Skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sudip Gharami struck half centuries as Bengal took a slender first innings lead against Jharkhand on day two of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal right here on Wednesday.

After bowling Jharkhand out for 173, Bengal have been 238 for five on the finish of the second day with a vital 65-run first innings lead.

Abhimanyu (77) and Gharami (68) displayed a dominant present with the bat after rookie opener Kazi Junaid Saifi (1) was adjudged LBW off Ashish Kumar in the ninth over of the day.

From there on, Abhimanyu and Gharami added 136 runs for the second wicket to put the house aspect to touching distance of claiming a primary innings lead.

But Bengal suffered a mid-innings collapse after the duo fell in fast succession as the house aspect went on to lose 4 wickets for the addition of 60 runs to be diminished to 207 for five.

Just when Bengal have been looking at a batting debacle, the left-handed duo of Abhishek Porel (25) and and Shahbaz Ahmed (17) took management of the proceedings in an entertaining unbroken partnership.

The wickekteeper-batter Porel struck some pleasant cowl drives and the sloppy fielding by Jharkhand additionally helped Bengal’s trigger.

For Jharkhand, Supriyo Chakraborty bagged two wickets whereas Ashish, Anukul Roy and Shahbaz Nadeem took one every.

“We are happy to take the first innings lead. But our aim will be to add as many runs as possible on Day 3, keeping in mind that in cricket, anything is possible,” Bengal coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla mentioned.

“The partnership of Abhimanyu and Gharami was a vital one, but we have bigger targets ahead of us.” Brief Scores: Jharkhand: 173 all out.

Bengal: 238 for five in 81 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 77, Sudip Gharami 68, Abhishek Porel 25 batting, Shahbaz Ahmed 17 batting; Supriyo Chakraborty 2/68).

Bengal lead by 65 runs.

Vihari bats left-handed, helps Andhra attain 379; MP slumps to 144 for 4

In an act of bravery, Andhra skipper Hanuma Vihari batted left-handed and defied the speedy Avesh Khan so as to add 26 runs for the 10th wicket to assist the staff attain 379 against Madhya Pradesh on the second day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal right here on Wednesday.

Andhra then diminished the defending champions to 144 for Four at stumps to grab management of the match.

Resuming on the in a single day rating of 262 for two, issues didn’t go Andhra’s means because the hard-working MP bowlers hit again after toiling exhausting in the course of the huge 251-run stand between Ricky Bhui (149) and Karan Shinde (110).

Shinde reached his ton off 254 balls whilst Bhui saved going to frustrate the house staff’s bowling assault.

Medium-pacer Anubhav Agarwal (Four for 72) broke the partnership when he received Shinde to nick one to wicket-keeper Himanshu Mantri with the rating at 323.

Five runs later, Bhui’s marathon innings ended when he was caught by Saransh Jain in the covers off Agarwal.

The MP bowlers then received into the act and struck at common intervals to depart Andhra at 353 for 9 when Vihari walked in to bat.

Batting left-handed after injuring his left hand wrist, the Andhra captain managed to hit a few boundaries to ensure the staff complete swelled to 379. He batted with just one hand.

He was dismissed LBW by Jain for 27. He had retired harm on Tuesday on 16 after being hit by a bouncer from Avesh Khan.

Vihari’s courageous effort was harking back to his heroics in the Sydney Test against Australia in January 2021. Along with Ravichandran Ashwin, Vihari who had a hamstring damage, defied the Aussie bowlers for near 4 hours to disclaim the opposition a win.

Previously, Sunil Gavaskar in a Ranji Trophy match in 1982 vs Karnataka, batted left-handed to counter Raghu Ram Bhat, a left-arm spinner.

England’s Joe Root batted left-handed in the course of the first Test against Pakistan final month in Rawalpindi. In batting-friendly situations, Root switched to a left-handed mode whereas batting against right-arm spinner Zahid Mahmood for the primary two deliveries of his sixth over.

But batting one-handed at No.11 with a damaged wrist final occurred when West Indies’ Malcolm Marshall had injured his left wrist.

Earlier, the Madhya Pradesh innings received off to a strong begin with opening batters Mantri and Yash Dubey placing on 42 runs.

Ok V Sasikanth (2/37) delivered the primary strike for Andhra when he had Dubey caught by C R Gnaneshwar. Fellow opener Mantri was dismissed by Prithvi Raj (1/7).

Shubham Sharma (51) and the in-form Rajat Patidar (20) added 42 runs for the third wicket and in management.

Nitish Kumar Reddy castled Patidar to strike an enormous blow for Andhra.

Skipper Aditya Srivastava (20 batting) and Anubhav Agarwal (0) have been on the crease when stumps have been drawn with MP trailing by 235 runs.

For Andhra, Sasikanth picked up two wickets whereas Y Prithvi Raj and Nitish Kumar Reddy received a wicket every.

Brief scores: Andhra 379 all out in 127.1 overs (Ricky Bhui 149, Karan Shinde 110, Anubhav Agarwal 4/72) vs Madhya Pradesh 144 for 4 in 41 overs (Shubham Sharma 51).

Batters put Karnataka in command against Uttarakhand

Karnataka, driving on veteran all-rounder Shreyas Gopal’s unbeaten 103, took a large 358-run lead against Uttarakhand on day two of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final match right here on Wednesday.

On a day when runs flowed freely for the hosts, skipper Mayank Agarwal (83) was concerned in a 159-run opening partnership with Ravikumar Samarth (82) earlier than Devdutt Padikkal (69) and Nikin Jose (62) too scored half centuries as Karnataka ended the day at 474 for 5.

None of the Uttarakhand bowlers appeared efficient against the batter-heavy Karnataka aspect on the Chinnaswamy Stadium, with tempo bowler Deepak Dhapola, who had career-best figures of 8/35 in an innings in the course of the Ranji Trophy group section this season, returning empty-handed on Wednesday.

With the Uttarakhand strike bowler seemingly ineffective, there have been 4 half-centurions and a century-maker in Karnataka’s lineup. Commencing day two at 123 for no loss, in a single day batters Agarwal and Samarth, who have been on 65 and 54 respectively on Tuesday, flourished in beneficial residence situations.

However, the pair departed in fast succession with Uttarakhand pacer Abhay Negi accounting for each in the primary session of play.

Their departure, nevertheless, didn’t finish Uttarakhand’s distress with Padikkal and Jose guiding the hosts previous the 300-run mark. Their partnership yielded 118 runs and broke the again of the guests’ bowlers.

But extra distress was about to unfold for the guests later in the day as veteran all-rounder Gopal struck his fifth first-class century and, in the method, crossed the three,000-run mark to put Karnataka in an virtually invincible place.

Going by Uttarakhand’s capitulation in the primary innings, Karnataka might declare their innings in the primary session and end the competition on day three itself.

Brief scores: Uttarakhand 116 vs Karnataka 474 for 5 in 116 overs (Ravikumar Samarth 82, Mayank Agarwal 83, Devdutt Padikkal 69, Nikin Jose 62, Shreyas Gopal batting 103, Manish Pandey 39; Mayank Mishra 3/31, Abhay Negi 2/82).

Prabhsimran, Naman hit centuries to provide Punjab upper hand against Saurashtra

Openers Prabhsimran Singh and Naman Dhir struck glowing centuries to provide Punjab the upper hand on the second day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match against Saurashtra right here on Wednesday.

Resuming the day at Three for no loss in reply to Saurashtra’s first innings complete of 303 all out, Punjab have been 327 for five from 91 overs on the shut of second day for a lead of 24 runs with Prabhsimran and Naman scoring 126 and 131 runs respectively.

Prabhsimran confronted 158 balls from which he struck 13 fours and three sixes, whereas Naman hit 9 fours and 7 sixes throughout his 180-ball knock.

Prabhsimran was the primary to go on the staff rating of 212 in the post-lunch session whereas Naman stayed a bit longer and was the third Punjab batsman to get out.

One-down Pukhraj Mann (1), Anmolpreet Singh (9) and Nehal Wadhera (4) didn’t contribute a lot however captain Mandeep Singh and wicketkeeper Anmol Malhotra took Punjab previous Suarashtra’s first innings complete.

Mandeep was batting on 39 off 120 balls, whereas Malhotra was giving him firm on 16 off 57 deliveries when the stumps have been drawn.

For Saurashtra, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Yuvrajsinh Dodiya took wickets apiece whereas Parth Bhut received one.

On the opening day on Tuesday, left-arm spinner Parth Bhut shone with the bat and saved Saurashtra with a gritty 111 not out off 155 balls.

Coming out to bat at quantity 9, Bhut struck 11 fours and 4 sixes throughout his 155-ball unbeaten knock to assist Saurashtra put up 303 all out in 87 overs after electing to bat on the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

Brief scores: Saurashtra 1st innings: 303 in 87 overs.

Punjab 1st innings: 327 for five in 91 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 126, Naman Dhir 131; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 2/82, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya 2/58).