Ranji Trophy quarterfinals: Jaffer’s ton puts Vidarbha in command; Pujara falls cheaply against UP

Veteran Wasim Jaffer and opener Sanjay Ramaswamy struck unbeaten centuries as Vidarbha took command against Uttarakhand on the second day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match in Nagpur on Wednesday. ‘

At close of play, Vidarbha reached 260/1 in the first innings, in response to Uttarakhand’s 355, with Ramaswamy (112 not out) and Jaffer (111 not out) holding fort.

The hosts are still adrift by 95 runs at the end of day two at the Vidarbha Cricket Association’s stadium at Jamtha on the city’s outskirts.

But the day clearly belonged to Ramaswamy and Jaffer, who conjured an unbeaten 215-run stand for the second wicket after a rare failure by skipper Faiz Fazal (29) who perished early.

Fazal was dismissed by right-arm medium pacer Deepak Dhapola.

Jaffer in the process struck his fourth ton of this Ranji season, having already hit hundreds in the league stage against Mumbai, Gujarat and Baroda.

In his 153-ball stay at the crease so far, the 40-year-old batsman has scored 13 boundaries, while his partner Ramaswamy hit 16 fours in his 212-ball innings so far as the duo took an inexperienced Uttarakhand bowlers to task.

Earlier, resuming the day on 293 for six, Uttarakhand added 62 runs to their overnight score before bundling out for a respectable 355, with Saurabh Rawat top-scoring with 108.

Rawat, who was unbeaten on 68, added 40 runs to his tally as he notched up a deserving hundred. However, apart from Rawat, other lower-order batsmen failed to make a mark for the visitors.

Vidarbha bowlers, led by speedster Umesh Yadav, ensured that the opponents did not score big. Yadav, who played the Test match at Perth against Australia late last year, was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts as he returned with figures of 4-90.

Brief Scores: Uttarakhand 355 (Saurabh Rawat 108, Avneesh Sudha 91; Umesh Yadav 4-90, Akshay Wakhare 2-46) versus Vidarbha 260/1 (Sanjay Ramaswamy 112 not out, Wasim Jaffer 111 not out; Deepak Dhapola 1-45).

Pujara falls cheaply

Young Uttar Pradesh pacer Shivam Mavi did what Australia bowlers could not do for majority of the Test series Down Under — dismiss Cheteshwar Pujara cheaply as the hosts reduced Saurashtra to 170 for seven on day two of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal in Lucknow on Wednesday.

Uttar Pradesh, resuming day two at 340 for seven, went on to make 385 all out in 103.3 overs with Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkat taking a five-wicket haul.

The home team’s pacers – Mavi (3/39), Ankit Rajpoot (2/58), and Yash Dayal (2/35) – then ripped through the visitors’ batting. Saurashtra trail Uttar Pradesh by 215 runs going into day three.

While Rajpoot struck off successive balls to reduce the opposition to 35 for two, Mavi took two off two towards the end of the day including the wicket of opener Harvik Desai, the innings -top scorer so far with 84.

However, his most prized wicket was of Pujara (11), who came into the game fresh from his stellar showing in Australia where he scored three hundreds to help India win their maiden Test series Down Under. Pujara lasted only 28 balls and his innings comprised two fours.

Prerak Mankad frustrated Uttar Pradesh with an unbeaten 42 and was batting alongside Dharmendrasinh Jadeja at stumps.

Gujarat vs Kerala finely poised

Left-arm fast bowler Roosh Kalaria starred with a hat-trick leaving Gujarat needing 195 runs to beat Kerala and seal a Ranji Trophy semifinal berth at the end of the second day of the quarterfinal in Wayanad on Wednesday.

Gujarat hit back to restrict the host to 171 in the second innings after conceding the first innings lead.

A disciplined bowling effort helped Gujarat bowl out Kerala for 171 in 59 overs with Kalaria (3 for 36) and Axar Patel (3 for 40) sharing the spoils.

Earlier, resuming at 97 for 4, Gujarat quickly slipped to 107 for 7 before some aggressive batting by Kalaria (36, 5X4, 1X6) enabled the team make 162 in reply to the home side’s first innings score of 185.

Sandeep Warrier (4 for 42) was Kerala’s best bowler and he was well supported by MD Nideesh (3 for 38) and Basil Thampi (3 for 61).

Skipper Parthiv Patel was the top-scorer for Gujarat with 43.

In Kerala’s second innings, opener Mohammed Azharudeen fell for a duck in the second over and the team lost wickets at regular intervals before Sijomon Joseph (56) and the experienced Jalaj Saxena (44 not out) put on a 53 runs for the sixth wicket.

Kalaria then took over, claiming the wickets of Joseph and Thampi with the fifth and sixth balls of the 52nd over before returning to claim the wicket of Nidheesh with the first ball of the 54th over to leave Kerala in disarray.

An injured Sanju Samson, who retired hurt in the first innings after sustaining a finger injury, came out to bat at No 11 and survived 11 balls before being dismissed LBW by Patel.

Gujarat requires 195 runs to win the match after the second day saw 16 wickets fall.

Brief scores: Kerala 185 and 171 all out (Sijomon Joseph 56, Jalaj Saxena 44 not out, Roosh Kalaria 3 for 36, Axar Patel 3 for 40) vs Gujarat 162 all out (Parthiv Patel 43, R Kalaria 36, Sandeep Warrier 4 for 42, M D Nidheesh 3 for 38, Basil Thampi 3 for 61).

Vinay Kumar stars with the bat for Karnataka

Former captain Vinay Kumar hit an unbeaten 83 and shared a crucial 97-run stand for the last wicket Ronit More (10) to help Karnataka take a 39-run first innings lead against Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

The rearguard action steered Karnataka to 263, forcing Rajasthan to concede lead for first time this season. The hosts were struggling at 166 for nine at one stage but Vinay and More rescued the team from the troubled waters.

Vinay smashed 10 fours and two sixes in his 144 balls knock while More (10) played out 59 balls ti support the former.

Rajasthan had scored 224 on the opening day with the help of skpper Mahipal Lomrov (50) and Rajesh Bishnoi (79).

When stumps were drawn on second day, Rajasthan were trailing by 28 runs, with Amit Kumar Gautam and Chetan Bist at the crease as the team reached 11 for no loss in three overs.

Leg spinner Rahul Chahar was the standout bowler for Rajasthan as he finished with figures of five for 93 runs.

Left-arm fast medium TM ul-Haq and right arm medium Deepak Chahar, bagged three and two wickets each respectively.

Resuming at 12 without loss, opener Dega Nischal (6) was dismissed cheaply by Deepak Chahar.

After Ravikumar Samarth’s wicket at 61 for 2, Rajasthan bowlers led by Haq and Rahul Chahar, ran through the line up, pushing Karnataka into a deep hole.

The hosts lost seven wickets after adding 105 runs on the board. Krishnamurthy Siddharth shone with his bat by scoring a handy 52 runs off 91 balls decorated by eight boundaries.

Shreyas Gopal also made a useful 25 runs off 75 balls with three boundaries.