The third day of the ongoing season of Ranji Trophy proved to be yet another pulsating affair with the likes of Shahrukh Khan, Abdul Samad, Baba Indrajit and co. whetting the appetite of fans with their skills.
Here's a look at memorable events from Day 3 of Ranji Trophy 2021/22:-
Cheteshwar Pujara falls for duck as Mumbai enforce follow-on on Saurashtra
Veteran Indian Test Number three's struggles with the bat continued in the Ranji Trophy on Saturday as he was dismissed for a 4-ball duck by Mohit Avasthi.
Sheldon Jackson (61) and Chirag Jaini (40) were the lone contributors in their first innings on Day 3 but it wasn't enough for the defending champions to save the follow-on as four-wicket-hauls from Mohit Avasthi (4/56) and Shams Mulani (4/55) meant that they were bowled out for just 220.
Harvik Desai (39*) and Snell Patel (64*) have started on a good note in the second innings, ensuring that the defending champions did not lose a wicket till stumps.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai 544/7 dec in 157 overs (Sarfaraz Khan 275, Ajinkya Rahane 129; Chirag Jani 2/83) lead Saurashtra 220 in 64.3 overs (Sheldon Jackson 61; Mohit Avasthi (4/56), Shams Mulani (4/55)) & 105/0 (f/o) in 30 overs (Snell Patel 64*, Harvik Desai 39*) by 219 runs.
Abhimanyu Easwaran leads from front for Bengal in 349 run chase against Baroda
Ishan Porel and Akash Deep once again spearheaded Bengal's attack on the third day as they claimed three wickets apiece to bowl Baroda out for 255 in the second innings.
Mitesh Patel top-scored with 57 to swell Baroda's lead to 348. In response, skipper Easwaran (79*) and Sudip Kumar Gharani (27) stitched 89 runs for the first wicket. Easwaran stayed unbeaten till the end as Bengal finished the proceedings at 146/2.
Brief Scores:
Baroda 181 all-out in 54.2 overs (Mithesh Patel 66; Ishan Porel 4/40, Mukesh Kumar 3/33) & 255 all-out in 85.1 overs (Mitesh Patel 57, Kedar Devdhar 41; Ishan Porel 2/50) lead Bengal 88 in 34.3 overs (Abisek Porel 21; Atit Seth 5/44, Lukman Meriwala 3/15) & 146/2 in 41 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 79*; Dhruv Patel 1/12) by 203 runs.
Faiz Fazal's 192, Akshay Wadhar's 102* put Vidarbha in driver's seat against UP
Skipper Faiz Fazal's 192 and an unbeaten 150-ball 102 from Akshay Wadkar headlined Vidarbha's first innings response to Uttar Pradesh as the former champions piled on 548/6 before calling for declaration.
Umesh Yadav and Aditya Sarwate then proceeded to remove Madhav Kaushik and Samarth Singh during the closing stages, leaving UP gasping for breath.
Brief Scores:
UP 301 in 96.5 overs (Akshdeep Nath 91, Rinku Singh 65, Dhruv Jurel 64; Aditya Sarwate (5/86), Aditya Thakare (2/43), Umesh Yadav 2/58) & 32/2 in 16 overs (Priyam Garg 18*; Aditya Thakare ¼) trail Vidarbha 548/6 dec in 151 overs (Faiz Fazal 192, Akshay Wadkar 102*, Sanjay Ragunath 96; Saurabh Kumar 3/160) by 215 runs
Madhya Pradesh swell their 2nd innings lead vs Gujarat
Half-century from Karan Patel and decent contributions from lower-order batters like Roosh Kalaria (32), Arzan Nagwaswalla (18) and Siddharth Desai (23) helped Gujarat eke out a 57-run lead in the first innings.
Ishwar Pandey (5/72) and G Yadav (4/89) were the pick of the bowlers for Madhya Pradesh. In response, half-centuries from Rajat Patidar (53) and Shubham Shyamasunder Sharma (70*) helped MP wipe out the deficit and swell the lead to 145.
Brief Scores:
MP 274 in 96.3 overs (Shubham Shyamsunder Sharma 92, Rajat Patidar 54; Arzan Nagwaswalla 5/59, Roosh Kalaria 2/52) & 202/4 in 60 overs (Shubham Sharma 70*, Rajat Patidar 53; Chintan Gaja 2/33) lead Gujarat 331 in 94.2 overs (Het Patel 72, Karan Patel 54, Manprit Juneja 53; Ishwar Pandey 5/72, Gaurav Yadav 4/89) by 145 runs.
Prabhsimran hundred & half-centuries from Abhishek Sharma, Mandeep Singh put Punjab on brink of victory
Hundred from Prabhsimran (123) and valuable contributions from Abhishek Sharma (98), Mandeep Singh (84) laid the cornerstone for a massive first innings total for Punjab.
They were eventually bowled out for 526; a hefty first innings lead of 172. In response, Himachal Pradesh have already lost five wickets in the second innings and they are still trailing by 21 runs. Mayank Markande was the pick of the bowlers, claiming 2/51 in 14 overs.
Brief Scores:
HP 354 in 96 overs (Ankit Kalsi 88, Akash Vasisht 87; Baltej Singh 5/61) & 151/5 in 49.5 overs (Nikhil Gangta 42, Abhimanyu Rana 38; Mayank Markande 2/51) trail Punjab 526 all-out in 116.2 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 123, Abhishek Sharma 98, Mandeep Singh 84; Arpit Guleria 4/111) by 21 runs.
Shahrukh Khan, Baba Indrajit's hundreds revive Tamil Nadu against Delhi
A brilliant 149-ball 117 from Baba Indrajit and a swashbuckling 148-ball 194 from hard-hitting batsman Shahrukh Khan ensured that Tamil Nadu recovered from a top-order collapse to take a 42-run first innings lead in response to Delhi's 452.
Indrajith and SRK added 134 runs for the 6th wicket but then the former fell, Tamil Nadu had only made 296. Khan then proceeded to up the ante as he smashed the Delhi attack to all corners during a 178-run stand with N Jagadeesan. He eventually fell six runs short of a double hundred but not before he had put his side in a very good position.
Vikas Mishra was the pick of the bowlers for Delhi, finishing with figures of 6/108.
Brief Scores:
Delhi 452 in 141.2 overs (Lalit Yadav 177, Yash Dhull 113; M Mohammed 4/75) trail Tamil Nadu 494 in 107.5 overs (Shahrukh Khan 194, Baba Indrajith 117; Vikas Mishra 6/108) by 42 runs.
Abdul Samad's rapid ton, fifer by Parvez Rasool J&K on course for victory against PDC
A thumping 78-ball 103 from Abdul Samad has put Jammu & Kashmir in a commanding position in the Plate fixture against Puducherry.
The teenage batter smashed as many as 19 fours and a couple of sixes during his knock of 103 to help J&K rack up 426 runs, in response to Puducherry 343. Sagar Trivedi was the pick of the bowlers for Puducherry as he finished with a five-wicket haul.
Samad's efforts were backed up by Parvez Rasool, who ran past the opposition's middle-order to claim figures of 5/29 in 19 overs. At the close of play, Puducherry were staring at a 10-wicket defeat as they only have 1 second-innings wicket at their disposal and an overall lead of 30.
Brief Scores:
Puducherry 343 all-out in 104.3 overs (P Dogra 108, S Karthik 63; Parvez Rasool 4/56, Umran Malik 3/89) & 9-113 in 44 overs (Sagar Trivedi 26*; Parvez Rasool 5/29) lead J&K 426 all-out in 114.1 overs (Abdul Samad 103, Qamran Iqbal 96; Sagar Trivedi 5/74) by 30 runs.
Hanuma Vihari's 100 puts Hyderabad in total control against Chandigarh
Indian middle-order batsman Hanuma Vihari backed up his half century in the first innings with a brilliant ton in the second to put Hyderabad in ascendancy against Chandigarh.
Vihari smashed a 149-ball 106 and along with Tilak Varma (63) helped Hyderabad rack up a lead of 400 runs. The Under-19 World Cup star, Raj Bawa and Gaurav Gambhir starred for Chandigarh, claiming four wickets each.
In response, Chandigarh finished the day at 21/2 with Ravi Teja claiming both wickets.
Brief Scores:
Hyderabad 347 all-out in 108.4 overs (Hanuma Vihari 59; Jagjit Singh 4/80) & 269/8 dec in 62 overs (Hanuma Vihari 106, Tilak Verma 63; Gaurav Gambhir 4/61, Raj Bawa 4/79) lead Chandigarh 216 all-out in 72 overs (Manan Vohra 110; Chinntla Readdi 5/61, Ravi Teja 3/53) & 21/2 in 8 overs (Arslan Khan 12*; Ravi Teja 2/8).