Ahmedabad: Young Sarfaraz Khan hit a stroke-filled 275 to propel Mumbai to a mammoth 544/7 and put 41-time champions in a commanding position on the second day of their Elite Group D Ranji Trophy game against defending champions Saurashtra here on Friday.
Sarfaraz, who continued from his overnight score on 121, took the Saurashtra attack to cleaners and hammered 30 boundaries and seven maximum in his 401-ball innings.
The 24-year-old was at his best at the Narendra Modi stadium as he spared no bowler. His senior pro Ajinkya Rahane fell for a patient 129 off 290 balls, but more importantly kept himself in contention for a place in the national team.
Sarfaraz and Rahane, a Test specialist, conjured 252-runs for the fourth wicket and pulled the domestic heavyweights out of trouble after they were 44/3 at one stage.
The day clearly belonged to Sarfaraz, who has been piling runs in first-class cricket for a considerable amount of time.
After experienced wicket-keeper Aditya Tare (22) and all-rounder Shams Mulani (12) fell cheaply, Sarfaraz found an able ally in number eight Tanush Kotian (50 not out; 5×4; 1×6) as the duo added 118 runs for the seventh wicket. Courtesy their partnership, Mumbai breached the 500-run mark.
The pint-sized batter, however, missed a deserving triple hundred and was trapped by Mankad in front of the wicket, but till then the damage had been done.
Saurashtra in reply were 18/0 with both the openers Harvik Desai (6) and Snell Patel (11) holding fort.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 544/7 declared (Sarfaraz Khan 275, Ajinkya Rahane 129; Chirag Jani 2/83, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 2/191) versus Saurashtra 18/0. Saurashtra trail by 526 runs.
Goa 181 and 87/2 (Amogh Desai 42, Abhishek Raut 1/10) versus Odisha 189 (Rajesh Dhuper 71, Abhishek Raut 29; Shubham Ranjane 5/49). Goa lead by 79 runs.
Lalit Yadav’s special hundred puts Delhi in command against TN
Lalit Yadav hammered 10 sixes enroute to his maiden first-class hundred and batted brilliantly with the tail to put Delhi in a strong position against Tamil
Nadu after day two of the Ranji Trophy Group H here on Friday.
Resuming the day at 291 for seven, Delhi ended up getting an imposing first innings score of 452 all out courtesy Yadav’s 177 off 287 balls.
Delhi also got two crucial wickets before stumps, leaving Tamil Nadu at 75 for two and trailing by 377 runs.
If the opening day belonged to India U-19 star Yash Dhull, Friday was all about Yadav who batted fearlessly in his entertaining innings. Besides 10 sixes, he smashed 17 fours.
His knock was not all about brutal hitting. The 25-year-old shielded the tail including Simarjeet Singh (19 off 57), Vikash Mishra (7 off 58) and Kuldip Yadav (9 not out off 37) to ensure Delhi score beyond 450.
Yadav, who is rated highly by Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting, carried his impressive white-ball form in domestic cricket to play the best innings of his 12-match old first-class career.
His collected boundaries all around the wicket and reached his half-century with a flat six over mid wicket off pacer M Mohammed before getting to three figures with consecutive straight sixes off spinner R Sai Kishore. He even got to his 150 with a boundary.
His memorable innings ended when he edged an attempted drive to first slip off Sai Kishore and what followed was a standing ovation from his teammates.
Tamil Nadu openers Kaushik Gandhi (37 batting) and Laxmesha Suryaprakash (23) shared a 50-run stand before the latter was dismissed by Kuldip. Vikas Mishra removing Baba Aparajith (0) made it 56 for two.
Brief Scores:
Delhi 452 all out in 141.2 overs (Yash Dhull 113, Jonty Sidhu 71, Lalit Yadav 177; Mohammd Mohammed 4/75) vs Tamil Nadu 75/2 in 30 overs.
