File photo – Akhil Herwadkar’s fifth first-class century helped Mumbai overcome Baroda’s first-innings score © ACC
Defending champions Mumbai earned a thrilling first-innings lead against Baroda on the back of opener Akhil Herwadkar‘s fifth first-class century on the second day of their Ranji Trophy game in Delhi.
In response to Baroda’s first-innings score of 305, Mumbai were reduced to 172 for 6 before Herwadkar (106) and Balwinder Sandhu struck a 90-run stand. Sandhu’s unbeaten 56 and handy lower-order contributions from Shardul Tahkur (17) and Tushar Deshpande (11) ensured Mumbai got three points on first-innings lead. Mumbai ended the day at 313 for 8, eight runs ahead. Seamer Sagar Mangalorkar picked up three wickets, while Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan chipped in with a wicket each.
Madhya Pradesh fast bowler Ishwar Pandey returned figures of 8 for 102 to spark a spectacular middle-order collapse that saw Punjab stumble from an overnight score of 347 for 3 to 378 all out. Pandey took six wickets on a 12-wicket second day in Lahli, including those of centurions Yuvraj Singh (177) and Gurkeerat Singh (103). Apart from Yuvraj, Gurkeerat and Jiwanjot Singh, all other Punjab batsmen were dismissed for single-digit scores.
Pacer Manpreet Gony, though, disrupted Madhya Pradesh’s momentum with 4 for 25, all caught behind. Madhya Pradesh ended the day at 182 for 5 with Shubham Sharma (48) and wicketkeeper Ankit Dane (14) at the crease.
Tamil Nadu‘s bowlers and captain Abhinav Mukund led the team’s resurrection on the second day of their Group A match against Railways in Bilaspur. Resuming on 87 for 3, just 34 behind Tamil Nadu’s first-inning score of 121, Railways were wrapped up for 173 in the first session. Left-arm seamer T Natarajan, playing his second first-class match, finished with career-best figures of 4 for 51.
Openers Mukund and Washington Sundar nearly wiped out Tamil Nadu’s deficit of 52, before the latter was trapped in front by Manjeet Singh. Kaushik Gandhi proved to be an ably ally to Mukund as the pair added an unbeaten 124 to push Tamil Nadu 109 runs ahead. Mukund struck 10 fours in his 98, while Gandhi was more patient, consuming 146 balls for his 41.
Manoj Tiwary compiled a brisk 110 to help Bengal pile on Uttar Pradesh‘s misery on the second day in Jaipur. A lack of substantial support from the other end meant Tiwary did the bulk of scoring, adding 109 of Bengal’s 178 runs on the second day. He was last man out for a 150-ball 110 as Bengal were bowled out for 466. Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav polished the middle and lower order with 5 for 115, his second five-wicket haul in first-class matches.
Uttar Pradesh were reduced to 49 for 3, before Umang Sharma and Sarfaraz Khan added an unbeaten 77-run stand to help the team to 126 for 3 at stumps.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo