Live Blog - Sudharsan 202* flattens Delhi, Mumbai ride on young Mhatre's ton

Sai Sudharsan's double century, his highest first-class score, helped Tamil Nadu to an imposing 379 for 1 at stumps at Arun Jaitley stadium. It was a good batting surface, and that was exploited by Sudharsan and the other two half-centurions N Jagadeesan and Washington Sundar. Washington is unbeaten on 96 while Sudharsan finished the day on 202.

First it was the Mumbai bowlers: Shardul Thakur, Royston Dias, Shams Mulani and Mohit Avasthi bowled Maharashtra out for 126. Then, 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre announced his arrival in his third first-class game with a sublime century. He finished the day on 125, while Mumbai's lead was 94. Ajinkya Rahane, who took a stunning catch in the first innings from mid-off, made 31 while Shreyas Iyer made an unbeaten 45.

A counter-attacking 117-ball 127 from Abdul Samad scintillated in Cuttack, but the other batters couldn't back it up for Jammu & Kashmir. They folded for 270, and in response Odisha finished the day at 15/1.

Virat Singh hit an unbeaten 103 from the middle order to lift Jharkhand's innings against Railways. It was the second century of the Jharkhand innings, after Ishan Kishan made a 158-ball 101. Kishan's innings had 13 fours and two sixes. For Jharkhand's sake, the two centuries were kind of relieving because their opener Nazim fell for 96. It was a solid recovery overall from a position of 82/3 in the morning. They finished the day on 325 for 5.

in what appears to be a batting-friendly deck in Rajkot, visitors Chhatisgarh maximised their time in the middle, getting 236 for 2. Sanjeet Desai (81*) and Amandeep Khare (57*) hit half centuries and stayed unbeaten after their openers Ayush Pandey (52) and A Tiwary (44) set a solid platform.

A wet outfield in Alur forced a late start and allowed for very little cricket. But in that space, Kerala were inserted by Karnataka to bat first and the visiting openers held their own. Rohan Kunnummal's unbeaten 57 and Vathsal's 31 ensured they were 88 for no loss when bad light stopped play close to stumps time.

Click here for scorecards of all Round 2 Ranji Trophy games. See you tomorrow for more Ranji action!

It was a tale of two types of innings from Jharkhand today. Their batters either went big, or didn't do much at all. Opener Nazim Siddique set the base with a solid 96, but failed to reach triple digits. However, lower down the order Ishan Kishan and Virat Singh ensured they did not miss out. Both scored centuries in a 174-run fifth-wicket partnership and appear to have the upper hand at 325/5 with stumps approaching.

The left-hand opener Sai Sudharsan is flattening Delhi in Delhi. And along the way, has helped Tamil Nadu breach 350 for the loss of only one wicket. His double-century is a continuation of his terrific 2024 form, where he's scored centuries in every competition he's played. Washington Sundar, at No. 3, has got his own half-century, and together, they have picked up from where the opening partnership of 168 left off.

Their stand is is almost 200 now, and Sudharsan has got his own double ton. This is the highest first-class score for the Chennai lad, and you have to ask yourself - does he open alongside Jaiswal in Australia for the Test that Rohit Sharma might have to miss?

That said, Daya Sagar tells me from the ground that Sudharsan got two lives - on 77 and 143. The first time he was caught off a no-ball and then he was dropped at slip.

At the SICA ground in Rangpo, hosts Sikkim are on the back foot against Goa. All five Goa bowlers were among the wickets as Sikkim were rolled over for 108, including a two-wicket haul for Arjun Tendulkar.

After that, Goa have put in a strong start, with openers Rohan Kadam and Suyash Prabhudessai taking them to 90 for no loss.

Dega Nischal (49), Sedezhalie Rupero (57) and Hokaito Zhimomi (55*) have taken Nagaland to a respectable 236 for 8 by stumps. Left-arm seamer Ahsanul Kabir grabbed a three-for for Manipur.

Mizoram's No. 3 Agni Chopra smacked 110 and No. 8 Vikash Kumar scored a half-century, but without much more batting contribution, they folded for 247. Hardik Verma, the left-arm spinner, took his maiden first-class five-wicket haul for AP.

Following on from a strong bowling performance against Maharashtra, Mumbai have doubled up with their batting and it is mostly thanks to young Ayush Mhatre. The 17-year-old gets to his century and extends Mumbai's lead to 20+. He's batting alongside No. 5 Shreyas Iyer, who came into the middle after Ajinkya Rahane fell for 31.

Mhatre made his debut in the Irani Cup not long ago, and this is only his third first-class game.

Remember, Vidarbha were 79 for 5. Then 129 for 6. However, Yash Rathod from No. 5 (108*) and the No. 8 Harsh Dubey (61*) have battled on and on and on to frustrate Pondicherry. They are at 235/6, a much better position than where they were around lunch.

Baroda have opener Shivalik Sharma (95*) and No. 5 Vishnu Solanki (81*) to thank for a strong comeback from a score of 35 for 3 against Services in Palam.

The pair's unbeaten partnership of 170+ has given them the advantage after over two sessions of batting together. Can they both get their tons before stumps?

Odisha left-arm spinner Sumit Sharma, on first-class debut, helped the hosts in Cuttack stop J&K at only 270 in the first innings. J&K's batters struggled, apart from the counterattacking Abdul Samad (127 in 117, 4x6, 6x9).

They were reduced to 58 for 4 early, and then again, slid from 208 for 5 to 270 all out.

While the Test has been on in Bengaluru, the ground in Alur in the same city's outskirts were not fit for play till just a few moments ago. We've lost nearly a whole day due to a wet outfield, but we've just had the toss and Karnataka insert Kerala to bat in what will be a tricky hour or so.

Sanju Samson is playing this game for Kerala, btw.

Haryana hold all the aces in Lucknow against Uttar Pradesh, and it's largely down to the unbeaten partnership - that's approaching 200, as I write - between opener Ankit Kumar (72*) and No. 4 Himanshu Rana (114*). Together, they've struck 20 fours and two sixes to keep the likes of Ankit Rajpoot and Yash Dayal very quiet. Even Rinku Singh had a bowl with UP hoping to buy a wicket, but that has no paid off either. From the way these two are batting, looks like a great batting pitch.

Left-arm orthodox spinner Mayank Dagar's three wickets have left Rajasthan struggling at 189 for 6.

Few Rajasthan batters got starts, but none could capitalise barring Yash Kothari's 84. Rajasthan had the upper hand at lunch at 101/2, but the second session has been more enjoyable for hosts Himachal Pradesh in Dharamsala.

Prithvi Shaw fell for 1. Hardik Tamore made only 3. But after that, Mumbai have pounced on the Maharashtra bowlers courtesy opener Ayush Mhatre (65*) and No. 4 Ajinkya Rahane (25*). Together, their partnership has brought Mumbai very close to taking a first-innings lead. Remember, Maharashtra could score only 126 earlier in the day.

Finally. Something for Delhi to rejoice about. Put under the pump early by N Jagadeesan and Sai Sudharsan, Delhi bowlers were made to toil for more than three hours before a wicket arrived. Navdeep Saini rattles Jagadeesan's stumps in the 40th over and ends TN's imposing first-wicket stand of 168.

Jagadeesan, the TN wicketkeeper-captain, returns for 65 but his partner Sudharsan is in no mood to stop his run-scoring. He gets his sixth first-class century, getting there in 138 balls, and is congratulated by No. 3 Washington Sundar on the effort. It is also his fourth FC ton in 2024.

Daya Sagar from the Delhi venue tells me that Sudharsan had the opportunity to score this ton in front of his Gujarat Titans team director Vikram Solanki who is watching from the stands.

We have the first ton of round two. And it has come from Cuttack's Barabati Stadium.

The Odisha bowlers had reduced Jammu & Kashmir to 58 for 4 in the morning, but Abdul Samad - the tall, hard-hitting middle-order batter - has counterattacked beautifully. He has crunched eight sixes and five fours to complete his fifth first-class century in only 90 balls. Batting from No. 4, he has been supported by No. 6 Sahil Lotra (32*) in his endeavour, and their 120+ run unbeaten partnership has set J&K up well.

J&K are 180/4 in 45 overs.

In Ahmedabad, Railways are playing host to Jharkhand, and Railways started the game well with the ball, taking three early wickets, all to Himanshu Sangwan.

But they've been thwarted thereafter by the experienced Jharkhand opener Nazim Siddiquie. Siddiquie has moved into the seventies and is crucial for Jharkhand since the remainder of the top order failed to perform. Jharkhand still have Ishan Kishan padded up, so things don't look very gloomy for them at the moment. Railways will have to ensure they can start the post-lunch session well.

After Shardul and Avasthi in the first hour, the remainder of the morning session has been dominated by Mumbai bowlers Royston Dias and Shams Mulani.

Each of the four bowlers have taken at least two wickets, and they've also been ably supported in the field. Not least by Ajinkya Rahane, who has taken a terrific catch to dismiss Nikhil Naik. The combined effort has helped Mumbai skittle Maharashtra out for 126!

Here's Vishal Dikshit's eyewitness report of the Rahane catch: "A real stunner running backwards from mid-off! Naik tried to swing left-arm quick Dias down the ground and he skied it towards long-off. Rahane was in the 30-yard circle and he sprinted back towards the boundary with his eyes glued to the ball in the blue and grey skies and he put in a dive, facing the boundary, at the very last and right moment to get his stretched arms under the ball."

Quite similar to this famous Jacques Kallis catch, if you remember:

Delhi's decision to bowl first hasn't paid off in the opening session. Tamil Nadu have made a brilliant start to their first innings with openers Sai Sudharsan (69*) and N Jagadeesan (48*) looking comfortable and fluid. TN 123/0 at lunch. Daya adds: "Delhi decided to bowl after seeing some grass on the pitch, but their three fast bowlers could not take advantage of it. The TN openers showed alertness in the beginning and when they got weak balls, they attacked. Delhi also introduced left-arm spinner Harsh Tyagi, but he too could not make much impact. Sudarshan's half-century is his second consecutive.

Over at the Niranjan Shah stadium in Rajkot, hosts Saurashtra have failed to get any breakthrough despite a strong bowling unit of Jaydev Unadkat, Chirag Jani, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Prerak Mankad. Keeping them at bay are the Chhatisgarh opening pair of Aayush Pandey and Anuj Tiwary, who have lifted the visitors to 81/0 in 25 overs.

Punjab lost their opening game to Kerala, and the start to their round 2 game is inauspicious too. Playing against Madhya Pradesh, their top order is already in the hut with Punjab's score reading 56 for 5. Kulwant Khejroliya and Kumar Kartikeya have been among the wickets, as has Saransh Jain.

Jain has quietly been chipping away and making all the right noises in the last few competitions. ICYMI, here's the offspinner's recent interview with Rajan Raj.

It was Shardul Thakur in the first half hour who got the early breakthroughs. Now it is the turn of Mohit Avasthi. He's taken three more well before lunch to leave Maharashtra six-down with their score yet to reach triple digits.

Vishal Dikshit has been watching the action closely

The Delhi quick's career, so far, has been a rollercoaster. An early look-in in the big leagues, only to fall by the wayside thereafter. He remains in the fringes but has made a promise to himself: to not compromise or sacrifice on his pace. Here's more from young Saini, who chatted with Himanshu Agrawal recently.

Of all 16 games, we now have 14 games underway.

The two games which have not started is the South Indian clash between Karnataka and Kerala, where a wet outfield has delayed toss. The same situation also is present at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where the Bengal v Bihar fixture is yet to get underway.

In Group B, underdogs Puducherry have made a roaring start against Vidarbha (scorecard here).

Inside five overs, Puducherry's new-ball bowlers have accounted for three Vidarbha wickets leaving the former champions reeling at 9/3.

Gaurav Yadav first removed Atharva Taide in the opening over. Aman Mokhade was then caught behind off Sagar Udeshi's bowling in the second over. And Gaurav struck again in the third over by getting Karun Nair caught. All eyes on Dhruv Shorey and Yash Rathod. Can they create a recovery?

Delhi v Tamil Nadu used to be one of the marquee fixtures of the domestic cricket calendar for nearly half a century till other teams climbed up the rivalry rankings with their strong performances in the 2000s. By the grace of the draws and groupings, it is a regular fixture in the Ranji Trophy calendar now with the teams meeting for the third time in the last four years. The last two games were a draw - will we get a winner this time?

BTW, Delhi have handed three debuts, according to Daya Sagar. He says, "Delhi have three debutants - Dhruv Kaushik, Mayank Rawat and Pranav Rajvanshi. Rawat impressed a lot in the Delhi Premier League, while Rajvanshi will replace Anuj Rawat as wicketkeeper, who is going to Oman to play for India A in the Emerging Asia Cup. Apart from this, Ayush Badoni and Hrithik Shokeen are also unavailable due to the Emerging Asia Cup, while fast bowler Simarjeet Singh is injured. Washington Sundar has joined Tamil Nadu after his national team duties in the T20I series."

Vishal Dikshit is following the Mumbai-Maharashtra encounter: "Mumbai have two early breakthroughs in their first home fixture! Shardul Thakur is the man who first got the big wicket of Maharashtra captain Ruturaj Gaikwad for a two-ball duck, having him caught at point in the first over. Gaikwad had scored 86 in the first game against J&K and would have wanted another big score before the shadow A tour and main tour of Australia. Thakur then traps Sachin Dhas lbw first ball and Maharashtra are 3 for 2."

Like team India, a bad toss to win for Maharashtra? Also wonder what Gaikwad has been thinking. He batted at No. 4 in the last game but opened today.

Kerala, looking to make an impression this season after winning only one game in seven outings last season, have selected Sanju Samson for their game against Karnataka. Kerala won their opening game against Punjab comfortably and will look to carry the momentum under Sachin Baby's captaincy.

The other big name to turn up in round 2 is Mumbai's Suryakumar Yadav. He was named in the team sheet for Mumbai's game against the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Maharashtra side. Mumbai have not beaten Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy in their last four head-to-heads, with their previous win in this derby encounter going back to 2007!