Nitin Saini, the wicket-keeper batsman from Haryana remained unbeaten on the third day as he led his team’s charge against Goa with a patient maiden double century. Haryana are now just 21 runs away from eclipsing Goa’s first innings score of 413 runs.
In Valsad, Chhattisgarh endured a batting collapse but are still in position to get an outright victory after reducing Hyderabad to 115/9 in their second essay.
Group C, Round 7 - Day 3 Round-up:
Andhra vs Kerala in Guwahati: Kerala 219/10 in 98.4 overs (Mohd Azharuddeen 82, Rohan Prem 42, P Vijay Kumar 6/37) & 228/5 (Rohan Prem 88, Bhavin J Thakkar 56, P Vijay Kumar 3/48) lead Andhra 226/10 in 96.3 overs (Ricky Bhui 62, D B Prashanth Kumar 61, K S Bharat 54, Basil Thampi 3/33, Rohan Prem (2/7) by 221 runs
Needing 46 runs with four wickets in hand, Andhra managed to secure a slender first innings lead of seven runs, which could prove decisive in this Group C encounter should an outright result is not achieved on the final day’s play. In their second essay, Kerala’s No.1 and No. 3 Bhavin Thakkar (56) and captain Rohan Prem (88) put up an excellent show after Vishnu Vinod was dismissed in the seventh over.
The two added 69 runs for the second wicket before the partnership was ended by Bhargav Bhatt, who trapped Thakkar in front of the wickets. Another big stand of 106 between Mohd Azharuddeen and Prem helped take Kerala to a strong position. Prem, who had also taken two wickets missed out on a century by just 12 runs. Kerala now lead by 221 runs and it remains to be seen how they approach the fourth day’s play.
Chhattisgarh vs Hyderabad in Valsad: Hyderabad 351/10 (S Badrinath 134, Bavanaka Sandeep 96; Pankaj Rao 5/89) & 115/9 (Akash Bhandari, Abhishek Tamrakar 4/19, Pankaj Rao 3/19) lead Chhattisgarh 188/10 (Sahil Gupta 55, Abhimanyu Chauhan 55; Akash Bhandari 3/27, C V Milind 3/47) by 278 runs.
Bowlers had a field day in Valsad and wickets tumbled on Day 3 of the Group C clash between Chhattisgarh and Hyderabad. A total of 18 wickets fell after Chhattisgarh, resuming on 121/1 were bowled out for 188 after adding only 67 runs. When Hyderabad batted again, they too saw a flood of wickets with just Akash Bhandari managing to cross 20 runs. Hyderabad were five down for just 39 runs as Pankaj Rao destroyed the line-up with the new ball. He was then joined by Abhishek Tamrakar as both picked four wickets each. Having suffered a collapse in the first innings, Chhattisgarh will need to bat well on the fourth day to earn an outright victory.
Himachal vs Services in Surat: Himachal 296/10 in 85.5 overs (Paras Dogra 70, Robin Bist 59; Aanshul Gupta 3/20) trail Services 401 (Nakul Verma 117, Ravi Chauhan 149, Vikash Hathwala 69; Rishi Dhawan 5/82) & 197/4 (Aanshul Gupta 60, Nakul Verma 42, Mayank Dagar 3/44) by 302 runs.
Himachal added 114 runs to their overnight total before being bowled out on the third day for 296 runs. Having conceded a lead of 105 runs, Services gathered more steam and were 197/4 at Stumps. They now lead Himachal by 302 runs. Left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar picked three wickets.
Goa vs Haryana in Ghaziabad: Goa 1st inn 413/10 in 144.1 overs (Snehal Kauthankar 225, Harshal Patel 4/75, Amit Mishra 4/147) lead Haryana 392/3 (Nitin Saini 211*, CK Bishnoi 90, Darshan Misal 1/37, Shadab Jakati 1/68) by 21 runs
Haryana’s wicket-keeper batsman Nitin Saini remained unbeaten on 211. Haryana are just 21 runs away from securing a first innings lead against Goa, who posted a challenging 413 in their first innings at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, Ghaziabad.
Haryana began the day with both their overnight openers resuming the innings, but Shubham Rohilla was dismissed early in the day, after adding nine runs to his overnight score. No. 3 Mohit Hooda added 37 runs, but there was only gloom for Goa bowlers after the fall of Hooda. No. 4 Chaitanya Bishnoi dug deep and shared a mammoth 227-run stand with Saini as Haryana inched closer. The two batted for 70 overs and it was only at the close of play with just about three overs remaining that Bishnoi was adjudged lbw off Darshan Misal.
Saini, who brought up his century in 201 balls, surpassed his previous best first-class score of 152 and went on to get a double hundred in 382 balls.
Jammu & Kashmir vs Tripura in Mumbai: J & K 315/10 in 107.2 overs (Aditya Singh 74, Ian Dev Singh 59, Pranav Gupta 55, Samiullah Beigh 54, Manisankar Murasingh 4/75, Rajib Dutta 3/74) & 198/3 (Ian Dev Singh 67, A Dey (2/34) lead Tripura 297/10 in 98.0 overs (Bishal Ghosh 86, Gurinder Singh 84* Parvez Rasool 3/67) by 216 runs
In Mumbai, Tripura came close to overhauling Jammu and Kashmir’s first innings score of 315, but fell short by 18 runs. Resuming on 193/7, Tripura lost the remaining four wickets for the addition of 104 runs. A 44-run stand between Gurinder Singh and Rana Dutta for the ninth wicket had kept them in the hunt. Samiullah Beigh got through the defence of Datta to end the partnership and ensure first innings lead.
J & K opted for a more cautious approach in their 2nd innings, making 198 for the loss of three wickets from 60 overs. Ian Dev Chauhan is unbeaten on 67 with Parvez Rasool giving him company on 60.
