Offspinner Jalaj Saxena claimed all six wickets to fall in Rajasthan‘s first innings, putting Kerala in command in Thiruvananthapuram. It was Saxena’s third conseuctive five-wicket haul in Thiruvananthapuram, having also taken 11 wickets in the opener against Jharkhand. Rajasthan finished the second day struggling at 134 for 6 in response to Kerala’s first-innings total of 335. Rajasthan’s situation may have been a lot worse without Dishant Yagnik’s 62.
With Kerala resuming on 232 for 3, Rajasthan took the remaining seven wickets for 103 runs, thanks primarily to left-arm spinner Mahipal Lomror’s 4 for 51. Sachin Baby added 40 runs to his overnight score of 38.
Patient fifties from Priyank Panchal and Manpreet Juneja helped Gujarat take the first-innings lead against Jammu & Kashmir in Surat. Gujarat ended the second day ahead by 15 runs with six wickets in hand. Resuming on 15 for no loss, Samit Gohel (37) and Panchal (61) added 56 runs in 21.1 overs, before left-arm spinner Aamir Aziz had Gohel caught behind.
Panchal and Parthiv Patel then added a 45-run, second-wicket stand, but both fell in quick succession to legspinner Manik Gupta. Juneja and Rujul Bhatt (34) then put Gujarat on top with a 103-run partnership in 39 overs. Juneja ended the day unbeaten on 66 off 148 balls.
Ishank Jaggi‘s 17th first-class resurrected Jharkhand from 60 for 4 and put them in a position for an outright win against Haryana in Ranchi. Jaggi, who struck 14 fours and a six, in his unbeaten 127 was ably assisted by Ishan Kishan‘s 155-ball 83. The pair added 190 runs to ensure Jharkhand secured a first-innings lead of 103 with four wickets in hand.
Medium-pacers Ajit Chahal and Ashish Hooda left Jharkhand’s top order in tatters with four wickets in the space of 24 runs in the morning session. Haryana next tasted success towards the end of the day, when Kishan was caught and bowled by Ashok Sandhu.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo