Aaron 5-for shatters Kerala as Dinesh Karthik's stellar innings rescues Tamil Nadu in Ranji Trophy: Day 2 Roundup

Varun Aaron brushed aside Kerala with a rapid spell

Indian speedster Varun Aaron delivered a sharp performance with the ball as his 5-wicket haul dismantled Kerala for 148. Filled with pace and fury, Aaron tested the Kerala batsmen on a demanding surface in Malappuram. The Jharkhand batsmen swelled the lead past 100 with still 8 wickets remaining.

Jharkhand 202 & 47/2 (Kishan 30*, Gomez 2-8); Kerala 148 (Rohan Prem 52, Aaron 5-23)

In Mumbai, Dinesh Karthik’s spirited 167 enabled Tamil Nadu to launch a counter-attack against domestic heavyweights Mumbai. Resuming on 249/6, Tamil Nadu posted a formidable 1st innings score. The Tamil Nadu bowlers struck twice to leave Mumbai with a mountain to climb.

Tamil Nadu 434 (Karthik 167, Aparajith 62, Dabholkar 5-122); Mumbai 45/2 (Iyer 12, Koushik 1-4)

At the Feroz Shah Kotla, the Sehwag-Gambhir duel turned out to be a fascinating encounter with Delhi bowled out for 237. Skipper Gambhir was dismissed for 18 as Unmukt Chand top-scored with 68. Jayant Yadav and Harshal Patel ensured that Delhi could only obtain a lead of 42. In reply, Sehwag remained unbeaten on 29*. Haryana would hope for a vintage performance from the “Nawab of Najafgarh”.

Haryana 195 & 68/2 (Sehwag 29*, Sangwan 1-24); Delhi 237 (Chand 68, Gambhir 18, Jayant 4-78)

Vidarbha cantered slowly to frustrate a disciplined Karnataka bowling attack in Bangalore. Former Indian opener, Wasim Jaffer compiled an useful half-century before he misjudged a delivery from Jagadeesha Suchith. Ganesh Satish batted with unreal patience to reach 81 off 226 balls. He is still at the crease along with a determined Badrinath.

Karnataka 350; Vidarbha 172/2 (Satish 81*, Jaffer 68, Suchith 1-27)

An inspired Assamese bowling attack routed Odisha to 88 to help their team bounce back after they could only muster 92. Krishna Das decimated the Odisha batting unit as only 2 batsmen reached double figures. However on a surface tailor-made for seamers, the Assam batsmen were themselves in a spot of bother as they were reduced to 137/8 at stumps.

Assam 92 & 137/8 (Syed Mohammed 42*, Mohanty 3-29, Pradhan 3-27); Odisha 88 (Sarangi 27, Krishna Das 7-21)

In Mohali, the Yuvraj Singh-led Punjab team endured a hard day against a resurgent Gujarat batting line-up. Parthiv Patel and Panchal scored centuries as the home team struggled on a harmless pitch. However, Punjab hit back with a strong start in their innings. They were helped by half-centuries from Jiwanjot Singh and Manan Vohra who is still unbeaten.

Gujarat 467 (Parthiv 113, Panchal 105, Ladda 5-138); Punjab 131/1 (Vohra 50*, Jiwanjot 51)

An experienced Uttar Pradesh bowling unit scrambled together to restrict Railways to 375. Railways who had begun the day on 316/5 collapsed to the seasoned campaigners in Piyush Chawla and Praveen Kumar. In reply, Uttar Pradesh have started solidly to reach 169/2.

Railways 375 (Ashish Singh 101, Kuldeep 3-64, Chawla 2-53); Uttar Pradesh 169/2 (Shaukat 76, Srivastava 75*)

On the back of Muzzaffaruddin Khalid’s 7-wicket haul, Services completed a victory over Jammu & Kashmir within 2 days in Jammu. Apart from Khajuria, the other batsmen struggled to post significant scores.

Jammu & Kashmir 85 & 161 (Khajuria 51, Khalid 7-61); Services 229 and 18/1: Services won by 9 wickets

Hyderabad cruised to 434 against Himachal Pradesh in the picturesque city of Dharamsala. Hanuma Vihari and Tanmay Agarwal scored hundreds as Rishi Dhawan sent down a massive 43 overs.

Hyderabad 434 (Vihari 101, Tanmay 118, Rishi 3-138, More 4-84); Himachal Pradesh 84/0 (Bains 51*)

In Porvorim, Goa look set to emerge victorious against an unconvincing Tripura outfit. In response to the visitors’ paltry total of 61, Goa managed to get to 257. In their 2nd innings, Tripura are tottering at 140/6.

Tripura 61 & 140/6 (Das 41, Jakati 2-26); Goa 257 (Misal 62, Datta 4-44)

The tussle between Andhra Pradesh and Baroda was marred by rain as the home team led by Mohammad Kaif could only face 38 overs against Yusuf Pathan’s Baroda in Vizianagaram.

Baroda 302 (Devdhar 97, Swapnil 74, Yusuf 6, Stephen 4-72); Andhra Pradesh 96/0 (Bharat 50*)

Due to unrelenting rain, there was no play at the Eden Gardens in the contest between Bengal and Rajasthan XI.