Ranji Trophy – Nabi takes seven; Gharami’s unbeaten ton keeps Bengal afloat against Andhra

Ravi Singh

4 hours ago

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Bengal 199 for 5 (Gharami 112*, Sumanta 22*, Sasikanth 2-43) trail Andhra 295 (Bhui 83, Mukesh 5-66, Akash Deep 4-79) by 96 runs

Sudip Kumar Gharami fought back after Bengal were reduced to 43 for 3 at one stage against Andhra, with his unbeaten 112 taking them to 199 for 5 at stumps on day two. Bengal, however, still trail by 96 runs behind Andhra’s first-innings total of 295.

Gharami came out to bat in the fifth over after captain Abhimanyu Easwaran was dismissed for 1. Shaik Rasheed, stationed at cover, dived to his left to take a stunning catch and remove Easwaran cheaply. Gharami then lost Sudip Chatterjee and Anustup Majumdar but steadied Bengal with an 80-run fourth-wicket partnership alongside Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal.

The 26-year-old brought up his seventh first-class hundred in the final session when he pulled a short ball from Kalidindi Raju for four to deep backward square leg. Andhra persisted with the short-ball strategy against Gharami and Sumanta Gupta in the closing stages, but the pair remained unbeaten in a 46-run stand.

Earlier in the day, Mukesh Kumar completed his five-for by striking twice in the 86th over. Mukesh bagged 5 for 66 to restrict Andhra, while Akash Deep got 4 for 79. Tailender Saurabh Kumar smashed 18 and looked to propel Andhra, but was the last man out to a yorker from Akash Deep.

Mumbai 189 for 2 (Anand 53*, Musheer 49*, Gopal 1-35) and 120 lead Karnataka 173 (Agarwal 92, Avasthi 4-27, Deshpande 4-33) by 136 runs

Only three Karnataka batters got into double figures, as the BKC pitch continued to assist the seamers. Mumbai bowled Karnataka out for 173, thus restricting the visitors’ first-innings lead to 53. Mayank Agarwal, Karnataka’s captain, played a lone hand with 92, as his side lost 8 for 54.

Mohit Avasthi and Tushar Deshpande bagged four wickets each for Mumbai, who had folded for 120 on day one. But they triggered Karnataka’s collapse after Shardul Thakur struck early on the second morning to remove Karun Nair. Avasthi and Deshpande ran through the middle and lower orders, but the big wicket came when Agarwal was eighth batter to be out to Deshpande.

Despite falling behind, Mumbai’s openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Akhil Herwadkar started their second innings aggressively. After 11 overs, Mumbai were 63 for 0, with both batters finding the boundary regularly. But their 77-run stand was broken in the 13th over after Herwadkar was run out for 33, before Jaiswal fell for 36 in the 14th over.

Akash Anand (53*) and Musheer Khan (49*), though, brought Mumbai back on track. They went back undefeated on day two, with their partnership of 112 runs ensuring Mumbai were eventually 136 runs ahead on an up-and-down pitch.

Jammu and Kashmir 84 for 5 (Samad 32, Iyer 2-10, Kuldeep 2-35) and 194 lead Madhya Pradesh 152 (Dubey 58, Nabi 7-40, Sunil 3-47) by 126 runs

Auqib Nabi grabbed 7 for 40 to wrap Madhya Pradesh up for 152, and secure a 42-run first-innings lead for J&K. But in reply, J&K found themselves on 84 for 5 after the second day’s play in Indore. Overall, the visitors’ lead stands at 126.

The day had begun with MP 28 without loss, but Nabi was the first to strike when he had Harsh Gawli trapped in front for 10. Nabi also got Himanshu Mantri lbw for a duck two balls later, and Sunil Kumar had Shubham Sharma for 1 to leave MP at 39 for 3. That soon became 54 for 4 when Nabi had Rajat Patidar caught.

But MP fought back through Yash Dubey and Venkatesh Iyer. They added 52, when Nabi broke through to have Iyer caught behind for 22. What was 106 for 4 became 152 all out, as Nabi wrapped the tail up.

MP hit back after falling behind in the first innings. They reduced J&K to 19 for 3, with Kuldeep Sen adding two wickets to his five in the first innings. Paras Dogra and Abdul Samad briefly rebuilt, but their stand was broken at 49. Iyer had Dogra caught behind for 17 in the 20th over, and struck again two overs later by also having Samad caught by the wicketkeeper for 32. J&K will need something special from their lower order to set MP a big target.

Uttarakhand 282 for 5 (Chandela 68, Sudha 64, Suchith 60*, Shekhar 1-46) lead Jharkhand 235 by 47 runs

Chandela (68), Sudha (64) and Suchith (60*) hit half-centuries to keep Uttarakhand ticking in Jamshedpur. Manishi broke the second-wicket stand when he had Sudha lbw in the 41st over, before Sahil Raj got Lakshya Raichandani for 7.

The big wicket came when Chandela was bowled by Jatin Pandey to leave Uttarakhand at 190 for 4, still 45 runs behind Jharkhand. Suchith and Rawat, though, took the visitors past the hosts. Rawat fell for 32 to Aditya Singh, but Suchith went back unbeaten. He will hold key on day three as Uttarakhand eye a big first-innings lead.

Himanshu Agrawal is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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