CHENNAI: Sanju Samson’s 175 against Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu pacer Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh’s second century against Madhya Pradesh headlined the action for South Zone teams in the Ranji Trophy on Sunday.
Group A: Amit Sinha’s unbeaten 96 and a 75 from six-down Rajjakuddin Ahmed helped Assam eke out a 110-run lead during their follow-on essay against Hyderabad, on the third day in Guwahati. Starting on 36/2, the home team slipped to 6/131 before Sinha and Ahmed combined to cobble together a 120-run stand.
Openers Umang Sharma and Shivam Chaudhary made half-centuries as Uttar Pradesh reached 243/5 against Karnataka. Earlier, the tourists’ first innings ended at 655. While Umang made 89 off 158 balls, Shivam scored a breezy 57 off 87 balls. Karnataka need only one point to make the quarterfinals.
Group B: Sanju Samson continued his good form and struck a 180-ball 175 as Kerala needed another nine wickets on the final day to register an outright win over Saurashtra. At stumps, Saurashtra were 30/1, trailing Kerala by 375 runs.
Group C: Tamil Nadu pacer Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh and Narayan Jagadeesan notched up their respective second Ranji centuries as their team took the first-innings lead against Madhya Pradeshin Indore.
Jagadeesan made 101 before being scalped by pacer Avesh Khan. Mahesh then combined with fellow speedster M Mohammed to forge a 92-run partnership. The home team were 142/1 by stumps. Tamil Nadu need a win to qualify.
In Vadodara, Odisha’s middle-order, led by an unbeaten ton from Subranshu Senapati, pushed their team to 316/5 against Baroda. Seamer Shardul Thakur’s five-wicket haul helped Mumbai bowl out Andhra for 215, before Mumbai batsmen responded strongly to put their team in a commanding position. Shreyas Iyer smashed an unbeaten 75 off 95 as Mumbai were 190/4 when stumps were drawn.
South wrap
Group A: In Guwahati: Assam 136 & 300/7 (f/o) in 98 ovs (RK Das 52, AS Sinha 96 n.o, RK Ahmed 75) vs Hyderabad 326. In Kanpur: Uttar Pradesh 243/5 in 69 ovs (U Sharma 89, S Chaudhary 57, RK Singh 57 n.o) vs Karnataka 655 in 186.1 ovs (Ahmed 6/110).
Group B: In T’puram: Kerala 225 & 441/6 in 92 ovs decl (Samson 175, KB Arun Karthik 81; DA Jadeja 4/153) vs Saurashtra 232 & 30/1 in 15 ovs.
Group C: In Indore: Madhya Pradesh 264 & 142/1 in 40 ovs (RM Patildar 81 n.o) vs Tamil Nadu 326 in 105.4 ovs (N Jagadeesan 101, VY Mahesh 103 n.o; I Pandey 3/67, P Datey 3/55). In Vadodara: Baroda 503 vs Odisha 316/5 in 120 ovs (S Senapati 131 n.o, B Samantray 55). In Ongole: Andhra Pradesh 215 in 77 ovs (GH Vihari 70, R Bhui 69; S Thakur 5/55, D Kulkarni 3/44) vs Mumbai 332 & 190/4 in 41 ovs (S Iyer 75 n.o).