Akshar Patel’s three-wicket haul gave Gujarat an upper hand as they reduced Delhi to 195 for four at stumps on day two, even as India discards, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, failed once again to make an impression in their Group A Ranji Trophy match on Friday.
Gujarat, in their first innings, were all out for 320 earlier in the day. Delhi still trail the hosts by 125 runs with six wickets remaining. Delhi were reeling at 49 for four at one stage but the old warhorse Mithun Manhas and Manan Sharma put on an unbeaten 146-run stand for the fifth wicket to rescue the visitors. While Manhas was not out on 85, Manan was on 59 at the end of day two.
However, on Friday all eyes were on the two out-of-favour India batsmen -- Sehwag and Gambhir -- both of whom are eager to make a comeback into the national fold. But none of the two could make the opportunity count.
hile Gambhir wasted a fine start to get dismissed for a 79-ball 31, which included four hits to the fence, Sehwag was out for just one after facing four balls. A delivery from spinner Jesal Karia saw Sehwag hitting the ball high up in the air to give a simple catch to the fielder at the mid-on.
Gambhir, on the other hand, edged an Akshar delivery to short leg to leave Delhi reeling at 49 for four. Manhas and Manan steadied the boat as both scored their half-centuries each. Manhas’s unbeaten knock came off 195 balls, laced with 11 fours and two sixes and Manan’s 124-ball innings was studded with nine boundaries and a six.
Left-arm orthodox bowler, Akshar finished with figures of three for 24. Earlier, Gujarat, after resuming on 281 for seven, added another 39 runs to the total by losing three wickets. Overnight batsman Akshar, resuming on 22, went on to score 38 while Rush Kalaria (13) and Jasprit Bumrah (10 not out) helped Gujarat cross the 300-run mark. Sumit Narwal was the pick of the Delhi wickets with 6-71.
Badri slams double ton
Subramaniam Badrinath (248) slammed a double hundred as Tamil Nadu piled on the woes of Madhya Pradesh as the visitors reached a massive 532 for eight on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match on Friday.
Badrinath added 122 more runs today to his overnight 126 and was the last man out today at the Holkar Cricket Stadium. His 248 came from 448 balls and was studded with 28 boundaries. Badrinath was the second TN batsman who hit a triple digit score. Yesterday, Baba Aparajith had hit 118.
Tamil Nadu though batted a slower pace than yesterday as they added 238 runs for five wickets from 90 overs today to the overnight 294 for three. Aswin Crist was batting on 44 while Aushik Srinivas was giving him company on 11 at the draw of stumps.
With two days remaining in the match, Tamil Nadu hold the upper hand and the home side will have a huge task at hand to even force a draw and get one point. For Madhya Pradesh, Rameez Khan grabbed two wickets on Friday, including Badrinath’s.