Ranji Trophy: Gurkeerat double ton puts Punjab in command

Gurkeerat Singh struck an unbeaten double century as Punjab produced a power packed batting performance to pile on a massive first innings total of 604/5 (declared) on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match here on Friday.

Gurkeerat was unbeaten on 201, adorning his 207-ball innings with 25 boundaries and five sixes at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium. The other Punjab batsmen also tormented the hapless Railways bowlers, with Uday Kaul (112), Mandeep Singh (109) and Gitansh Khera (102) reaching triple figures.

At stumps, Railways were 14/0 in their first innings, trailing the hosts by 590 runs. Ashish Singh (12) and Saurabh Wakaskar (2) were holding fort at the crease.

Punjab captain Yuvraj Singh however, missed out on the run feast as he could only manage to score 23 before left arm spinner Karn Sharma sent him back to the pavilion with an excellent caught and bowled effort.

Arnab Nandi (1/86), Karn Sahrma (1/115) and Ranjit Mali (1/149) took a wicket each for Railways.

Punjab suffered a setback early in the day when overnight batsman Mandeep was bowled by Mali. But Railways' joy proved to be shortlived as the other Punjab batsmen dug in their heels.

Meanwhile in Rajkot, Ravindra Jadeja was in sizzling form with the ball as Saurashtra gained the upper hand in their Group C clash against Tripura.

Saurashtra resumed the second day on the overnight score of 270/6. But their first innings was soon cut short as the Tripura bowlers quickly wrapped up the lower order with Tushar Saha (4/72) and Abhijit Dey (4/118) ensuring that the hosts were all out for 307.

Jadeja then returned figures of 6/27 as the visitors were all out for 103 in their first innings. Following on, Tripura suffered setbacks early in their second essay as Jadeja (2/4) -- who had scored 97 in Saurashtra's first innings -- claimed another couple of wickets.

Tripura were 11/3 at stumps, trailing the hosts by 193 runs.

In another Group C encounter, Services rode on a brilliant display of pace bowling by Diwesh Pathania to edge close to victory against Jharkhand at the Palam Sports Complex in Delhi.

Pathania clinched seven wickets for 64 runs as Services need only 72 runs in their second innings to win.

Resuming on their overnight score of 131/9, Services tailenders Ponam Poonia (24) and Raushan Raj (22 not out) ensured that the hosts posted 161 in their first innings.

Pathania then spearheaded the Services bowling attack as Jharkhand -- who had capitulated for a meagre 45 in their first innings -- were dismissed for 192 in their second stint.

Surabh Tiwary (56) and Virat Singh (51) were the only Jharkhand batsmen who managed to stand up to the Services bowlers.

At the close of play, Services were 5/0 in their second innings with Anshul Gupta (4 batting) and Soumik Chatterjee (1 batting) in the middle.

Brief Scores:

At Vizianagaram, Andhra 1st innings 213/4 (Ricky Bhui 103, Mohammed Kaif not out 89) vs Mumbai.

At Guwahati, Karnataka 187 and 77/0 (Mayank Agarwal not out 44) vs Assam 194 (Amit Verma 57, Pallav Kumar Das 55; Karun Nair 2/11, R. Vinay Kumar 2/20, Shreyas Gopal 2/43).

At Porvorim, Hyderabad 325 (Hanuma Vihari 82, Akshath Reddy 61; Rituraj Singh 3/74, Shadab Jakati 2/29) vs Goa 47/1.

At Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir 1st innings 330 (Bandeep Singh 82, Waseem Raza 73; Monish Kareparambil 3/63, R.V. Gomez 2/33) vs Kerala 158/2 (V.A. Jagadeesh 69, Rohan Prem not out 67; Ram Dayal 1/32).

At Pune, Haryana 1st innings 335 (Himanshu Rana 157; N.R. Dhumal 3/55, Samad Fallah 3/78) vs Maharashtra 7/0.

At Rajkot, Saurashtra 307 (Sheldon Jackson 97, Ravindra Jadeja 91; T.S. Saha 4/72, Abhijit Dey 4/118) vs Tripura 103 (Ravindra Jadeja 6/27, K.R. Makwana 3/32) and 11/3 (Jadeja 2/4).

At Delhi, Jharkhand 1st innings 45 and 192 (Saurabh Tiwary 56, Virat Singh 51; Dinesh Gurdev Pathania 7/64) vs Services 161 and 5/0.

At Chennai, Tamil Nadu 1st innings 125 and 155 (Baba Aparajith 39; Bhargav Bhatt 6/58) vs Baroda 159 (Yusuf Pathan 41; Rahil Shah 4/38, D.T. Chandrasekar 4/50) and 4/0.

At Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh 1st innings 656/5 (Mohammad Saif 198, Sarfaraz Khan 155, Almas Shaukat 128; Jalaj Saxena 3/190) vs Madhya Pradesh.

At Nagpur, Vidarbha 1st innings 467 (Umesh Yadav 128, Aditya Shanware 119; Basant Mohanty 3/65, Suryakant Pradhan 3/76) vs Odisha 79/2 (Girija Rout 25; R.D. Thakur 1/11).

At Mohali, Punjab 1st innings 604/5 declared (Gurkeerat Mann not out 201, Mandeep Singh 109, Gitansh Khera not out 102) vs Railways 14/0.

At Jaipur, Delhi 1st innings 138 and 176/1 (Unmukt Chand 84, Gautam Gambhir not out 77, N.B. Singh 1/27) vs Team Rajasthan 240 (Deepak Chahar 50, Puneet Yadav 46; Sumit Narwal 3/47, Manan Sharma 3/59).