Mumbai takes upper hand on day two

In reply to Mumbai's mammoth 501 for nine declared, Odisha were left reeling at 79 for three at stumps on day two.

Update: 2013-12-15 19:06 GMT

Mumbai: Mumbai's Hiken Shah slammed a career best 170 before the team's bowlers ruffled Odisha's top order on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group A clash at the Wankhede Stadium here today.

In reply to Mumbai's mammoth 501 for nine declared, the visitors were straightaway pushed on to the back foot by the pacers to be left reeling at 79 for three at stumps on day two.

After pacer Javed Khan dismissed opener Girjia Rout (4) and Niranjan Behera (0) to reduce Odisha to 16 for two in seven overs, the visitors found themselves in a deeper hole at 36 for three in the 13th over when Govind Podder (2) was caught behind by Shardul Thakur, while skipper Biplab Samantray retired hurt two balls later after being hit on the head by a beamer.

Opener Natraj Behera (45) and Abhilash Mallick (28) were at the crease at the close of play, having put on an unbroken 43-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Odisha are still trailing Mumbai by 422 runs.

Earlier in the day, Mumbai lost overnight batsman in captain Jaffer, who added only 18 runs to his last night's score of 125. Jaffer had stitched a 222-run stand with Shah for the third wicket before being dismissed by Deepak Behera.

Shah, resuming on 67 in a team total of 242 for two, showed intent as he slammed his career-best 170 and carted the Odisha bowlers for 13 additional fours and three sixes before being trapped leg before by left arm spinner Dhiraj Singh in the third over after lunch.

His 391-minute vigil yielded 21 fours and three sixes, and he also put on two vital partnerships, first with skipper Jaffer and then Suryakumar Yadav (28), with whom he shared a 99-run stand while scoring a lion's share.Odisha did well in the second session to wrest back some momentum by picking up four wickets, including Shah and debutant 42-year-old leg spinner Pravin Tambe.

Tambe hit a boundary off his first ball to get off the mark and made 18 that included four hits to the fence.

The Mumbai lower order also chipped in with some runs, and Javed Khan made a breezy 36 off 28 balls that included six fours and a six.

The holders started losing wickets in a clutch and skipper Jaffer declared the innings 16 minutes after tea.

Odisha spinner Dhiraj Singh came up with an improved performance today after being targeted by Jaffer and Shah yesterday.

Singh scalped three wickets and conceded 117 runs in his 25 overs after finishing with figures of 9-0-57-0 yesterday.

Fast bowler Basant Mohanty bowled 45 overs and grabbed three wickets while giving away 73 runs. Suryakant Pradhan and Deepak Behera picked up wicket a piece.

Brief scores:

Mumbai 501 for nine dec (Wasim Jaffer 143, Hiken Shah 170; Basant Mohanty 3/73, Dhiraj Singh 3/117).

Odisha: 79 for three (Natraj Behera not out 45; Javed Khan 2/07).

Despite his team being placed in a precarious position at 79 for three and trailing Mumbai by 422, Odisha captain Biplab Samatray exuded confidence of gaining a first innings lead.

"Though we lost some quick wickets, I still think we can chase this down because the remaining batsmen are all stroke makers and if they can spend some time on the wicket they can score runs," he told reporters after the end of the second day's play.

"Natraj (Behera) and Abhilash (Mallick) played very well and if they can continue in the same way it would be good for us. We lost a few wickets but still there are three or four guys on whom we can rely. Myself, Deepak (Behera), Sujit (Lenka), and am still confident that we can chase this down," he added.

Samatray retired hurt on a nought after the ball ricocheted from the helmet to hit his neck.

"It is better now. Because of the impact there is a bit of a swelling. It came from the helmet. First it hit the helmet and then the back of the neck," he said.

Asked about pacer Basant Mohanty being overloaded with 45 overs in the first innings, Samatray said, "He was the only bowler bowling in right areas and all the other bowlers including me were going for runs so he had to do something special."

Meanwhile, Mumbai pacer Javed Khan, who picked up two wickets today, said he followed recently retired batting legend Sachin Tendulkar and Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan's advice to shorten his run-up.

"Paaji (Tendulkar) and Zaheer both helped me. After the first match both told me to shorten the run-up and said 'you would get a lot of control in your bowling and you can consistently bowl in right areas'. I did that. When I didn't play against Vidarbha, I worked on it," Javed said.

"I worked on my rhythm and shortened my run up. It is helping me. I am trying to maintain a good rhythm," he added.

Sehwag scores 56 as Delhi batsmen make merry vs Vidarbha

New Delhi: Virender Sehwag finally got some runs under his belt scoring a fluent half-century as Delhi batsmen led by Mithun Manhas made a mockery of a below-par Vidarbha attack to remain on course for a comprehensive innings victory in a Ranji Trophy encounter here today.

Veteran Manhas (100) struck his 25th first-class century, while Sehwag hit some of his vintage shots during his 72-ball-56 as Delhi scored 448 for nine at stumps taking an overall lead of 360 runs at the end of the second day.

This was Sehwag's first first-class half-century of the season.

The pitch had bounce and lateral movement but it was the difference in class of the Delhi batsmen that was evident during the day.

Even glovesman Rahul Yadav (81, 8x4, 4x6) and Ashish Nehra (57, 5x4, 4x6) made merry with 122-run partnership for the eighth wicket as Vidarbha bowlers had a resigned look at the end of the day.

The duo hit as many as eight sixes between them -- all were clean hits with Nehra scoring his first 50 in senior level cricket.

All eyes were on the Roshnara track today after play was halted for 28 minutes yesterday with BCCI's chief curator Daljeet Singh also arriving to have a look at the proceedings.

But Sehwag and Manhas during their 101-run stand in 18 overs showed how to bat on a track that has grass and the bounce is a bit on the steeper side at times.

A backfoot punch off Amol Jungade, a late cut after walking down the pitch off Sandeep Sharma and some signature smoking cover drives off Ravi Thakur would certainly increase Sehwag's confidence.

A Shrikant Wagh yorker was dug out effortlessly as the ball raced to the mid-wicket fence while a forward defensive punch through mid-on brought up his 50 off 62 balls with nine fours.Manhas, on the other hand, brought up his third century of the season with shots all round the wicket. He played the square cut and the cover drive with a lot of flair as he brought up his century with a boundary off Thakur and was dismissed off the very next delivery that kept low.

Sehwag, who had 10 boundaries in his 56, was looking good for a big one before he tried to hoick Faiz Fazal (4/48) out of the ground but skied one for rival captain Shalabh Srivastava to run backwards from his mid-off position to take a catch.

"It wasn't a very easy wicket to bat on but we didn't leave out any loose deliveries as we have played shots all around the wicket. There was bounce and movement but you can play your shots on this kind of track once you get set," Manhas told reporters after the end of the day's play.

He is again the top scorer for Delhi this season with 519 runs so far but for Manhas, it is just a job that he is doing.

"Motivation is never a factor for me. Just like you guys (journalists) have a job to report, my job is to score runs when I go out there. It's what I am assigned to do. Well, if I don't want to do it, then someone else will come in my place and do the job for the team," the old warhorse commented.

Brief Scores:

Vidarbha 88.

Delhi: 448 for 9 (Mithun Manhas 100, Virender Sehwag 56, Gautam Gambhir 49, Rahul Yadav 81, Ashish Nehra 57).

Haryana post 573 for six decl against Gujarat

Ahmedabad: Sunny Singh struck a double hundred, while two other batsmen notched up centuries each to enable Haryana raise a mammoth 573 for six declared on the second day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match against Gujarat here today.

In reply to Haryana's massive first innings total, Gujarat were 27 for one at stumps with opener Samit Gohel unbeaten on 13 and Rush Kalaria on seven.

Earlier in the day, resuming on 266 for two, Haryana rode on Sunny's epic knock -- a 381-ball 201 -- apart from centuries by Sachin Rana (102) and Nitin Saini (106) to put Mumbai in the driver's seat.

While Sunny resumed on 139, Rana took the crease at 51 not out. The two overnight batsmen simply dominated the proceedings as they put on a solid 194-run stand for the third wicket.

It took Gujarat 29 overs before they could taste success, with Rana departing after hitting his sixth first-class ton. His innings came off 200 balls with 14 boundaries.

Sunny followed 11 overs later, soon after getting to 201 that came from 318 deliveries with 26 fours and two sixes, with Kalaria picking up his wicket. Kalaria then dismissed Yatharth Tomar in the next ball to be on a hat-trick.

Nitin Saini, however, coupled with Amit Mishra (61) to produce a 166-run stand for the sixth wicket.

After declaration, Haryana bowler Harshal Patel removed opener Priyank Panchal for a duck in the second over.

Brief scores:

Haryana: 573 for 6 decl (Sunny Singh 201, Nitin Saini not out 106, Sachin Rana 102;

Gujarat: 27 for one (Samit Gohel batting 13).

Mistry's 118 help Baroda take 1st innings lead over Services

Vadodara: A fine knock of 118 runs by Dhiren Mistry helped Baroda grab a vital first inning lead of 178 runs over Services in their Ranji Trophy Group B match at the Reliance ground here today.

Mistry, who made Ranji debut this season, today made his second century, which was studded with 21 boundaries off 227 balls. The opener was in the crease for 79.2 overs out of the total 106.2 overs that Baroda batted in their first innings.

It was a good delivery from Nishan Singh that saw Mistry back into the pavillion after being caught by Yashpal Singh with Baroda at 256 runs.

M Y Vahora too contibuted with a 46-run innings down the order as Baroda made 369 runs in reply to Services first inning total of 191 runs.

At the close of second day's play, Services were 2 for one in their second innings with opener Anshul Gupta (0) yet to open his account after the dismissal of Pratik Desai on the last delivery of the day.

Resuming at 62 for no loss, Baroda lost their first wicket at a total of 92 runs when S P Wakaskar (38) was bowled by Shadab Nazar.

Aditya Waghmode (29), Kedar Devdhar (33), Irfan Pathan (22) and skipper Yusuf Pathan (31) all got starts but they could not convert them into big scores.

Pinal Shah (2) and Gagandeep Singh (1) then got out cheaply but Vahora, who was included in the team as a bowler, hit six fours and one six to take Baroda across the 350-mark.

Brief score:

Services: 191 & 2/1 (Pratik Desai 2, Munaf Patel 1/2)

Baroda: 369 runs all out in 106.2 overs (D M Mistry 118, R R Kanojia 3/76, Shadab Nazar 3/107).

Brilliant Shukla keeps Bengal in hunt for outright win

Kolkata: Bengal captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla again showed why he is head and shoulders above his teammates as a superb century that helped Bengal take first innings lead as well as eye for their maiden outright win of the season.

Riding on Shukla's superlative 117 off 119 deliveries with 16 fours and three sixes, Bengal scored 284 in their first innings to take a 72-run lead. The hosts then pegged UP back to 50 for three with Ashoke Dinda taking two wickets including one that saw Mohammed Kaif's stumps go for a walk.

UP are 22 runs behind and have seven wickets in hand.

Resuming the day at 26 for two, Bengal were reduced to 50 for four this morning in reply to UP's 212 but the skipper arrival once again turned it around for Bengal.

Continuing his purple patch, Shukla counter-attacked the UP bowlers to give Bengal a crucial 72-run first innings lead.

For the Bengal skipper, it was his second century this season, and eighth overall, besides a 95 not out in the previous match against Railways.

India discard Rudra Pratap Singh (five for 77) picked his first five-wicket haul this season but it came pretty late as some sloppy wicketkeeping by Ekalavya Dwivedi almost ruined the chances of UP, who should have lead the table.

Dwivedi dropped Sudip Chatterjee (66) in the first session as the rookie left-hander went on to notch his maiden first class half-century in a rollicking 140-run partnership with the skipper.

There was no stopping Shukla who scored with disdain and was at his aggressive best against promising UP pacer Amit Mishra.

There was a further setback for UP as skipper Piyush Chawla could not field again after being hit on his shoulder by a Shukla straight drive in the very first ball that the leg-spinner bowled.

"I had decided to put the pressure back on them. It was my day," Shukla said after the second day's proceedings.

Showering praise on the young Chatterjee, Shukla further said: "It was not easy to bat on the green top but Sudeep did well and gave me an excellent support. It all depends how soon we get them out and bat in our second innings," the captain added.

When UP batted, Dinda had Digvijay Singh caught behind before rattling Mohammad Kaif's stumps with a brilliant inswinger to dismiss the former India batsman for a duck.

In the next over, Sourav Sarkar castled night-watchman Mishra for another duck as Bengal ended the day with a lot of optimism.

Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 1st Innings 212 and 2nd Innings 50/3 in 17 overs (Dinda 2/36).

Bengal 1st Innings 284 in 71 overs (Laxmi Ratan Shukla 117, Sudip Chatterjee 66; RP Singh 5/77).

Delhi games likely at Kotla, Daljeet comes for Roshanara recee

Delhi games likely at Kotla, Daljeet comes for Roshanara recee

New Delhi: The Sports Committee of the DDCA are all set to shift Delhi's final two Ranji Trophy encounters against Punjab and Karnataka respectively at the Feroze Shah Kotla stadium even as BCCI chief curator Daljeet Singh came for a recee of Roshanara ground today.

Although Daljeet refrained from making any comments as per strict BCCI guidelines, it is widely believed that the 28-minute stoppage yesterday might have prompted BCCI to send him to have a look at the strip. With Delhi batsmen on a run-feast, the chief curator won't have much complaints.

But the Sports Committee led by its convenor Dr Ahmed Tameem have already issued a written statement yesterday expressing their displeasure at the matches being not held at Kotla which had won the BCCI award for having the best cricket pitch last season.

The stoppage after a Vidarbha batsman got injured has provided them with a shot in the arm and even Delhi's 448 for nine on the same track hasn't changed their stance which is seen as three-way ego tussle between the team, selectors and newly formed sports committee.

"There is a meeting in two days' time and we would ask the selection committee as to why they have preferred playing at Roshanara when we have an international ground? In all likelihood, the last two home matches will be held at the Kotla," Sports Committee member Anil Passi said on the sidelines of the Delhi versus Vidarbha Ranji Trophy game.

"The decision of the venue is not selection committee or players' prerogative. It is decided by the Sports Committee," Passi said.

It is also widely believed that Navdeep Saini, the 21-year-old pacer, who made his Ranji Trophy debut amidst protests from none other than legendary Bishan Singh Bedi, might see his selection come under scanner.

Navdeep is from Haryana and has not played any cricket in Delhi, but Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir liked him at the nets and blooded him directly in a first-class game.

Brilliant Shukla keeps Bengal in hunt for outright win

Brilliant Shukla keeps Bengal in hunt for outright win