Lokesh Rahul put Karnataka in the driver’s seat against UP with 336 while Paras Dogra’s unbeaten double hundred puts HP in commanding position. Sanju Samson’s double-ton powered Kerala to advantage in another match while BS Sandhu and Harmeet Singh tipped the game in Mumbai’s favour by bundling Baroda out to garner a sizeable first innings lead. Harshal Patel-led Haryana attack has set-up the game in the team’s favour against Team Rajasthan. Here are the highlights of the second day of the eighth round of the Ranji Trophy 2014-15 season:
Baroda vs Mumbai: Mumbai lost their remaining four wickets for the addition of 69 runs to their overnight score before being bowled out earlier in the day for 287 runs. Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Harmeet Singh then skittled Baroda out for 184 to seize a first innings lead and tip the balance in the visitors’ favour. Both bowlers claimed four wickets each while Shardul Thakur picked one. H Pandya was the top-scorer for the hosts with 53 runs as the Baroda line-up succumbed to Mumbai’s bowling attack.
Bengal vs Railways: Railways were trailing by 49 runs at stumps on the second day. The visitors were 219/6 at the end of day’s play with Mahesh Rawat (56*) and Ashish Yadav (22*) at the crease.
Jammu & Kashmir vs Madhya Pradesh: Resuming on 271/4, MP were bowled for 371 on the second day by the Ram Dayal-led attack. The bowler claimed 5/65 in the hosts’ first innings. At the end of day’s play, J&K were left struggling on 175/8 by the home team in Indore. Puneet Datey, Ankit Sharma and Mihir Hirwani picked two wickets each while Yogesh Rawat and Jalaj Saxena have take a wicket apiece.
Karnataka vs Uttar Pradesh: A triple-century by Lokesh Rahul powered Karnataka to a mammoth 678/7 on the third day on their home ground. The opener scored 336 before being sent back by Ali Murtaza late in the day. At the end of day’s play, Abrar Kazi was batting on 90 with captain Vinay Kumar on two.
Gujarat vs Maharashtra: Maharashtra were trailing by 343 runs in the first innings with eight wickets in hand at the end of day’s play. After resuming on 277/7, Gujarat were lifted to a formidable score by Rush Kalaria’s 106 and Mehul Patel’s 62 lower down the order. At stumps, Maharashtra were 86/2 with Harshad Khadiwale (50*) and Kedar Jadhav (21*) batting at the crease.
Haryana vs Team Rajasthan: The Harshal Patel-led attack set-up the game in Haryana’s favour after H Rana and N Saini helped the hosts post 373 in the first innings. Patel claimed 6/69 to bundle the visitors out for 180 and enforce a follow-on. He then claimed 3/24 while J Sharma picked 2/14 to leave Team Rajasthan reeling on 38/5 in the second innings.
Punjab vs Odisha: Resuming on 54/1, Odisha secured a marginal first innings lead before being bowled out for 183 later in the day. While A Sarangi made 47 the rest of the line-up caved in to the S Kaul-led attack. Kaul picked 5/34 while Sandeep Sharma took 3/65 to bowl the opposition out. The Punjab batsmen succumbed to Deepak Behera and Basant Mohanty in the second innings as well so far. Both bowlers claimed two wickets each as Odisha left the hosts reeling on 37/4 at stumps in the second innings.
Vidarbha vs Delhi: Delhi were trailing by 237 runs with two wickets in hand in the first innings in reply to Vidarbha’s 370. Having wrapped-up the hosts’ innings earlier in the day, Delhi were left tottering on 133/8 at stumps. Shrikant Wagh (4/33) and R Dhruv (3/26) ran through the visitors’ line-up to put Vidarbha in an advantageous position.
Assam vs Andhra Pradesh: Resuming on 32/1 on the second morning, Assam secured a first innings lead and were 199/6 at stumps. When play ended for the day, Syed Mohammed and S Purkayastha were batting on 49 and 30 respectively.
Goa vs Jharkhand: Goa were trailing by 279 with five wickets in hand in the first innings in reply to Jharkhand’s 385. Earlier, resuming on 229/2, Jharkhand were bowled out for an addition of 156 runs. Saurabh Tiwary who was batting on 100 when play began on second day was sent back by A Pandrekar for 162. At stumps the hosts were struggling on 106/5. Rituraj Singh and Varun Aaron claimed two wickets apiece to push Goa on the back-foot.
Himachal Pradesh vs Tripura: Resuming on the overnight score of 314/4, HP were propelled to 535/5 until declaring their innings. Paras Dogra who was batting on 106 when he came to the crease on Friday morning remained unbeaten on 204. At stumps, Tripura were 143/2 in the first innings with opener B Gosh (81*) and R Solanki (42*) at the crease.
Kerala vs Services: Young top-order bat, Sanju Samson helped Kerala to a dominating position with a double-century. His 207 supplemented by valuable contribution from the middle and lower-order took Kerala to 483 before being bowled out earlier in the day. In reply Services were 85/3 at stumps. Amit Verma claimed two wickets while Akshay Chandran created the first breakthrough with just 10 runs on the board.
By: BCCI
