Sheldon Jackson hit a stroke-filled 85 to put Saurashtra on the verge of securing a vital first innings lead against Mumbai on the second day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match at Rohtak on Wednesday.
Saurashtra bundled out Mumbai for 262 and then rode on Jackson’s gritty 85 to end the second day at 257/6, as they trail by just five runs. Saurashtra skipper Arpit Vasavada (46) and Chirag Jani (45 not out) also made valuable contributions to take the game away from the 41-time Ranji champion.
Saurashtra lost opener Snell Patel (4) early. Then Mumbai off-spinner Shashank Attarde gave a double-blow to the hosts removing another opener Harvik Desai (33) and Divyaraj Chauhan (22) in quick succession to leave them teetering at 73/3.
Then Jackson and Vasavada began the rescue act by stitching a 82-run stand for the fourth wicket. After playing patiently, Vasavada upped the ante. However, left-arm pacer Royston Dias trapped Vasavada in front of the wicket as he brought Mumbai back into the game.
Prerak Mankad (1) too fell cheaply as Saurashtra lost half their side at 173. The fall of wickets did not deter Jackson from playing his shots even as he found an able partner in Chirag Jani, who held one end up.
Jackson in his 151-balls innings hammered 10 fours and one hit over the fence. He, however missed a deserving hundred, after edging one from Vinayak Bhoir to wicket-keeper Aditya Tare at the fag end of the day.
Big win for Haryana
Skipper Harshal Patel starred with four wickets in each innings as Haryana registered a seven-wicket win over Assam on the second day. Trailing by 101 runs, Assam made 197 in their second innings, leaving the hosts with 97 runs for victory. Patel (4/49) snapped four wickets to add to his first innings haul of 4/32.
Haryana then reached the target in 20 overs with Ankit Kumar scoring 30 and Shivam Chauhan (26 not out) and Chaitanya Bishnoi (21 not out) producing unbeaten knocks. Earlier, the home team could not add to its overnight score of 198 as an injured Tinu Kundu did not bat.
Assam did not have a great start in the second innings and lost opener Kunal Saikia, who was caught in the slips by Himanshu Rana off medium-pacer Ajit Chahal for a duck. Shubam Mandal (6) and Rishav Das (8) staged a minor recovery, taking the score to 21. However, Das and Mandal fell in the space of two runs.
This brought together captain Gokul Sharma (44, 86 balls, 6 fours) and the talented Riyan Parag (36, 36 balls, 3 fours, 2 sixes) and the duo added 55 runs with the latter not afraid to go for his shots. Apart from three boundaries, Parag hit a couple of huge sixes.
Chaitanya Bishnoi got Parag with his left-arm spin, having him caught by Ankit Kumar. The captain then joined forces with the top-scorer Saahil Jain (63, 101 balls, 7 fours, 1 six) to put on 60 runs for the fifth wicket.
When the two looked set to defy the Haryana attack for long, Sharma was sent packing by medium-pacer Ashish Hooda.
More to follow...
Brief scores
Brief Scores:
Mumbai 262 (Sarfaraz Khan 78; Shams Mulani 60; D Jadeja 5/92) vs Saurashtra 257/6 (Sheldon Jackson 85, Arpit Vasavada 46, Royston Dias 2/40) Saurashtra trailed by 5 runs.
At Shimoga: Karnataka 426 (R Samarth 108; K Gowtham 82; Ravi Yadav 3/61) vs Madhya Pradesh 60/2. MP trailed by 366 runs.
At Baroda: Baroda 174 and 10/0 vs Tamil Nadu 490/7 declared (Abhinav Mukund 206, L Suryapprakash 75; Yusuf Pathan 2/67). Baroda trailed by 306 runs.
At New Delhi: Himachal Pradesh 283 vs Railways 291/5 (Arindam Ghosh 111 not out, Mahesh Rawat 60; AP Vashisht 3/76). Railways lead by 8 runs.
Assam 97 (Rajjakuddin Ahmed 35*; Tinu Kundu 5/35; Harshal Patel 4/32) and 197 (Saahil Jain 63, Gokul Sharma 44, Riyan Parag 36; Harshal Patel 4/49, A Chahal 2/33, A Hooda 2/35) lost to Haryana 198 (RP Sharma 59, Chaitanya Bishnoi 46, Harshal Patel 28; Ranjeet Mali 3/34, Mukthar Hussain 3/38, Siddarth Sarmah 3/65) and 100/3 (Ankit Kumar 30, Shivam Chauhan 26*). Points: Haryana: 6, Assam: 0.
At Agartala: J & K 329 (Jiyaad Nazir Magrey 66, Aquib Nabi 46, Abid Mushtaq 76*; MB Mura Singh 4/100) and 49/1 vs Tripura 187 (Milid 55, Pratyush Singh 47; Parvez Rasool 7/45).
At Dehardun: Uttarakhand 83 (D Negi 21*; Raushan Raj 3/27, Diwesh Pathania 3/28) and 137 (Tanmay Srivastava 52; Raushan Raj 3/11, Sachidanand Pandey 3/29) lost to Services 173 (Rahul Singh Gahlaut 45, Mumtaz Qadir 37; Mayank Mishra 6/48) and 48/0 (SU Yadav 24*, M Qadir 23*). Points: Services: 7, Uttarakhand: 0.
At Pune: Odisha 293 Mumbai 262 (Sarfaraz Khan 78; Shams Mulani 60; D Jadeja 5/92) vs Saurashtra 257/6 (Sheldon Jackson 85, Arpit Vasavada 46, Royston Dias 2-40) Saurashtra trailed by 5 runs.
At Shimoga: Karnataka 426 (R Samarth 108; K Gowtham 82; Ravi Yadav 3-61) vs Madhya Pradesh 60/2. MP trailed by 366 runs.
At Baroda: Baroda 174 and 10/0 vs Tamil Nadu 490/7 declared (Abhinav Mukund 206, L Suryapprakash 75; Yusuf Pathan 2-67). Baroda trailed by 306 runs.
At New Delhi (Karnail Singh Stadium): Himachal Pradesh 283 vs Railways 291/5 (Arindam Ghosh 111 not out, Mahesh Rawat 60; AP Vashisht 3/76). Railways lead by 8 runs (Shantanu Mishra 84, Rajesh Dhuper 110*, Anurag Sarangi 41; A Palkar 4/81) vs Maharashtra 219/2 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 110*, Ankit Bawane 80*).
At Jamshedpur: Chhattisgarh 559 (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 221, Ajay Mandal 121*, Jiwanjot Singh 52; Sahil Raj 3/83, Sonu Kumar Singh 3/158) vs Jharkhand 36/4 (Veer Pratap Singh 3/7).
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