MP skittling Andhra for 93 highlights Day 3 of Quarter-finals in Ranji Trophy

Shreyas Gopal scored unbeaten 161 (Source Twitter)

It was another great day in the quarter-final stage of the ongoing Ranji Trophy, which saw teams close in on victory and some gritty individual fight-backs. Let's take a quick view on the action transpired.

Madhya Pradesh’s incredible fightback

Resuming the day on 144 for four, Madhya Pradesh could not bat long and got bowled out for 228, conceding a 151-run deficit in the first innings. Prithvi Raj Yarra was the star with the ball for Andhra, who took five for 26.

However, in the dramatic turn of events, Andhra could only manage a paltry 93 in their second innings and set Madhya Pradesh a target of 245. The Avesh Khan-led attack managed to keep Andhra quiet with the bat since that mammoth partnership between Ricky Bhui and Karan Shinde.  Chasing 245, MP openers Yash Dubey and Himanshu Mantri lead their side past fifty runs in just 15 overs. The defending champions finished with 58 for none at stumps with only 187 runs away from victory.

Punjab takes 128-run lead, Saurashtra digs deep in reply

Resuming with a 24-run lead, Punjab went on to score more than 400 in their first innings, which took their lead to 128. Mandeep Singh, who was unbeaten overnight, helped Punjab get their lead past hundred. Singh scored another half century, but fell 9 short of his second century of the season.

In the second innings, Saurashtra had another poor start as Punjab’s Vinay Choudhary limited them to 60 for four. However, Chirag Jani and skipper Arpit Vasavada started to stitch a partnership and took Saurashtra to the lead without losing any more wickets. The partnership is still unbeaten on 78 at stumps with Saurashtra ending the day with 138 for 4 and a lead of 10.

Jharkhand 7 down as Bengal close in on victory

Bengal continued on their overnight score of 238 for five and went on to score 328 in their first innings. Shahbaz Ahmed, who came to bat when Bengal were just 10 runs ahead, went on to score a brilliant 81 under pressure, taking his side’s lead over 150.

Riding on the 155-run first innings lead, Bengal limited Jharkhand to 21 for four in the second innings. However, Aryaman Sen, Anukul Roy and Virat Singh stitched a couple of fifty runs partnership between them to avoid the innings defeat. Jharkhand finished the day with a 7-run lead and three wickets in hand.

Karnataka in control against Uttarakhand

Shreyas Gopal unbeaten 161 took Karnataka past 600 in their first innings on Day 3. Resuming on 474 for five, Karnataka continued to frustrate Uttarakhand and posted a mammoth 606 with a first innings lead of 490.

Uttarakhand ends the day with 106 for three in their second innings. They are still 384 runs behind and Karnataka will be looking to bowl them out next morning, registering an innings victory.