Ganesh Satish slams double ton
Sultanpur (Haryana), Feb 25: 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 here 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. (PTI)
Hyderabad put up a strong fight
Cuttack, Feb 25: Skipper Ravi Teja and tailender Tanay Thyagarajan struck resolute fifties as Hyderabad fought to stay afloat in their Ranji Trophy group B match against Bengal by reducing the rival team’s first innings lead to just 37 before being bowled out for 205 here on Friday. At close on day two, Bengal had built on it slightly for an overall lead of 53 with nine wickets intact after they bundled out Hyderabad. Fresh from grabbing 5/71 in Bengal’s first innings, Thyagarajan scored a valiant 103-ball 52 batting at No 9, while skipper Teja remained unbeaten on 81 from 196 balls to somewhat rescue Hyderabad. Teja, who claimed 3/48 in Bengal’s 242 all out on day one, steadied Hyderabad after they were 70/7. He stitched a 109-run eighth wicket partnership with Thyagarajan. (PTI)
Karnataka bundle out J&K for 93
Chennai, Feb 25: 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 here on Friday. Karnataka extending the overall lead to 337 runs after dismissing the opposition for 93 on the second day of the four-day match. Fast rising 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. 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, 1×6) and led the Railways’ reply. (PTI)
Bhui, Shinde power Andhra to 389
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 25: 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 here on Friday. Resuming at the overnight 277 for 3, Andhra continued to add runs as Bhui and Shinde took the score to 337 before the latter fell to off-spinner Pulkit Narang for four short of a well-deserved hundred. The 218-run fourth wicket partnership between Bhui and Shinde was the cornerstone of the Andhra innings as the rest of the batters did not make substantial contributions. From 350 for 4, Andhra slipped to 389 all out with Narang finishing with 6 for 56. Services lost the wickets of Anshul Guta (14) and Rahul Singh (9) to C V Stephen and K V Shashikanth and finished the day at 75 for 2, 314 runs in arrears. (PTI)
Haryana fightback vs Punjab
New Delhi, Feb 25: Skipper Himanshu Rana led from the front with his fourth first-class century as Haryana reached 204/3 in a strong reply to Punjab’s mammoth 444 on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group F fixture here on Friday. Rana slammed 16 fours en route to his unbeaten 113 from 177 balls, while Yashu Sharma, who scored his maiden first-class century against Tripura in the last match, gave him good support at the other end with 69 not out. Haryana were trailing Punjab by 240 runs at the end of day two’s play. (PTI)
Mumbai concede 164-run lead
Ahmedabad, Feb 25: Goa have ensured three points against Mumbai with a huge 164-run first innings lead as skipper Prithvi Shaw once again frittered away a good start on the second day of the group D Ranji Trophy match here on Friday. After Mumbai were all out for 163 on the first day, Goa batted well enough to score 327 in their first innings riding on 96-run eighth wicket stand between Eknath Kerkar (71) and seamer Lakshay Garg (59). For Mumbai, left-arm spinner Shams Mulani got 6 for 107. Once they had taken the lead past 150-run mark, Mumbai came back to score 57 for one in the second innings with Shaw smashing 44 off 47 balls with six fours and a six. However left-arm spinner Darshan Mishal got one to go straight and had the Mumbai skipper leg before with Akarshit Gomel (13) and veteran Dhawal Kulkarni at the crease. Mumbai, who got three points against Saurashtra in the first game, would now like to score big on the third day and try for an outright win by posting a chaseable target for Goa to get full points from this fixture. In the other Group D match, all-rounder Chirag Jani’s 235 off 373 balls with 33 fours and four sixes took Saurashtra to a mammoth 501 in their first innings and by stumps on the second day, they reduced Odisha to 52 for 3 with their skipper and new CSK recruit Subhranshu Senapati at the crease. Saurashtra need an outright win from this game as they got only one point from their first game and now require six to stay in contention and beat Mumbai to finish on top of group D. (PTI)
Delhi stare at group league exit
New Delhi, Feb 25: Dogged southpaw Jonty Sidhu stood between Delhi and elimination as the multiple-time champions were reduced to 223 for eight, still 28 runs behind Jharkhand’s 251 on the second day of the group H Ranji Trophy match here on Friday. Having already conceded first innings lead against Tamil Nadu, if Delhi fails to get three points from this game, they have to go for an outright win as another one point would ensure sure-shot exit from group stage. Jonty, who had also scored a half-century against Tamil Nadu in the opening game, was batting on 78 off 176 balls with six fours and two sixes to his credit. In the other Group H match, Baba Aparajith’s 166 and Shahrukh Khan’s 69 took Tamil Nadu to a commanding 470 and then reduced Chattisgarh to 105 for five with spinners M Siddharth and Ravi Srinivasan Sai Kishore getting two wickets each. Chattisgarh still need 215 runs to avoid follow-on. (PTI)