As many as 14 wickets tumbled on the second day after a rain washout opening day as the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match between Gujarat and Haryana hung in the balance on Sunday. Put in to bat, Gujarat were bowled out for 163 in 63.5 overs, with Kshitij Patel (50 off 107 balls, 4x4) providing the only substantial resistance.
Haryana’s Nikhil Kashyap and Nishant Sindhu picked three wickets each. In reply, Haryana were 90 for four in 34 overs at stumps, still trailing by 73 runs. Gujarat pacer Vishal Jaiswal struck twice early to remove openers Ankit Kumar (5) and Lakshay Dalal (8) before Mayank Shandilya (28) and Sindhu (29) steadied the innings briefly. Siddharth Desai later broke the stand to keep Gujarat ahead.
Gharami ton puts Bengal on top Making full use of the opportunity at the top, Sudip Kumar Gharami struck his sixth first-class hundred and shared a double-century stand with Shakir Habib Gandhi to put Bengal firmly on top against Tripura in Agartala. At stumps, Bengal were 336 for nine with Shahbaz Ahmed holding fort on 40, ensuring the visitors are well placed for three first-innings points.
Resuming at the overnight 171 for one, Gharami and Gandhi continued from where they left off, untroubled by the Tripura attack in the morning session. Promoted to open in the absence of skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran and injured Sudip Chatterjee, Gharami brought up his hundred with a well-timed sweep and went on to make a patient 108 off 250 balls with the help of 15 fours.
It was, however, heartbreak for Gandhi, who missed a well-deserved maiden first-class hundred by just five runs. He fell for 95, caught by substitute Rajat Dey at deep square leg off Rana Datta, who had earlier missed a chance to dismiss the batter on Saturday due to a dropped catch. After the pair’s departure, Bengal’s middle order failed to capitalise on the solid foundation, losing four wickets for just 25 runs.
Anustup Majumdar (6), stand-in skipper Abhishek Porel (11) and Sumanta Gupta (5) fell cheaply. Credit to Tripura captain Manisankar Murasingh, who played a key role by first denying Gandhi his century and then removing the experienced Majumdar. From 262 for seven, all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed steadied the innings, adding valuable runs with debutant Rahul Prasad, who scored a brisk 35 off 46 balls with five fours.
Shahbaz remained unbeaten on 40 off 82 deliveries with two boundaries, showing restraint and composure. Rana Datta was the pick of Tripura’s bowlers with figures of 3/76 from 23 overs, while Murasingh returned a tidy 2/56 from 27 overs.
Brief Scores:
In Ahmedabad: Gujarat 163 in 63.5 overs (Kshitij Patel 50; Nikhil Kashyap 3/34, Nishant Sindhu 3/43) vs Haryana 90/4 in 34 overs (Vishal Jaiswal 2/36).
In Delhi: Uttarakhand 257 in 110.2 overs (J Suchith 67, Saurabh Rawat 56; Vikas Yadav 5/53, Arjun Sharma 4/79) vs Services 178/7 in 67 overs (Mohit Ahlawat 75, Ravi Chauhan 51; Mayank Mishra 3/69).
In Agartala: Bengal 336/9 in 115 overs (Sudip Gharami 108, Habib Gandhi 95; Rana Dutta 3/76) vs Tripura.
