Sai Kishore stars in TN innings win; Sarfaraz’s 154 puts Mumbai in command

R Sai Kishore led from the front with a hat-trick as Tamil Nadu beat Uttarakhand by an innings and 66 runs in their Ranji Trophy clash in Chennai on Tuesday. Bengal and Uttar Pradesh also got wins while Sarfaraz Khan hit a century to put Mumbai in a commanding position against Himachal Pradesh.

Sai Kishore finished with 6 for 34 in Uttarakhand’s second innings as the visitors were bowled out for 113 on the third day. After conceding a 179-run lead in the first innings, Uttarakhand continued at 9 for one but could not fight back against Tamil Nadu’s spinners.

The Tamil Nadu captain struck three times in consecutive deliveries, dismissing Lakshya Raichandani for 19 before sending Saurabh Rawat and Aditya Rawat for ducks. Dega Nischal scored with 25 off 61 balls, but the rest of the batting line-up had little answer to Sai Kishore.

The left-arm spinner finished with figures of 10 for 74 while Ajith Ram took the remaining four wickets in the second innings. Tamil Nadu posted 313 in their first innings before bowling out Uttarakhand for 134 and then 113.

BENGAL, UP ALSO GUARANTEED WINS

Bengal beat Services by 60 runswith spinners Pradipta Pramanik and Shahbaz Ahmed doing the damage. Pramanik returned figures of 4 for 48 while Shahbaz took three wickets in 44 runs to close out the contest.

Uttar Pradesh beat Goa by 68 runs after Yash Kasvankar took his second five-wicket haul of the match. UP were bowled out for 197 in their second innings, setting Goa a target of 235. Kartik Yadav then claimed five wickets to keep Goa ahead of the target.

Assam beat Tripura by nine wickets, though not before Tripura captain Manisankar Murasingh produced a brilliant counter-attack. Tripura were struggling at 54 for five when Murasingh took charge, smashing 161 off 160 balls to help his team avoid an innings defeat. His effort forced Assam to bat again but the visitors chased down the target comfortably.

Sikkim scored a sensational innings and 328 runs over Arunachal Pradesh. Gurinder Singh made 146 as Sikkim declared 572 for five before Satyajeet Bachhav’s 5 for 27 bowled out Arunachal Pradesh for 123 in their second innings.

Baroda also registered a 10-wicket win over Bihar. Bhargav Bhatt’s 6 for 53 triggered the collapse as Bihar slipped from 203 for 2 to 251, leaving Baroda with just two runs to chase.

Punjab had Harpreet Brar to thank for their strong stand against Chhattisgarh. The left-arm spinner returned career-best figures of 7 for 56 to help Punjab push for the follow-on. Chhattisgarh batsman Amandeep Khare fought hard with 91 but his knock could not prevent his side from being asked to bat again.

SARFARAZ 154 HAS MUMBAI IN CONTROL

Sarfaraz Khan continued his strong run with the bat, scoring 154 off 228 balls to help Mumbai declare 528 for eight against Himachal Pradesh. The Indian batter hit 19 fours and put together two important partnerships to put Mumbai firmly on top.

Sarfaraz added 68 runs with Siddhesh Lad making 87 before joining Akash Anand to put on 210 runs. Anand made the most of the partnership and scored 117 off 239 balls, including 14 fours.

Himachal Pradesh ended the third day on 144 for three, still trailing by 384 runs with one day of play remaining. Pukhraj Mann was unbeaten on 38 while Vaibhav Kalita was on 21.

GAIKWAD STO HELPS MAHARASHTRA

Ruturaj Gaikwad made an immediate impact in his first batting appearance of the Ranji Trophy season, scoring an unbeaten 101 at No.7 for Maharashtra. Ankit Bawne was not out on 169 as Maharashtra built a 358-run lead.

Hyderabad’s K Himateja hit an unbeaten 123 to help Andhra set a target of 398, with Tanay Thyagarajan adding an unbeaten half-century.

Manan Hingraj’s century helped Gujarat fight back against Delhi, with Jaymeet Patel contributing 72. Saurashtra got ahead of Karnataka in a tight first-innings lead thanks to Samar Gajjar (79) and Arpit Vasavada (65). Parth Bhut and Jaydev Unadwick give Sauettrash the edge.

Railways reached 305 for six in reply to Rajasthan’s 497 with Bhargav Merai making 73, Eshaan Goyal 64 and Ravi Singh adding 53.

Sedezhalie Rupero also bowled patiently and remained unbeaten on 108 off 297 balls against Mizoram as Nagaland struggled to secure a first-innings lead.

– The end