Ganesh Satish pummeled the Maharashtra attack into submission as his elegant 275 put Vidarbha in a commanding position on the second day of their Elite Group G Ranji Trophy game in Sultanpur, Haryana on Friday.
Satish, who registered his highest individual score and his second first class double hundred, took the Maharashtra attack to task as Vidarbha posted a mammoth 569 for 5 declared in their first essay. His previous best was 237 against Andhra in the 2019-20 season.
The right-handed batter, who walked in number four, played shots at will and round the park as he tore into a pedestrian Maharashtra attack. He and wicket-keeper batter Akshay Wadkar (145 not out off 283 balls), who also notched up his seventh first class hundred, added a staggering 288 runs for the fourth wicket. Wadkar, who notched up his second hundred of the season, played the perfect second fiddle, hammering 17 fours in his 283-ball knock.
Satish struck 33 fours and five maximums in his 482-ball knock before being cleaned up by experienced Maharashtra left-arm spinner Satyajeet Bachhav (2/134), but till then the damage had been done at the Gurgaon cricket ground.
In reply, Maharashtra lost opener Yash Nahar (22). Last match’s hero Pawan Shah, who made a double hundred on debut, was unbeaten on 24, when stumps were drawn, with Maharashtra at 46 for 1.
Maharashtra has a mountain to climb, as they trail by 523 runs.
Pacer Prasidh Krishna starred with a six-wicket haul to demolish Jammu and Kashmir in their first innings and help Karnataka seize control of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match in Chennai on Friday.
Karnataka extended the overall lead to 337 runs after dismissing the opposition for 93 on the second day of the four-day match.
Krishna (6/35), fresh from his stint with the Indian ODI team, blew away Jammu and Kashmir batting line-up, bundling the opposition out in 29.5 overs.
Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 268 for eight, Karun Nair (batting on 152) moved to 175 and helped Karanataka post 302 all out in their first innings.
Nair’s superb effort ended when experienced off-spinner Parvez Rasool (4/60) trapped him LBW.
In reply, Jammu and Kashmir openers – Qamran Iqbal (35) and Jatin Wadhwan (25) began well, putting on 55 runs for the first wicket before Krishna produced an impressive spell and took six of the first seven wickets of his rival side.
Krishna removed Iqbal first and then dismissed Shubham Singh Pundir (5) and Wadhawan in quick succession before Shreyas Gopal got into the act by scalping Jammu and Kashmir captain Ian Dev Singh for a duck.
Jammu and Kashmir were reeling at 75 for seven when Prasidh Krishna had Abdul Samad (3) caught behind by B R Sharath.
Jammu and Kashmir innings folded quickly as Vidhyadhar Patil (2/10) and K Gowtham (1/5) picked up the last three wickets.
Batting a second time, Karnataka got off to a bright start with R Samarth (62) and Devdutt Padikkal (49) putting on a century stand in 31 overs before the latter fell to Abid Mushtaq.
Samarth fell close to stumps after a well compiled fifty as Karnataka extended the overall lead to 337 runs reaching 128 for two in their second innings.
With two days to go, Manish Pandey & Co hold all the aces in the four-day game.
In the other match of the group, Railways replied strongly to Pondicherry’s first innings score of 342, built on Paras Dogra’s 107, ending the day at 205 for three.
Opener Vivek Singh hit 92 (189 balls, 11x4s, 1x6) and led the Railways’ reply. He was involved in a half-century stand with Shivam Chaudhary (51).
Shubham Sharma’s stroke-filled 111 coupled with Akshat Raghuwanshi’s 100 firmly put Madhya Pradesh in a commanding position against Meghalaya on the second day of their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy game in Rajkot on Friday.
Former India U19 skipper Ricky Bhui’s 149 and Karan Shinde’s 96-run knock helped Andhra post 389 in the first innings against Services in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group E match in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
Brief scores:
Vidarbha 569/5 declared (Ganesh Satish 275, Akshay Wadkar 145 not out, Mukesh Choudhary 3/101, Satyajeet Bachhav 2/134) versus Maharashtra 46/1. Maharashtra trail by 523 runs.
At Rohtak: Assam 265 (Riyan Parag 91, Subham Mandal 56, Karan Sharma 3/31, Aaqib Khan 3/39) and 5/1 versus Uttar Pradesh 274 (Samarth Singh 70; Dhruv Jurel 55; Mukhtar Hussain 3/51). Assam trail by 4 runs.
Karnataka 302 all out in 103.1 overs (Karun Nair 175, R Samarth 45; Mujtaba Yousuf 2/52, Parvez Rasool 4/60, Umran Malik 2/35) and 128 for 2 in 42 overs (R Samarth 62, Devdutt Padikkal 49) vs Jammu and Kashmir 93 all out in 29.5 overs (Prasidh Krishna 6/35).
Pondicherry 342 all out in 107.1 overs (Paras Dogra 107, Neyan Shyam Kangayan 49, D Rohit 41; Yuvraj Singh 3/67, Rahul Sharma 3/74, Amit Mishra 3/76) vs Railways 205 for 3 in 65.5 overs (Vivek Singh 92, Shivam Chaudhary 51, Arindam Ghosh 32 batting, Pavan Despande 1/15).
Meghalaya 61 all out (W Nongkhlaw 19, Kishan Lyngdoh 11; Gaurav Yadav 5/11, Kumar Kartikeya 2/6) and 16/0 versus Madhya Pradesh 499/6 declared (Shubham Sharma 111, Akshat Raghuwanshi 100, Rajat Patidar 86, Akash Kumar 2/77, Aryan Bora 2/124). Meghalaya trail by 422 runs.
Gujarat 388 (Het Patel 185, Karan Patel 120; Nidheesh MD 5/54, Basil Thampi 4/118) versus Kerala 277/4 (Rohan Kunnummal 129, Sachin Baby 53; Siddharth Desai 2/86, Roosh Kalaria 1/42). Kerala trail by 111 runs.
Andhra 389 all out in 137.1 overs (Ricky Bhui 149, Karan Shinde 96, U M S Girinath 54, Pulkit Narang 6 for 56) vs Services 75 for 2 in 36 overs (Ravi Chauhan 38).
Uttarakhand 337 all out in 130.3 overs (Swapnil Singh 97, Kunal Chandela 89, Dikshanshu Negi 61, A V Choudhary 3 for 44, Tanveer Ul-Haq 3 for 57, Kamlesh Nagarkoti 2 for 58) vs Rajasthan 117 for 5 in 47 overs (Manender Singh 52, Yash Kothari 26, Mayank Mishra 4 for 41)
All Ranji Trophy scores available here.
(With PTI inputs)