Shubman Gill hit a superb unbeaten 199 (234 balls, 21x4, 4x6) on Saturday to power Punjab to 308 for 2 in reply to Tamil Nadu’s first innings score of 215 on the second day of the Ranji Trophy, PTI reported.
The host wrapped up Tamil Nadu’s innings in one over when R Sai Kishore (1) was run out by Baltej Singh, adding two runs to its overnight score.
Punjab began its reply in a solid manner as 19-year-old Gill and Jiwanjot Singh (33, 94 balls, 6X4) blunted the TN pace attack, comprising T Natarajan, M Mohammed and K Vignesh with a mix of caution and aggression.
While Jiwanjot showed a lot of patience and kept the rival bowlers at bay, Gill was all elegance as he unfurled numerous shots on both sides of the wicket. Some of the shots, especially the cover drives, stood out as he looked untroubled during his knock. It was a struggle for the Tamil Nadu bowlers as Gill proved unstoppable, hitting shots at will while skipper Mandeep Singh (50 batting) batted in a calm manner at the other end.
Delhi keep on collapsing
Kerala took a stranglehold of their Group B game against Delhi, bowling out the visitors for 139 in the first innings and then reducing them to 41 for five in Thiruvantapuram.
Experienced all-rounder Jalaj Saxena was the star of the day as he took six wickets for 39 runs to help the host bundle out Delhi for 139 and gain a 181-run lead. Kerala’s first innings ended at 320.
Only four Delhi batsmen reached double figures as Saxena ran through the line-up to set things up nicely for Kerala, who are aiming for a spot in the knockouts. The Delhi batsmen did not fare any better in the second innings, slipping to 41 for five at stumps on the second day, as Sandeep Warrier prised out the openers.
Resuming at an overnight 291 for seven, Kerala could add only 29 runs, as Shivam Sharma took two more wickets to take his tally to six. Delhi got off to a poor start, losing opener Sarthak Rajan (4) in the first over. Basil Thampi struck in the second over, having Hiten Dalal caught behind by Vishnu Vinod to leave Delhi at 4 for 2.
Skipper Dhruv Shorey (30) and Vaibhav Rawal (18) went about repairing the damage before the latter became Saxena’s first victim. The visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals as Saxena bowled a nagging line and length. Delhi collapsed from 132 for six to 139, as Saxena and Sijomon Joseph got among the wickets.
Baroda make strong comeback against Mumbai
Riding on one-down batsman Vishnu Solanki’s unbeaten century and opener Aditya Waghmode’s patient, unconquered half century, Baroda made a strong reply to Mumbai’s tall first innings total.
Answering to the home team’s tally of 465, Baroda had advanced to 244 for the loss of opener and captain Kedar Devdhar’s wicket, trailing by 221 runs at the Wankhede Stadium. Waghmode and Solanki were not out on 87 and 128 respectively after the early fall of Devdhar to Shivam Dube for 11 against the listless Mumbai attack.
While Waghmode was circumspect for the better part of his 237-ball innings, his second wicket partner Solanki was a little more aggressive in his 231-ball innings, sprinkled with 17 fours.
The duo, who got together when Devdhar was trapped leg before in the second over with 12 on board, have added 232 runs so far. The Mumbai bowlers, eight of whom were used by captain Siddhesh Lad, toiled hard to separate the duo, without success. Earlier, the 41-time champions – resuming at 439 for 8 – were dismissed inside seven overs this morning.
Aman spins Bihar to victory
Left-arm spinner Ashutosh Aman returned an astonishing match haul of 14 wickets to help Bihar crush hosts Meghalaya by an innings and 71 runs in Shillong.
The 32-year-old had figures of 6/17 in the second innings for a match haul of 14/68, as Bihar skittled out the home outfit for 46 on way to a bonus-point victory with two days to spare.
The Services veteran now has 39 wickets to his kitty from eight innings at a jaw-dropping average of 4.79 to be second in the leading wicket takers’ tally this season behind Uttarakhand pacer Deepak Dhapola (42 wickets).
Odisha-Rajasthan game evenly poised
The Ranji Trophy game between Odisha and Rajasthan was evenly poised on day two with the hosts needing 167 runs for outright win. On a day when the momentum swung back and forth, Odisha were 6 for 2 at stumps having lost their opener and one down batsman in their second essay in pursuit of 173.
On Friday, Odisha bundled out Rajasthan for 135 in their first innings and continued from their overnight score of 78/4. But Rajasthan pacers Aniket Choudhary (5-49) and T M Haq (5-14) rattled the Odisha middle order to bowl them out for 111 in their first essay. Odisha thus conceded a 24-run lead to Rajasthan.
But Odisha came back strongly in the game by skittling out Rajasthan for 148 in their second innings with Basant Mohanty returning with figures of 5-29.
For the visitors, opener Amitkumar Gautam top-scored with 51, while Salman Khan, who came in at number 6, played a crucial knock of 39. First-innings hero and skipper Mahipal Lomror and other batsmen failed.
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