Ranji Trophy: Herwadkar scores ton in Mumbai fightback; Karnataka edge closer to win

Opener Akhil Herwadkar struck his maiden first-class century to take Mumbai to 376 for seven in their second innings at stumps on the third day of their quarterfinal match of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament today. Herwadkar made 161 off 272 balls with the help of 25 boundaries and three sixes, while Shreyas Iyer scored 82 off 124 balls (8x4s, 2/6s) to hand Mumbai 366 runs overall lead with three wickets and two full days’ play remaining. Siddesh Lad (41) was the not out batsman at the crease when stumps were drawn. [caption id=“attachment_2107269” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Lokesh Rahul after his fifty against Assam. PTI[/caption] Manan Sharma was the pick of the bowlers for Delhi in Mumbai’s second essay picking up four wickets for 89 runs. Earlier, Delhi took the vital first innings lead yesterday. Replying to Mumbai’s paltry 156, Delhi to witnessed a batting slump but just somehow managed to overwhelm the opposition score before being bowled out for 166 in 54 overs. Veteran Virender Sehwag top-scored for Delhi with a fulent 49 before being run out. Pacer Shardul Thakur scalped five wickets for Mumbai giving away 54 runs. Brief Scores: Mumbai: 156 and 376/7 in 119.4 overs (Aditya Tare 23, Akhil Herwadkar 52 no out; Pradeep Sangwan 1-16). Delhi: 166 in 54 overs (Virender Sehwag 49, Shivam Sharma 30; Shardul Thakur 5-54). KARNATAKA vs ASSAM Karnataka stamped their authority on the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal being held here by cleaning up Assam for 185 before taking a 404-run lead at stumps on day three of the cricket match at Holkar Stadium. Assam, resuming their first innings at 58 for three, folded up for 185 with Gokul Sharma (58) scoring the lone fifty. At 168 from 4, it seemed Assam will get closer to Karnataka’s 452 but they lost their last six wickets for 17 runs. Defending champions Karnataka were 137 for two at close of play with Ravikumar Samarth (54*) and Robin Uthappa (6*) at the crease. Opener Lokesh Rahul made 73. Brief scores: Karnataka 452 and 137/2 (Lokesh Rahul 73, R Samarth 54 batting). Assam 185 (Gokul Sharma 58; Vinay Kumar 2/48, Abhimanyu Mithun 2/43, Sreenath Aravind 3/36, Shreyas Gopal 3/41). PTI