File photo of veteran Indian Test pacer Ishant Sharma.
Ishant Sharma got a wicket in his first spell but never looked incisive in his nine overs as Jharkhand, riding twin centuries from Nazim Siddiqui and Kumar Suraj, put Delhi on the brink of elimination in their group H Ranji Trophy match.
Jharkhand ended the third and penultimate day at 288 for five in 76 overs and, with an overall lead of 315, is all but sure of three points.
They would probably bat another hour on the final day to nullify any remote chance of Delhi chasing the target in just five hours.
If Delhi end with another one point, they would only survive in theory as even a seven-point game (bonus) against Chattisgarh won't allow them to surpass Tamil Nadu.
In the morning, Jonty Sidhu (79) was the fifth victim of left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem when he tried to give him the charge as Delhi were all out for 224, giving Jharkhand an important 27-run lead.
They did come back strongly during the first session, reducing Jharkhand to 67 for four as both Navdeep Saini (13-2-45-1) and Ishant (9-2-29-1) bowled good opening spells in tandem.
However, once right-handed opener Siddiqui (110, 177 balls, 13x4) and the left-handed Suraj (129 batting off 160 balls, 17x4, 3x6) took charge, Delhi were slowly and surely batted out of the game during the second session when left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra (0/74 in 21 overs) looked flat compared to Nadeem.
Siddiqui played the cover drives well while Suraj was a severe square of the wicket with his cuts and pulls.
Ishant bowled two more short spells but never looked in rhythm and, in fact, during his final spell, lost a bit of cool as Suraj treated him with disdain.
Once Delhi went wicket-less at tea, the shoulders started drooping and with Ishant not bowling much with the old ball, Jharkhand batters found other Delhi bowlers easy to negotiate as both off-spinners Lalit Yadav and Nitish Rana looked off-color.
Tamil Nadu look good for full points
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Tamil Nadu reduced Chattisgarh to 257 for eight at stumps after declaring their first innings at 470 for nine.
Chattisgarh still need 64 runs to avoid follow-on with only two wickets in hand. For Chattisgarh, their skipper Harpreet Bhatia played a lone hand with an unbeaten 145 but hardly got any support from the other end.
Left-arm spinner Ravi Srinivasan Sai Kishore (4/48) was the most successful bowler.
An outright win on the final day will take Tamil Nadu to nine points and on top of the table before the final match against Jharkhand, while Chattisgarh need to save the match and remain on top with seven points, having won the first game outright.
Brief Scores
Jharkhand 251 and 288/5 (Nazim Siddqui 110, Kumar Suraj 129 batting, Ishant Sharma 1/29, Navdeep Saini 1/45).
Delhi 224 (Jonty Sidhu 79, Shahbaz Nadeem 5/58).
Tamil Nadu 470/9 decl.
Chattisgarh 257/8 (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 145 batting, R Sai Kishore 4/48).
Karnataka reduce J&K to 190 for 4 to eye outright win; Railways gain lead
Karnataka reduced Jammu & Kashmir to 190 for 4 in the second innings having set them a mammoth 508-run target on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match here on Saturday.
Skipper Ian Dev Singh Chauhan (batting on 65) and Abdul Samad (21 batting) were at the crease with J & K needing a further 318 runs for an unlikely win.
Prasidh Krishna, who had taken six wickets in J & K's first innings, got the first breakthrough for Karnataka with the scalp of Qamran Iqbal (4).
Shreyas Gopal picked up two wickets - Jatin Wadhwan (15) and Shubham Singh Pundir (9) to reduce the opposition to 57 for 3 before Fazil Rashid (65) and Ian Singh fought back with a 79-run stand for the fourth wicket.
After the exit of Rashid, the J & K captain and the highly-rated Abdul Samad put on 63 runs and ensured that there were no further setbacks for the team.
Earlier, resuming at 128 for 2, Karnataka went on the offensive and added 170 runs in 29 overs with Karun Nair adding 71 (not out) to his brilliant knock of 175 in the first innings and K V Siddharth hitting 72.
In the other match in the group, Railways secured the crucial first-innings lead by replying with 525 for 9 at stumps against Pondicherry, which had scored 342.
Arindam Ghosh, who scored a ton in the first match last week, continued his good run, making 100 while Mohammed Saif fell agonisingly short of a ton, being dismissed for 99.
Ghosh and Saif added 146 runs in 276 balls and took the game away from Pondicherry, whose bowlers had kept the Railway's batters in check on Friday.
Brief scores:
Stumps Day 3: Karnataka 302 all out in 103.
1 overs 298 for 3 declared in 71 overs (K V Siddharth 72, Karun Nair 71 not out, R Samarth 62, Abid Mushtaq 3 for 65) vs Jammu and Kashmir 93 all out in 29.
5 overs (Prasidh Krishna 6 for 35) and 190 for four in 59 overs (Fazil Rashid 65 (140b, 8x4, 2x6), Ian Dev Singh Chauhan 65 batting (114b, 8x4, 2x6), Shreyas Gopal three for 90).
Pondicherry 342 vs Railways 525 for nine in 151.
4 overs (Vivek Singh 92, Shivam Chaudhary 51, Arindam Ghosh 100 (193b, 12x4, 2x6), Mohammad Saif 99 (190b, 7x4, 3x6), Upendra Yadav 60 (82b, 9x4, 1x6), Yuvraj Singh 46, Sagar Udeshi three for 144, Pavan Deshpande two for 74).
(Reported by PTI)
