Report

Big wins for Himachal, Kerala

A round-up of the second day's play of Group C matches from the Ranji Trophy

Himachal Pradesh 458 (Dogra 96, Bipul 74, Chauhan 53, Dhawan 50) beat Jammu & Kashmir 178 and 88 (Dhawan 5-51) by an innings and 192 runs
Scorecard
Rishi Dhawan's eighth five-wicket haul put early curtains on Jammu and Kashmir's second innings giving Himachal Pradesh an innings win in Dharamsala. J&K batsmen lasted 22.4 overs on the third morning, losing nine wickets in that period to be bowled out for 88.
Vikramjeet Malik picked up the first wicket of the morning, in the third over of the day, but from there on, Dhawan ripped through the batting order picking up the next four wickets to fall. Three of those batsmen were bowled while the fourth one was lbw. Dhawan then complete his five-for when he had Samiullah Beigh caught by Paras Dogra. J&K innings lasted just two hours and only four batsmen got into double-digit scores.
Himachal's seven points from the game helped them shoot to the top of the table. Himachal now have 16 points while J&K have six.
Kerala 297 and 46 for 1 beat Tripura 140 and 202 (Takawale 81, Shahid 7-45) by nine wickets
Scorecard
Kerala's left-arm spinner CP Shahid fashioned a Tripura collapse with a seven-wicket haul and set up a nine-wicket win in Kannur. The win pushed Kerala to second place in Group C with 12 points.
Tripura had wiped off the 157-run first-innings deficit during a 118-run fourth-wicket stand between Yogesh Takawale and Samrat Singha, but once Shahid broke the partnership, the rest of the batting folded quickly. The last seven wickets fell for 18 runs, with Shahid accounting for five of them.
Kerala batsmen then quickly overhauled the target of 47 runs earning them six points for their first outright win of the season.
Assam 352 for 7 (Jadhav 158, Patel 70) lead Andhra 297 by 55 runs
Scorecard
Dheeraj Jadhav 22nd first-class century helped Assam take lead against Andhra in Anantapur. Assam had lost four wickets for 116, but Jadhav added 179 runs for the fifth wicket with Niraj Patel to pull Assam within two runs of Andhra's first-innings total.
On a slow day during which 236 runs were scored for the loss of three wickets, Jadhav took 356 deliveries to score his 158, hitting 21 fours and a six. Once he was dismissed, Andhra made two more strikes, but were not able to get past a stubborn lower order. With only a day remaining and Assam with only a slender 55-run lead, the game is headed for a draw.
Hyderabad 290 for 4 (Ravi Teja 98, Akshath 86) trail Maharashtra 616 (Jadhav 204, Motwani 107, Khadiwale 107) by 326 runs
Scorecard
Hyderabad's top order put up a strong resistance against the Maharashtra bowling and lost just four wickets on an attritional day in Hyderabad. Akshath Reddy and DB Ravi Teja consumed a lot of deliveries and time in their 137-run stand for the second wicket. However, both batsmen missed out on their respective centuries, with Akshath falling for 86 and Ravi Teja was run out two runs short of the three-figure mark.
Hyderabad lost two quick wickets towards the end of the day but will hope Hanuma Vihari, who was unbeaten on 39, will lead a similar response on the last day.