The 3rd day of the second round of the ongoing season of the Ranji Trophy once again proved to be a fascinating affair.
Here's a look at some of the talking points on the third day of Round 02 of the Ranji Trophy 2021/22:-
Jaydev Unadkat & Dharmendrasinh Jadeja put Saurashtra on the brink against Odisha
Skipper Jaydev Unadkat (4/50) and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (4/48) ran through Odisha’s batting line-up on the third day, ensuring that the latter fell miles short of the follow-on target.
Odisha managed just 165 in the first innings before losing 5 more in the 2nd after being asked to follow-on. Shantanu Mishra, with a 159-ball 65, was the lone shining light. Jadeja was once again the main wrecker-in-chief as he claimed 3/48 to take his match-tally to eight wickets.
Brief Scores: Saurashtra 501 in 144.3 overs (Chirag Jani 125*, Sheldon Jackson 75, Arpit Vasavda 51*; Jayant Behera 4/148, Basant Mohanty 2/82) lead Odisha 165 all-out in 60 overs (Rajesh Dhupar 51; D Jadeja 4/48, Jaydev Unadkat 4/50) & 115/5 (f/o) in 55.3 overs (Shantanu Mishra 65; D Jadeja 3/48) by 221 runs
50s from Ajinkya Rahane, Tanush Kotian and sizeable contributions from Sarfaraz Khan and co lead Mumbai’s fight against Goa
Ajinkya Rahane made amends for his duck in the first innings with a crucial 148-ball 56 to keep Mumbai in contention after a collapse saw the former champions go from 57/1 to 93/4 in the morning session on day 03.
Rahane and Sarfaraz Khan (48) did the repair job with an 82-run-stand for the 5th wicket before Darshan Misal knocked over the latter. However, an unbeaten 114-run stand between Shams Mulani (49*) and Tanush Koltan (57*) ensured that Mumbai are still in with a chance, with the lead swelling to 158.
For Goa, Darshan Misal (3/96) and Amit Yadav (2/111) were the pick of the bowlers.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 163 all-out in 52.4 overs (Sarfaraz Khan 63, Lakshay Garg 6/46, Amit Yadav 4/47) & 322/7 in 106 overs (Tanush Kotian 57*, Ajinkya Rahane 56, Shams Mulani 49*, Darshan Misal 3/96) lead Goa 327 all-out in 104.4 overs (Eknath Kerkar 71, AS Desai 64, Lakshay Garg 59; Shams Mulani 6/104) by 158 runs
Karun Nair shines again as Karnataka assume commanding position over JK
Karun Nair backed up his 175 in the first innings with an unbeaten 114-ball 71 while Siddarth (72) and skipper Manish Pandey (37*) chipped in with valuable cameos as Karnataka declared their innings at 298/3, setting JK an improbable target of 508.
In response, JK finished the day at 190/4, with skipper Ian Dev Singh (65*) and wicketkeeper Fazil Rashid (65) leading the charge. Shreyas Gopal has been the most successful bowler for Karnataka thus far, claiming 3/90 on the third day.
Brief Scores:
Karnataka 302 all-out in 103.1 overs (Karun Nair 175, Samarth 45; Parvez Rasool 2/51, Umran Malik 2/35) & 298/3 dec. in 71 overs (Siddharth 72, Karun Nair 71*, R Samarth 62, Devdutt Padikkal 49, Abid Mushtaq 3/65) lead JK 93 all-out in 29.5 overs (Qamran Iqbal 35; Prasidh Krishna 6/35, V Patil 2/10) & 190/4 in 58 overs (Ian Dev Singh 65*, Fazil Rashid 65; Shreyas Gopal 3/90) by 318 runs
Bengal set Hyderabad a 4th innings target of 239 after folding for 201
Hyderabad got off to a disastrous start in their pursuit of 239 as they lost their skipper Tanmay Agarwal for a golden duck, courtesy of Mukesh Kumar.
Earlier, Bengal endured yet another poor batting performance as they could only manage 201 in their second innings. Riwik Chowdhary (41), A Majumdar (42) and Shahbaz Ahmed (51) were the lone shining lights. For Hyderabad, Tilak Varma (3/13) and T Thyagrajan, who backed up his first-inning five-for with 3/44, were the spearheads.
Brief Scores:
Bengal 242 all-out (Abhishek Porel 73, Shahbaz Ahmed 40; T Thyagarajan 5/71) & 201 all-out in 79.1 overs (Shahbaz Ahmed 51, A Majumdar 42,; T Thyagrajan 3/44, Tilak Varma 3/13) lead Hyderabad 205 all-out in 80 overs (Ravi Teja 81* T Thyagrajan 52; Mukesh Kumar 4/49) & 4/1 in 1.4 overs (Mickil Jaiswal 4*; Mukesh Kumar ¼) by 235 runs
Harpreet Singh wages a lone battle for Chhattisgarh against Tamil Nadu
Chhattisgarh skipper Harpreet Singh picked up from where he had left on the 2nd day as he smashed an unbeaten 149 (off 322 deliveries) to lead his sides’ reply after Tamil Nadu racked up 470/9 in their first innings.
Singh held the fort firmly from one end even as he kept losing partners at the other. R Sai Kishore was the main wrecker-in-chief for Tamil Nadu, claiming 4//48 in 33 overs.
Singh batted throughout the day as CG finished at 261/8.
Brief Scores:
Tamil Nadu 470/9 dec. in 118 overs (Baba Aparajith 166, Baba Indrajith 127 Shahrukh Khan 69; Sumit Ruikar 4/168, Ajay Mandal 3/132) lead Chhattisgarh 266/8 in 114 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 149*; R Sai Kishore 4/48) by 209 runs
Naushad Shaikh and Ankeet Bawne lead Maharashtra’s reply after Vidarbha hammer 569/5
At 63/3 in 21.4 overs, Maharashtra looked like they would concede the follow-on.
But, skipper Ankeet Bawne (87*) and Naushad Shaikh, who scored a patient 196-ball 103, had other ideas. The duo racked up 184 runs for the 4th wicket before Shaikh was trapped leg-before-wicket by Aditya Sarwate. The left-arm orthodox has thus far claimed each of the 4 wickets to fall in Maharashtra’s innings.
However, Bawne ensured he stayed till the end as Maharashtra went to Stumps at 250/4.
Brief Scores:
Vidarbha 569-5 Dec. in 166 overs (Ganesh Satish 275, Akshay Wadkad 145*, Atharva Taide 68; Mukesh Choudhary 3/101) lead Maharashtra 250/4 in 87.5 overs (Naushad Shaikh 103, Ankeet Bawne 87*; Aditya Sarwate 4/58) by 319 runs
Haryana staring at a defeat despite Himanshu Rana’s 149 in the 1st innings
Skipper Himanshu Rana’s 149 and a 117-ball 74 from Yashu Sharma proved to be inadequate for Haryana as they were unable to save the follow-on as Baljet Singh (4/57) and Arshdeep Singh (3/54) wiped off the remaining wickets on the third morning.
Haryana have already lost 4 second innings wickets, including the prized scalp of Himanshu Rana (25), and they will now be banking on the duo of Yashu Sharma (32*) and Nishant Sindhu (34*) on the 4th day.
Brief Scores:
Punjab 444 all-out in 111 overs (Mandeep Singh 159*, Anmol Malhotra 100, Gurkeerat Singh Mann 48; Aman Kumar 4/88, Ajit Chahal 3/74) lead Haryana 282 all-out in 88.5 overs (Himanshu Rana 149, Yashu Sharma 74; Baltej Singh 4/57, Arshdeep Singh 3/54) & 149/4 in 40 overs (Nishant Sindhu 34*, Yashu Sharma 32*; Baltej Singh 1/13) by 13 runs
4-fors from Yash Dayal and Ankit Rajpoot hand UP a commanding win over Assam
The duo of Yash Dayal (4/37) and Ankit Rajpoot (4/56) proved to be too hot to handle for Assam in their second innings as they could only manage 120, with Rishav Das (73) scoring more than 50% of those.
The target of 112 was never going to be enough and it didn’t even though Uttar Pradesh stuttered a bit. Eventually, opener Samarth scored his 2nd fifty of the game, and along with Rinku Singh (22*) took their side past the finishing line.
Brief Scores: Assam 265 all-out in 81 overs (Riyan Parag 91, Subham Mandal 56, G Sharma 49; Karan Sharma 3/31, Aaqib Khan 3/39, Ankit Rajpoot 2/71) & 120 all-out in 44.3 overs (Rishav Das 73; Yash Dayal 4/37, Ankit Rajpoot 4/56) lost to UP 274 all-our in 89 overs (Samarth Singh 70, Dhruv Jurel 55, Priyam Garg 46; Mukhtar Hussain 3/51, Riyan Parag 2/26) & 112/4 in 38.1 overs (Samarth Singh 51*, Rinku Singh 22*; Hridip Deka 2/27) by six wickets