Rohtak, Jan 30 (IANS) Pacer Akash Deep and left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed picked five wickets each to bowl out Haryana for 100 and put Bengal firmly in control of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match at the Chaudhary Bansi Lal Stadium in Lahli on Friday.
Akash returned with figures of 5-40 off 15 uninterrupted overs, his seventh five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, while Shahbaz picked 5-42, also his seventh five-wicket haul in the format, as Haryana folded inside 32 overs.
The duo’s efforts helped Bengal take a 93-run first-innings lead. In reply, Sudip Gharami (61) and Abhimanyu Easwaran (61 not out) stitched a 109-run stand for the second wicket to take Bengal to 155/3 in 41 overs at stumps on day two and extend the lead to 248 runs.
At the Abhimanyu Cricket Academy in Dehradun, captain Kunal Chandela struck 207 off 297 balls – his maiden double century in first-class cricket as Uttarakhand declared at 460/7 in 120 overs against Assam. Mayank Mishra then picked three wickets to leave Assam struggling at 91/4 and trail Uttarakhand by 369 runs.
At Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium in Agartala, Gujarat posted 352 in their first innings with skipper Manan Hingrajia making 150. Tripura replied strongly by reaching 208/3 at stumps, with India players Hanuma Vihari (40 not out) and Vijay Shankar (51 not out) steadying their innings while Sridam Paul chipped in with 69.
At Palam A Ground in New Delhi, Railways ended day two at 168/6 in 40.4 overs and trail Services, who made 343 in their first innings, by 175 runs. For Railways, Ravi Singh top-scored with 55 while Zubair Ali was unbeaten on 45, while Arjun Sharma was the standout bowler for Services with 3-45 in 11 overs.
–IANS
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