Ranji Trophy | Elite Group B - Prithvi Shaw double-century steals headlines on Day 3; Saurashtra beat Himachal Pradesh
The most eventful day in Group B of the Ranji Trophy saw Saurashtra breeze past Himachal Pradesh as Mumbai and Railways built upon their first-innings lead, with Prithvi Shaw stealing the limelight on Day 3. Further, Karnataka took the first-innings lead over Tamil Nadu in the battle of giants.
Jayadev Unadkat delivers Saurashtra’s first win of the season
Brief scores: Saurashtra (141, 165/5) beat Himachal Pradesh (120 & 182) by 5Â wickets
Jayadev Unadkat’s spell on Day 3 massively dented Himachal Pradesh’s chances of regaining an upper hand over Saurashtra, with the pacer picking up six wickets in the second innings. Chasing 165 for the win, Saurashtra needed 66 runs at the start of Day 3 with Chirag Jani and Prerak Mankad at the crease. The duo could only add five runs before Jani was caught plumb in front at 104/4. Cheteshwar Pujara’s twin boundaries combined with Mankad’s 47 led Saurashtra to an easy victory as Unadakat was declared as the Man of the match.Â
Prithvi Shaw piles up runs for Mumbai and misery for Baroda
Brief scores: Baroda 307, 74/3 (V Bhosale 41 and Shams Mulani 2/28) trail Mumbai 431, 409/4 by 460 runs
Prithvi Shaw’s 202, which included 19 fours and seven sixes, decimated Baroda, who had no clue on how to get the youngster out. Alongside Shaw, opener Jay Gokul Bista and skipper Suryakumar Yadav made useful contributions. In particular, Yadav’s century came off just 70 deliveries, with 5 sixes and 12 boundaries. Baroda were handed a steep target, needing 534 runs to win the game. However, Shams Mulani’s double blow put the home side in all troubles at 74/3 at the end of Day 3.Â
Dinesh Karthik’s century overshadowed by Karnataka’s 112 run lead
Brief scores: Karnataka 336 & 83/5 (D Padikkal 29* and K Vignesh 2/11) lead Tamil Nadu 307 by 112 runs
Tamil Nadu’s lower order was heavily dependent on the contribution from Dinesh Karthik, and the experienced batsman did not disappoint. Thwarting all challenges coming his way, Karthik slowly but steadily got to the triple-figure in absence of a good partnership. However, useful contributions from N Jagadeesan and Ravichandran Ashwin ensured that Karthik got to his century. That was not enough for the hosts, as they fell short of Karnataka’s first innings total by 29 runs. Karnataka, in their second innings, ended the day on 83/5, with a lead of 112 runs.Â
Dinesh Mor’s 102 leaves Uttar Pradesh chasing 349 runs on the last two days
Brief scores: Uttar Pradesh 175 & 23/0 (A Juyal 13* and K Sharma 0/2) need 326 runs against Railways 253 & 270
Dinesh Mor emerged as the star for Railways, scoring a combined 193 runs in the two innings against Uttar Pradesh to set a huge target for the hosts. Amit Mishra’s lusty blow towards the end of the innings ensured that Uttar Pradesh were chasing 349 runs for a victory against the Railways side which finished 15th on the table last season. The home side were 23/0 at the end of Day 3, in their pursuit of 349 for a win in the opening game.Â