SportsCricket
Mumbai, Maharashtra and Punjab chase outright wins on Ranji final day
Mumbai and Punjab need seven wickets on Wednesday, Maharashtra nine. Delhi and Gujarat look set for a draw at Palam.
Key points
- Himachal Pradesh are 144 for 3, still 244 behind Mumbai going into the last day.
- Maharashtra declared on 527 for 5 with hundreds from Ankit Bawne, Digvijay Patil and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
- Punjab enforced the follow-on after Harpreet Brar's 7 for 56 against Chhattisgarh.
Round two of the Ranji Trophy ends on Wednesday with three teams in sight of outright wins and a handful of others playing for first-innings points.
Mumbai are closest. After declaring on 528 for 8 in Bilaspur, with Sarfaraz Khan’s 154, Akash Anand’s unbeaten 117, Siddhesh Lad’s 87 and Musheer Khan’s 57, they had Himachal Pradesh 144 for 3 at stumps on Tuesday. Pukhraj Mann (38 not out) and Vaibhav Kalta (21 not out) will resume 244 runs short of making Mumbai bat again.
Maharashtra and Punjab on top
In Pune, Maharashtra made Jharkhand toil for 150 overs. Ankit Bawne scored 169, Digvijay Patil 148 and Ruturaj Gaikwad an unbeaten 101 before the declaration at 527 for 5, a lead of 358. Jharkhand then batted much better in their second innings and closed on 130 for 1, with Shikhar Mohan on 74 and Utkarsh Singh on 45. They still trail by 228 and Maharashtra need nine wickets.
Harpreet Brar ran through Chhattisgarh with 7 for 56, bowling them out for 206 in reply to 456, and Punjab enforced the follow-on. Chhattisgarh were 123 for 3 second time round, with Aayush Pandey making 59 and Amandeep Khare unbeaten on 37, and are 127 behind.
Elsewhere
Madhya Pradesh lead Puducherry by 70 after Rajat Patidar’s 122 took them to 345, and Puducherry closed on 98 for 1.
At Palam, Delhi’s 648 for 6 declared looks too big for Gujarat to chase down in time. Manan Hingrajia batted 274 balls for an unbeaten 108 to take Gujarat to 363 for 5, still 285 behind, and a draw is the likeliest result.