Himachal and Bengal crush opponents
A round-up for the third day's play of the third-round matches of the Ranji Trophy Plate League
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Scorecard
Himachal Pradesh continued to roll, winning their third straight to stay at the top of Group A. Simply put, Himachal overwhelmed Jammu & Kashmir in Dharamsala. Hundreds from their top three formed a second-innings total of 449 for 1, following which the bowlers dismissed J&K for just 144, giving the home side a whopping 480-run win on day three.
Scorecard
Bengal beat Services by an innings and 226 runs inside three days at Eden Gardens, thereby netting six vital points, including a bonus. Having declared at 442 for 6, Bengal's win came swiftly as Ashok Dinda (4 for 28) and Ranadeb Bose (3 for 34) skittled Services for 109. Bose removed Sumit Tomar, Services' captain, for 1 in the first over of the day, Jasvir Singh in the third, and Yashpal Singh in the fifth, both for ducks.
Scorecard
Rahul Dewan rallied Haryana's march towards victory over Kerala, hitting an unbeaten 254 in just his third first-class match. Haryana racked up a massive 581 for 4, with centuries from Dewan, Sunny Singh and Sumeet Sharma, and Kerala were up against it going into the final day in Palakkad. Dewan and Sunny continued their run of form in this match, adding 256 for the second wicket. Sunny made 124, his sixth century, and Sumeet Sharma weighed in with a breezy 114 from 132 balls, putting on 234. Dewan batted 557 minutes and 416 balls for his effort, which included 28 fours and a pair of sixes. Ten bowlers were used by Kerala, but only two - Tinu Yohannan and Preambhastn Prem - managed wickets. In reply, Kerala's openers batted ten overs to reach 36 for no loss at stumps.
Scorecard
Goa moved in position to notch their second win of the season, reducing Jharkand to 53 for 4 in Margao by stumps on day three. Goa had extended their lead to 299 by making 256 in their second innings - Advait Katkar made a career-best 76 and Shadab Jakati an unbeaten 49 from 61 balls - before Saurabh Bandekar nipped out three Jharkhand wickets. For the visitors, right-arm medium-pacer Sujit Roy (4 for 75) returned the best figures in a disciplined bowling effort. However, Jharkhand will rue a poor first-innings 147 and a bad start to a 300-run chase. Plenty rests on the shoulders of 18-year-old Saurabh Tiwary, batting on 11 from 55 balls.
Scorecard
Tripura came back well on the third day in Agartala, keeping Vidarbha to 203 and knocking off 46 of the 278 needed to win. Vidharbha had taken a 101-run lead by stumps on day two, but Jayanta Debnath and Tushar Saha bowled well to limit the damage. Saha, a slow left-arm spinner, got stuck in early and finished with 4 for 65, taking his match tally to 10 for 116. Medium-pacer Debnath took 4 for 54 and ran through the lower order. There was only one half-century in the innings, a round 50 from Ranjit Paradkar - his second in the game - and Shalabh Shrivastava scored 49. Tripura's openers, Sourav Dubey and Biswajit Dey, overcame first-innings ducks to provide their side a steady start.