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Rediff.com  » Sports » Ranji Trophy: Rohit Sharma gives Mumbai vital lead vs Railways

Ranji Trophy: Rohit Sharma gives Mumbai vital lead vs Railways

November 25, 2009 20:53 IST
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Rohit Sharma held the Mumbai innings together with an unbeaten 94, as the defending champions took a vital 61-run lead after scoring 248 for eight in their first essay, on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match against Railways in Delhi on Wednesday.

Resuming at 2 for 1, Mumbai were dealt an early blow when opener Sahil Kukreja departed without adding to the total.

With the scorecard reading 3 for 2, skipper Wasim Jaffer (75) and Dhawal Kulkarni (20) started the rebuilding job, combining for a 83-run partnership that was broken when the latter edged an H D Rawle delivery to wicketkeeper V Cheluveraj.

Kulkarni's 20 runs came off 105 balls and included two fours.

In walked Sharma and added 26 runs with Jaffer before the skipper departed, trapped leg before by his Railways counterpart, Murali Kartik. Jaffer's knock comprised nine fours and came off 157 balls.

Sharma held one end even as wickets tumbled around him, hitting 11 fours and a six in his yet unfinished innings.

He got support from tail-ender Vinayak Samant, whose 89-ball 26 was the only other notable contribution in the Mumbai innings. The duo forged a 74-run partnership for the eighth wicket before Samant was bowled by Sanjay Bangar.

Iqbal Abdulla (5) was giving company to Sharma when stumps were drawn for the day.

Bengal in deep trouble against Saurashtra

Kolkata: Saurashtra piled on more misery on hosts Bengal and declared their first innings at 650 for 9 on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match at the Eden Gardens.

At stumps, Bengal were in deep trouble, struggling at 27 for 1 from eight overs with two more days to go.

Meanwhile, Bengal had more trouble as former India skipper Sourav Ganguly was penalised for turning up late for the match.

Ganguly joined his team more than an hour after the start of their match as he was receiving massage from the team masseur for a "back spasm" in the morning.

Resuming at their overnight score of 372 for three, Saurashtra started the day with the in-form duo of Cheteshwar Pujara and India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja at the crease.

But the duo failed to deliver much as Bengal got the first breakthrough when Bose castled Pujara, who played on to the stumps after adding 16 runs to his overnight total with the scorecard reading 404. Pujara scored 84 before returning to the hut in the 88rd over.

Jadeja (32) followed suit in the next over -- the India all-rounder was dismissed by Ashok Dinda. From there on Bengal found the road tough as the Saurashtra lower order had three fruitful partnerships.

Left-hander Pratik Mehta (73) was engaged in a 79 and 76 runs partnerships with Sitanshu Kotak (44) and Rakesh Dhruv (42) respectively as Saurashtra kept frustrating the Bengal bowlers on the second day.

Mehta hit seven boundaries in his solid knock off 187 balls. After Mehta's departure, Saurashtra had an entertaining 65-run ninth wicket stand between Sandeep Jobanputra and Sandip Maniar who ensured a tall order for Bengal.

Jobanputra remained unbeaten on 45 off 50 balls, inclusive of one six and five boundaries, as Saurashtra declared after Maniar (37) was caught by Ganguly off Dinda.

Lahiri claimed three wickets, while Dinda and Bose took two each.

In reply, Bengal's opening duo of Rohan Banerjee and Arindam Das added 11 runs before the former became Jobanputra's victim in the third over of their innings.

At close, Bengal trailed Saurashtra by 623 runs.

Sahoo shines as Orissa reduce Hyderabad to 123-5

Hyderabad: Alok Chandra Sahoo hit a useful 47 and struck twice with the ball as Orissa scored 276 in their first innings before reducing Hyderabad to 123 for five on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match.

Resuming at 203 for five, Orissa added another 73 runs to their first innings total, thanks to a 70-ball 47 by all-rounder Sahoo, who struck six fours and two sixes.

Sahoo then joined hands with Basant Mohanty and the duo picked two wickets apiece as Orissa ended the day on a high, needing five wickets with 153 runs to take the first innings lead.

Sahoo struck twice in the eighth over, removing opener Ibrahim Khaleel (4) and Anoop Pai (0) to leave the hosts struggling on 17 for two.

Basant Mohanty then got into the act and sent the other opener, Abhinav Kumar (18), back to the hut.

Anirudh Singh then joined Ambati Rayudu, but before the duo could resurrect the innings, Debashis Mohanty got rid off the latter.

Anirudh waged a lonely battle with a defiant 44 and was at the crease along with S A Aquadri (9) when stumps were drawn for the day at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium.

Pawan, Satish, Verma tons hoist Karnataka

Pune: Centuries from K B Pawan, Ganesh Satish and Amit Verma helped Karnataka to a huge 368-run first innings lead over Maharashtra on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match.

Opener Pawan slammed 152 in 281 balls, inclusive of 17 fours, and put on 284 runs for the second wicket with Satish, who cracked 141, before Verma remained unbeaten on 101 in Karnataka's 473 for four in reply to Maharashtra's meager first innings tally of 105.

At stumps, Balchandra Akhil (24) was the other unbeaten batsman with Verma, who has faced 129 balls and struck 11 fours and a six. The visitors lead the hosts by 368 runs.

Karnataka, who started the day at 125 for one, continued their domination right through the day, with Pawan, 74 last evening, and Satish (40 overnight) duly reaching three figures.

It was Pawan's second century in as many matches.

The two batsmen fell in close succession, within the space of 23 runs, before Verma, who too notched his second successive hundred, and Manish Pandey (32) added 72 runs for the fourth wicket to take Karnataka close to the 400-run mark.

Parvinder Singh ton as UP declare on 536-8

Lucknow: Parvinder Singh (108) became the second Uttar Pradesh batsman to slam a hundred as the hosts declared their first innings on a mammoth 536 for 8t on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match against Delhi.

In reply, Delhi were nine for no loss at stumps, with skipper Aakash Chopra (4) and Gaurav Chabra (5) at the crease.

Tanmay Srivastava had scored 109 on Tuesday for UP.

Resuming at the overnight score of 300 for 4, UP's batsmen continued to make life miserable for the visiting bowlers with Parvinder combining for a 155-run stand with Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (75).

The duo's pace of scoring was not too brisk but their patient knocks frustrated the Delhi bowlers.

While Parvinder struck six boundaries and a six in his 228-ball knock,

Bhuvaneshwar managed three fours in his innings that came off 214 deliveries.

The partnership was broken when Parvinder was dismissed by Abhishek Sharma in the 133rd over.

To the Delhi bowlers' dismay, the host team's tail wagged, with lower order batsmen chipping in with fine contributions.

Praveen Kumar, who was on Wednesday given a Grade B BCCI contract, scored 32 that came off 53 balls and included two fours and a six.

For Delhi, Parvinder Awana and Rajat Bhatia shared two wickets apiece.

Taruwar Kohli hits hundred as Punjab takes lead

Mohali: Taruwar Kohli hit a patient 100 and Rahul Sharma 95 as Punjab took a 201-run lead against Gujarat, scoring 361 for five in their first innings on Day 2 of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match.

Starting the day on 77 for two, Punjab lost Uday Kaul (22) after he added just five runs to his overnight total.

However, the other overnight batsman Sharma and next man in Kohli joined forces to ensure that the good job done by their bowlers on day one did not go waste.

The duo rattled up 148 runs for the fourth wicket and consolidated the hosts' position in the match. The pair separated when Mehul Patel prevented Sharma from reaching the three-figure mark, having him caught behind.

Before departing, Sharma faced 179 balls and helped himself with 15 shots to the fence and one over the ropes.

Kohli though was undeterred and went on to complete his century. He was unbeaten on exactly 100 runs that came off 258 balls and included seven boundaries. After Sharma's dismissal, Kohli combined well with skipper Pankaj Dharmani, as they raised a 60-run stand for the fifth wicket. Dharmani (38) became the victim of Salil Yadav behind the wicket.

At stumps, giving company to Kohli was Sunny Sohal on 33, which came from 53 balls and included four boundaries and a six. Together they have so far put on 61 runs for the sixth wicket.

Thakkar, Indulkar put Himachal in sight of lead

Dharamshala: Defiant half centuries by Bhavin Thakkar (83), Vinit Indulkar (71) and Mukesh Sharma (68) helped Himachal Pradesh reach 291 for four on the second day of their Ranji Trophy against Tamil Nadu.

The hosts still trail Tamil Nadu by two runs.

After the visiting side declared the first innings on the overnight score of 293 for eight, Himachal openers Thakkar and Sangram Singh started proceedings on a confident note and put on a 49-run stand.

The visitors got the first breakthrough in the 24th over when India discard Lakshmipathy Balaji rattled the stumps of Singh (17).

Six overs later, Abhinav Mukund dismissed Paras Dogra for 22. Indulkar then joined Thakkar on the crease and steadily started building the innings, putting on a 71-run stand.

Balaji again came to the rescue of his team and trapped Thakkar (83) in front of the stumps to end his valiant knock, which comprised 13 fours.

Chandrasekar Ganapathy got the prized wicket of Indulkar when he trapped him for 71 in the 87th over. Indulkar struck eight fours and a six in his knock.

Sharma and Kuldeep Diwan ensured that hosts did not suffer any further casualties. Sharma has so far struck 11 fours and a hit over the fence.

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