Bharat triple-ton puts Andhra in command

Goa 187 for 8 (D Misal 66, D Vijaykumar 3-54) trail Andhra 548 for 5 Dec (S Bharat 308, M Sriram 144) by 361 runs
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Srikar Bharat became the first wicketkeeper to make a triple ton in the Ranji Trophy, as Andhra added to their overnight score of 408 for 1 to declare on 548 for 5.

Bharat starred in a 333-run partnership for the second wicket with Murumulla Sriram, who made 144 runs off 254 balls, his career best first-class score.

Andhra scored at 4.45 runs per over in an attempt to boost their qualification chances. However, if Himachal Pradesh beat Hyderabad, Andhra will be out whatever their result.

After a 63-run opening stand, Goa's batting fell away as they slumped to 187 for 8 by stumps. Andhra's seamers picked up seven of the eight wickets, with Paidikavla Vijaykumar bagging three wickets and Duvvaurapu Siva Kumar and Cheepurapalli Stephen getting two apiece.

Himachal Pradesh piled on the runs against Hyderabad at Uppal, extending their first-innings score to 511.

Paras Dogra continued his brilliant run with the bat, scoring 137 off 284 balls while captain Bipul Sharma made his career-best first-class score of 176 from 292 balls, striking 18 fours and five sixes. Pragyan Ojha finished with figures of 4 for 159.

HP's first-innings score set them up nicely in their quest for the three points they need to progress to the next round. Hyderabad began their innings on a cautious note as they ended the second day on 36 for no loss in 19 overs.

Kerala 52 for 4 (Pritam 3-22) trail Assam 344 (Jadhav 93, Tarjinder 94, Prem 3-42) by 292 runs
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Assam were bowled out for 344 in their first innings at Tellichery, riding mainly on captain Dheeraj Jadhav's 93 off 230 balls and Tarjinder Singh's 94 off 284, his third fifty of the tournament. For Kerala, offspinner Rohan Prem and legspinner Amit Verma bagged three wickets each.

Kerala made a shaky start to their reply, and ended the day at 52 for 4, with medium-pacer Pritam Das picking up figures of 3 for 22.

Jharkand 387 (Gautam 150, Jaggi 63, Suraj 3-99, Roshan 3-111) lead Services 230 (Sethi 61, Punia 57, Rituraj 3-46) by 157 runs
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Shiv Gautam registered his maiden first-class century to steer Jharkhand to 387 and secure a 157-run lead in Jamshedpur.

Rituraj Singh was the first to depart on the second day when Suraj Yadav had him caught behind for 22 in the 35th over. Two overs later, Suraj removed Saurabh Tiwary, coming off two hundreds in as many games, for a duck.

However, Gautam, who struck 18 fours in his 271-ball 150, added 107 for the fifth wicket with Ishank Jaggi, and 98 for the eighth with Varun Aaron, before being dismissed by Sushmit Singh.

Once Shahbaz Nadeem and Aaron were out in successive deliveries, the innings and the day's play came to an end.

Suraj, who has picked up nine wickets in the last two games, and Roshan Raj collected three wickets apiece.