Shreyas Iyer’s incredible form continued as he smashed a brilliant 233, helping Mumbai reach a massive 602/4 declared in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match against Odisha on Thursday.
This was Iyer’s second straight century in the tournament, marking his highest-ever first-class score. He scored rapidly, striking at nearly 103, dominating Odisha’s bowlers all around the field.
Siddhesh Lad, making a strong comeback, also played a remarkable knock of 169 not out, hitting 17 fours in his patient 337-ball stay. Together, Iyer and Lad put up a record-breaking 354-run partnership for the fourth wicket, giving Mumbai a commanding position in their quest for a 43rd Ranji Trophy title.
Home spinners Shams Mulani (2/52) and Himanshu Singh (2/22) then provided crucial breakthroughs to reduce the visitors to 146 for five.
Odisha are still trailing by another 456 runs in the first essay and have Sandeep Pattanaik (73 not out) and Debabrata Pradhan (7) at the crease.
Shardul Thakur provided an early breakthrough when he cleaned up the Odisha opener Swastik Samal for a seven-ball duck.
Odisha recovered strongly as Anurag Sarangi and Pattanaik put on 107 for the second wicket until the former was cleaned up by lanky spinner Himanshu Singh.
Soon after, Mulani had Odisha skipper Govinda Poddar (0) caught behind and Himanshu had Biplab Samantaray (0) caught by Ajinkya Rahane at first slip.
In Pune, Maharashtra slipped to 185 all-out against Services’ 293 in the first innings as the visitors took a big 108-run lead in the first innings at the MCA Stadium.
Services were 15/0 in second essay, with an overall lead of 123 runs.
After Hitesh Walunj’s five for 103 helped Maharashtra restrict Services, Amit Shukla returned 7/65 as the hosts were bowled out for 185 despite skipper Ankit Bawane’s 73.
At Shillong, visitors Jammu and Kashmir were 16 for one and needed another 59 runs to win after hosts Meghalaya folded for another low score of 195 in the second innings, setting a target of 75 to win.
J&K, who had shot Meghalaya out for a mere 73 in the first innings, made 194 in reply to take a 121-run lead.
At Agartala, hosts Tripura were placed strongly at 192 for one in reply to Baroda’s 235 in the first innings.
Bikram Kumar Das (97) fell short of his century but Jiwanjot Singh (58 not out) and Tejasvi Jaiswal (34 not out) took them to 192 for one, trailing by another 43 runs.
Brief Scores:
At Mumbai: Mumbai 602/4 decl. in 123.5 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 92, Siddhesh Lad 169**, Shreyas Iyer 233, Suryansh Shedge 79*; Biplab Samantaray 2/57) lead Odisha 146/5 in 49 overs (Sandeep Pattanaik 73 not out; Shams Mulani 2/52, Himanshu Singh 2/22) by 456 runs.
At Pune: Services 293 in 110.3 overs (Suraj Vashisht 79, Shubham Rohilla 67, Ravi Chauhan 59, Rajat Paliwal 57; Hitesh Walunj 5/103) & 15/0 in 6 overs lead Maharashtra 185 in 58.5 overs (Ankit Bawane 73; Amit Shukla 7/65) by 123 runs.
At Shillong: Meghalaya 73 & 195 (Arpit Subhas 74; Auqib Nabi 5/60) lead Jammu and Kashmir 194 in 51.4 overs (Abid Mushtaq 37, Aryan 5/42) & 16/1 in 4 overs (Ahmad Banday 5*; Dippu 1/3) by 59 runs.
At Agartala: Baroda 235 in 82.2 overs (Jyotsnil Singh 46, Atit Sheth 78, Mitesh Patel 49; Abhijit Sarkar 5/74, MB Mura Singh 3/46) lead Tripura 192/1 in 51 overs (Bikram kumar Das 97, Jiwanjot Singh 58*, Tejasvi Jaiswal 34*; Bhargav Bhatt 1/47) by 43 runs.
