Ranji round-up

Teetering at 25/2 overnight, Himachal Pradesh found batting form, primarily in the guise of Sangram Singh, who hit a mammoth 190 against Delhi in their Ranji Trophy league match at Bilaspur on Day Three.

Singh and skipper Varinder Sharma, realising the predicament that their side was in, decided that attack was the best form of defence. Both, accordingly, went for their shots. After a 111-run partnership, the captain departed, having made 58.

Sangram Singh, however, found another able supporter in Rajiv Nayyar, who made a tenacious unbeaten 50, giving the in-form batsman as much of the strike as possible. The duo put on 200 runs before Sangram was out for 190 made off 297 balls.

At stumps, Himachal Pradesh were 327/4, with Nayyar and Shakti Singh (7*) at the crease.

Although they conceded a first-innings lead of 91 runs, Services surged back into the game in their second bowling effort, having Haryana at 180/7 by the close of play on Day Three in their Ranji Trophy league match at Faridabad.

The last four wickets in the Services' innings fell for the addition of only 37 runs. S Vidyut and Amit Mishra ended the innings with four wickets each, being the main destroyers of the opposition batting line-up.

Haryana's batting did not fare much better. Wickets tumbled at the top of the order, with Arun Sharma and Sudhakar Ghag taking two and three respectively. Ishan Ganda was the sole substantial contributor to the innings, making 65 before falling with the score on 160.

At stumps, Haryana were 180/7, with Vidyut and Sumit Narwal unbeaten on 16 and 0 respectively. Services, however, are already behind by 271 runs, and it will take a superlative batting effort in their second innings to win this match.

Quickfire knocks from Manish Sharma and Yuvraj Singh enabled Punjab to declare towards the end of Day Three of their Ranji Trophy league match against Jammu and Kashmir at Jammu.

The home side, resuming on 216/7, proceeded to add 67 runs for the loss of the last three wickets. The runs, for an astonishingly large part, were contributed by overnight unbeaten batsman Ashwani Gupta. Gupta added 55 runs to his overnight score of 45 to remain unbeaten on exactly 100 when the innings finally folded.

Punjab brushed off the early loss of Ravneet Ricky to put up a 141-run second-wicket partnership. Manish Sharma (90 off 113 balls) and Yuvraj (87 off 72 balls), however, fell in rapid succession. Only an unbeaten 26 from Gagandeep Singh lower down the order enabled them to declare at a score of 299/9.

Jammu and Kashmir, having just begun their innings, played only two balls before play was called off for the day.