Ranji Trophy round-up: Jadeja’s all-round show puts Saurashtra on top, Jharkhand thrash Haryana

Jharkhand thrashed Haryana by nine wickets at Rohtak with India discard Varun Aaron once again leading the way. The day, however, belonged to India mainstay Ravindra Jadeja and Sikkim batsman Milind Kumar.

After picking up four wickets with the ball, Jadeja smashed an unbeaten 178 to give his side a 144-run lead against a hapless Railways attack. Milind Kumar, meanwhile, smashed a thrilling double hundred against Nagaland.

Andhra, meanwhile, continued to send Tamil Nadu on a leather hunt and Akshath Reddy was unbeaten on 248 when his team declared after reaching a marathon 523/7. Also joining the double hundred club was Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwari, who was under pressure before the start of the match.

The Jaddu show

After shinning with the ball, India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 178 helped Saurashtra to take first innings lead versus Railways on the second day at Rajkot.

Courtesy of Jadeja’s knock, Saurashtra lead Railways by 144 runs after they ended the Day 2 at 344/8. After electing to bat, Railways were bundled out for a meagre 200 with skipper Mahesh Rawat top-scoring with 46. For the hosts, Jadeja (4/58), did most of the damage, and was imperious with the bat.

After Saurashtra’s top-order failed, left-handed Jadeja took the centre-stage at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, hitting 16 fours and four sixes in his 326-ball stay at the crease so far. He hammered a listless Railways attack and completed his 100 off 216 balls and 150 in 285 balls, respectively. Jadeja found an unusual partner in number 9 Kamlesh Makwana, who made 62.

Brief Scores: Railways 200 versus Saurashtra 344/8 (Ravindra Jadeja 178*, Kamlesh Makwana 62, Avinash Yadav 3/95).

Aaron powers Jharkhand to victory

Jharkhand bowlers led by former India pacer Varun Aaron produced a stellar show for the second time as they thrashed Haryana by nine wickets at Rohtak.

Jharkhand registered this thumping win on the second day of the four-day encounter, which was a low-scoring thriller.

After bundling out Haryana for a meagre 81 in the first innings, Jharkhand pacers again scuttled their opponents out for 72 in the second outing to contribute in the team’s resounding win. Resuming the overnight score of 120/6, Jharkhand managed to add only 23 runs to their total and were bowled out for 143. They had a slender 62-run first innings lead.

Haryana 81 and 72 lost to Jharkhand 143 and 12/1 by 9 wickets

Under-fire Tiwari replies in style

Skipper Manoj Tiwary silenced his critics by smashing an unbeaten double century before Bengal declared their innings at a mammoth 510/9 against Madhya Pradesh at Kolkata.

Resuming at overnight score of 246/4, Bengal plundered another 264 runs with Tiwary (201*) completing his fifth first-class double century on the eve of his 33rd birthday. Tiwary began the day on 31. Madhya Pradesh bowlers had a tough outing despite a five-wicket haul by young Shubham Sharma (5/59).

At close on Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh were 15 for no loss with plenty to ponder with two more days to go. For Tiwary, the build-up to the Ranji season was full of drama after the Sourav Ganguly-led Cricket Association of Bengal gave him an ‘ultimatum’ naming him skipper for first two matches.

Bengal 510/9 declared in 149.3 overs (Manoj Tiwary 201*, Koushik Ghosh 100, Abhimanyu Easwaran 86; Shubham Sharma 5/59) vs Madhya Pradesh 15 for no loss in 10 overs.

Akshath Reddy continues run-glut

Skipper Akshath Reddy’s marathon double ton (248*) was the highlight of Hyderabad’s massive total of 523/7 in the first innings against Tamil Nadu.

Resuming at the overnight 249/3, the visitors continued to pile on the misery of Tamil Nadu’s bowlers. Akshath and B Sandeep (130, 221 balls) extended their partnership to 246 runs.

Akshath continued his good form into the second day and added eight boundaries to his overnight 14 and also hoisted two more sixers. The mammoth partnership was ended when Sandeep gave a catch to B Aparajith of the hard-working M Mohammed’s bowling.

Himachal fight back again

A gritty show from the Himachal Pradesh lower-order did not allow Delhi to enforce the follow-on in a Group B match in New Delhi. At stumps on day two, Himachal Pradesh were 216 for 8 in reply to Delhi’s first innings score of 317.

Delhi captain Nitish Rana will certainly feel that an opportunity to enforce follow on was lost after HP were reduced to 58/6. Rishi Dhawan (64, 114 balls) and Ekant Sen (46, 71 balls) added 95 runs for the visitors, much to the frustration of the home team.

Mayank Dagar (21*) and Pankaj Jaswal (23*) added 35 runs for the ninth wicket to give the total some semblance of respectability. Left arm spinner Varun Sood (4/53) was the pick of the bowlers. The other slow left arm orthodox bowler, Vikas Mishra (2/65 in 21 overs), was also in his element.

Delhi 317 (Dhruv Shorey 88, Hiten Dalal 79, Mayank Dagar 3/63) lead Himachal Pradesh 216/8 (Rishi Dhawan 64, Ekant Sen 46, Varun Sood 4/53) by 101 runs.

Advantage Sikkim as Milind’s slams double ton

Continuing his impressive form, former Delhi batsman Milind Kumar struck his second consecutive double century to put Sikkim on top against Dimapur.

Resuming on his overnight score of 78, Milind hit a stroke-filled 224 from 215 balls to steer Sikkim to 374. Sikkim then reduced Nagaland to 97/5 in their second innings with Bipul Sharma and Pawan Suyal claiming two wickets apiece to take their side closer to a second successive bonus point victory.

The home side still need 95 runs to avoid an innings defeat. Earlier, Milind, who hit a career-best 261 in Sikkim’s innings and 27-run win over Manipur in Kolkata in their last round match, shared 174 runs with Bipul Sharma (90) to take a big first innings lead.

Nagaland 179 and 97/5 in 40 overs (KB Pawan 61, Ishwar Chaudhary 2/21, Bipul Sharma 2/21) vs Sikkim 374 (Milind Kumar 224, Bipul Sharma 90; Pawan Suyal 7/108).

Other matches

Odisha 256 versus Uttar Pradesh 361/6 (Aksh Deep Nath 151*, Rinku Singh 72, Basant Mohanty 3-44). Uttar Pradesh lead by 105 runs.

Assam 327 and 5/0 versus Tripura 139 (Pratyush Singh 47, Arup Das 5/42, Mukhtair Hussain 4/43). Assam lead by 193 runs.

Goa 422/7 (Snehal Kauthankar 106*, Sumiran Amonkar 73, Irfan Pathan 2/49) versus Jammu and Kashmir

Baroda 322 (Yusuf Pathan 99, Swapnil Singh 79, Satyajeet Bachhav 4-81) versus Maharashtra 253/8 (Naushad Shaikh 65, Chirag Khurana 56, Swapnil Singh 4/73). Maharashtra trail by 69 runs.

Gujarat 538/7 decl. (Dhruv Raval 116*, Manprit Juneja 107, Vishal Kushwah 3/92) versus Chhattisgarh 53/2. Chhattisgarh trail by 485 runs.

Vidarbha 307 (Ganesh Satish 57, Srikant Wagh 57, J Suchith 4/33) against Karnataka 208/5 (Dega Nischal 66*, Aditya Sarwate 2/44). Karnataka trail by 99 runs.

Manipur 137 and 143/ (Lakhan Rawat 81*) vs Uttarakhand 228 (Rajat Bhatia 61; Thokchom Singh 4/50, Bishworjit Konthoujam 4/68).

Arunachal Pradesh 220 and 251/5 (Kshitiz Sharma 57, Neelam Obi 56, Kamsha Yangfo 53) vs Mizoram 142 (Kshitiz 4/31, Techi Doria 4/26).

Puducherry 389 (Rohit Damodaren 138, Paras Dogra 101, Abhishek Nayar 57; Gurinder Singh 4/106) vs Meghalaya 161/6 (Puneet Bisht 58, Yogesh Nagar 45; Pankaj Singh 3/20, Akshay Jain 2/52).