra 348 (Ravindra Jadeja 178*, Harsh Tyagi 3/78).
Railways lead by 130 runs.
Bengal have upper hand but Ojha fights
Skipper Naman Ojha cracked a patient half-century with Madhya Pradesh making a strong reply against Bengal in Group B fixture at Kolkata.
Ojha held their innings together with his 151-ball 74 before getting out to part-time leg-spinner Anustup Majumdar, who took two wickets in two overs (2/20) to raise hopes of another three points. At close on the penultimate day, MP were 254/5, trailing Bengal by 256 runs. Yash Dubey (20*) and Ankit Sharma (9*) were at the crease.
Earlier, Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda (2/42) dismissed both the MP openers, Aryaman Birla (12) and Ankit Dane (38), with the visitors reeling at 65/2 inside the first hour’s play. But Ojha stayed on, stitching two fifty-plus partnerships with Rajat Patidar (49) and Shubham Sharma (45) in the first and second sessions respectively.
Bengal 510/9 decl. vs Madhya Pradesh 254/5 (Naman Ojha 74, Rajat Patidar 49, Shubham Sharma 45; Ashok Dinda 2/42, Anustup Majumdar 2/20).
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