On the second day of Phase 2 of the Ranji Trophy, the dominance of India’s two experienced all-rounders continued as Ravindra Jadeja took a 12-wicket haul to secure a win for Saurashtra over Delhi while Shardul Thakur hit his second first-class century to secure a massive lead for Mumbai against Jammu and Kashmir.
On the second day, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma also displayed some flashes of his brute hitting while some other biggies failed to make a mark.
Coming to the Delhi-Saurashtra clash at Rajkot, a Group D, clash, Saurashtra secured an easy 10-wicket win over Delhi, with Jadeja taking 5/66 in the first innings and 7/38 in the second innings. Star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant failed to fire for Delhi on Ranji’s return, managing scores of 1 and 17 in both innings.
Delhi won the toss and opted to bat first. Skipper Yash Dhull (60 in 78 balls, with five fours and two sixes) and Yash Dhull (44 in 76 balls, with eight fours) played vital knocks as Delhi could score just 188 in their first innings. Ravindra Jadeja (5/66) and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (3/63) were the top bowlers for Saurashtra, leading the demolition with their top-class spin.
In Saurashtra’s first innings, Cheteshwar Pujara (6) fell early, but contributions from Harvik Desai (93 in 120 balls, with eight fours), Arpit Vasavada (62 in 130 balls, with four boundaries) and Ravindra (38 in 36 balls, with two fours and three sixes) pushed Saurashtra to 271/10, giving them a lead of 83 runs.
Harsh Tyagi (4/71) and Ayush Badoni (3/22) were the leading bowlers for Delhi.
In their second innings, Delhi was blown away for 94 runs, with Badoni scoring 44 and Pant falling to Jadeja. Jadeja’s seven-wicket haul left Delhi with just 11 run lead and 12 runs were set to the win, which Saurashtra chased easily.
In the Group A clash between Mumbai and Jammu and Kashmir, J-K secured an 84-run lead in the first innings in reply to Mumbai’s 120. J-K scored 206 in their first innings, with Shubham Khajuria (53 in 75 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) and Abid Mushtaq (44 in 37 balls, with six fours and two sixes) playing standout knocks.
Mohit Avasthi (5/52) was the top bowler for Mumbai, with Shardul and Shams Mulani getting two scalps.
In their second innings, Rohit (28 in 35 balls, with two fours and three sixes) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (26 in 51 balls, with four boundaries) started with a fine 54-run partnership but were soon reduced to 101/7 with skipper Ajinkya Rahane (16), Shreyas Iyer (17) and Shivam Dube (0) continuing their flop show. However, Shardul, who had scored a valiant 51 in the first innings, went a step ahead, scoring 113* in 119 balls, with 17 fours and stitching a massive 173-run partnership with Tanush Kotian (58* in 119 balls, with six fours) to take Mumbai to 274/7, with a lead of 188 runs in their hand.
In the Punjab-Karnataka clash featuring Shubman Gill, at Karnataka’s M Chinnaswammy Stadium, Punjab ended the day at 24/2, with Gill unbeaten at 7*. They trailed by 396 runs after Karnataka had scored 475/10 in their first innings in reply to Punjab’s poor first innings total of 55, securing a 420-run lead. For Karnataka, Smaran Ravichandran scored a remarkable 203 in 277 balls, with 25 fours and three sixes.
For Punjab, Mayank Markande (3/53) and Jassinder Singh (3/66) were top bowlers.
In the Group A clash between Maharashtra and Baroda, Maharashtra skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (66* in 54 balls, with nine fours and two sixes) scored a quickfire fifty to help his team end day two at 123/2, with a lead of 275 runs. Earlier, Baroda had made 145 in their first innings in reply to Maharashtra’s first innings total of 297/10, which was powered by Saurabh Nawale (83 in 152 balls, with 12 fours).
Atit Sheth (6/71) was the pick of the bowlers for Baroda. (ANI)
