Ranji Trophy 2018-19: Wasim Jaffer's ton puts Vidarbha on top; Jalaj Saxena's century hands Kerala advantage against Bengal

Vidarbha were in the driver’s seat in their contest against Baroda, courtesy three individual tons by Faiz Fazal (151), Wasim Jaffer (153) and Akshay Wadkar (102) on the second day of the Round 3 Ranji Trophy. The trio’s knock rocketed Vidarbha to a massive 529/6 before declaring their innings against their opponent, who were 41 for no loss at stumps in a group A tie. In the process, Jaffer on Wednesday became the first batsman to amass 11,000 runs in Ranji Trophy. The 40-year-old went on to score his 54th first-class hundred. [caption id=“attachment_5597521” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Wasim Jaffer. PTI[/caption] In an Elite Group B encounter, Kerala resumed the second day from 35/1 before being wrapped up for 291 runs in reply to Bengal’s 147. Jalaj Saxena smashed 143 runs for Kerala, while Ishan Porel scalped four wickets for 69 runs for Bengal, who were 5/1 at stumps and trail by 139 runs. In a group C encounter, Rajasthan, who had managed 100 runs in their first innings, bundled out the home side for 152 runs. In their second innings, the visitors were 127/4 to take a 75-run lead over host Jharkhand when stumps were drawn for the second day. On the other hand, Chhattisgarh resumed the day at 222/5 but failed to put up a huge total after being all-out at 300 runs against the Railways in a group A game in Raipur. The Railways still trail by 168 runs after their scorecard read 132/4 when the day ended. In a group B match, Tanmay Agarwal (120) and Telukupalli Ravi Teja (115) guided Hyderabad to post 460 runs before being wrapped up by Delhi at home. The visitors were 21 for no loss when stumps were drawn for the second day. On the other hand, Punjab, who were also in a commanding position on Tuesday, faultered on the second day as the visitors lost six wickets for just 40 runs and were able to post 293 runs vs Madhya Pradesh in a Group B tie in Indore. In reply, Madhya Pradesh were 184-2 when stumps were drawn and still trail by 109 runs against the visitors. In a different group C clash in Guwahati, Odisha managed to put on 240 runs in reply to Assam’s first innings score of 121 runs. Assam again saw a poor show from its batsmen and were reduced to 60/4, and trail by 59 runs, at end of the day. In an another group C tie, Goa rode medium pacer Krishna Das’ impressive figures of 6/75 to bundle out Haryana for 276 runs in Rohtak. However, Goa batsmen failed to grab the opportunity as the visitors were all out for a paltry 177 runs and now trail by 99 runs. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) posted a mammoth 442 runs in their first innings in reply to Tripura’s meagre 124 runs, thanks to opener Ahmed Bandy’s 136 runs. J&K also saw notable contributions from other batsmen and their opponents were 11 for no loss when the day ended, trailing by 307 runs in the group C tie in Srinagar. In another contest in the same group, the Services were bowled out for 260 runs early in the morning against Uttar Pradesh (UP). In reply, UP then reached 265/5 when stumps were drawn for the day. In a group A clash, Saurashtra bundled out Gujarat for 324 runs before reaching 221/3 at stumps and still 103 runs behind. In another group A match, Krishnamurthy Siddharth’s scintillating 161-run knock helped Karnataka post a healthy 400 vs Mumbai, who were 99/2, trailing by 301 runs. In a group B match, M Mohammed’s 4/70 bowled out Andhra for 216 runs against Tamil Nadu, who were 122/3 at stumps, trailing by 94 runs. In a plate group match, Meghalaya wrapped up Nagaland for 106 runs, in reply to their 389 runs. Nagaland, who were asked to follow-on, were 31/0 when the day ended. Meanwhile, Mizoram, who were 34/0 at stumps, trail by 66 runs vs Manipur, which posted 319 runs in reply to former’s 219 runs. With inputs from IANS and PTI