Jagadeesan ton fuels strong TN response against Saurashtra in Ranji Trophy Elite Group D tie

COIMBATORE: Narayan Jagadeesan’s ton and B Sai Sudharsan’s 82 helped Tamil Nadu reach 278 for three and take a 75-run lead against former champions Saurashtra after second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match here on Saturday.

Jagadeesan cracked 11 fours to make 100 off 165 balls while putting on 172 runs for the first wicket with Sudharsan, who made 82 off 159 balls with eight fours.

A strong start ensured that Tamil Nadu take a first-innings lead at stumps, in response to Saurashtra’s 203.

Pradosh Ranjan Paul (45) and Boopathi Vaishna Kumar (0) were at crease when the stumps were drawn.

In Chandigarh, the hosts were in trouble as Railways set a target of 341 runs for them to win after the second day.

Chandigarh reached 31 for one at stumps needing another 310 runs.

Chandigarh, who had bowled Railways out for 147, folded for a mere 109.

Akash Pandey returned 14-3-38-5 but it was wicketkeeper-batter Upendra Yadav’s sensational 124 in the second innings which helped Railways consolidate their hold on the game.

Opener Vivek Singh scored 54 as Railways were bowled out for 307 in the second innings, setting Chandigarh a massive target.

In another Group D tie at Raipur, Delhi made slow progress to reach 177/4 in reply to Chhattisgarh’s 343 in the first innings, trailing by 166 runs.

Skipper Himmat Singh reached unbeaten 50 off 72 balls with seven fours and a six, while Harsh Tyagi was on six not out.

At Guwahati, hosts Assam crawled to 109 for four in 47 overs and were trailing by 252 runs in the first essay against Jharkhand.

None of the Assam batters was able to convert their starts with opener Parvez Musaraf top scoring with 35.

Brief scores:

At Coimbatore: Saurashtra 203 trail Tamil Nadu 278/3 in 89 overs (B Sai Sudharsan 82, N Jagadeesan 100, Pradosh Ranjan Paul 45 not out; Jaydev Unadkat 2/48) by 75 runs.

At Chandigarh: Railways 142 & 307 in 66.4 overs (Vivek Singh 54, Upendra Yadav 124; Nishunk Birla 4/79) lead Chandigarh 109 & 31/1 in 9 overs (Shivam Bhambri 24 not out; Akash Pandey 1/10) by 310 runs.

At Raipur: Chhattisgarh 343 in 110.5 overs (Ayush Pandey 89, Sanjeet Singh 77 not out, Ajay Mandal 69; Ayush Badoni 4/43) lead Delhi 177/4 in 49 overs (Himmat Singh 50 not out; Ashish Chouhan 2/25) by 166 runs.

At Guwahati: Jharkhand 361 lead Assam 109/4 in 47 overs (Parvez Musaraf 35, Rishav Das 31; Saurabh 2/20) by 252 runs.