Srinagar, Mar 5: J&K is staring at another crushing defeat as Railways dominated the third day of the ongoing Ranji Trophy match with both bat and ball at IIT Chemplast, Chennai on Saturday.
Railways went on to earn a first-inning lead of 167 runs and then reduced J&K in the second inning to 145 with six wickets down at the end of the third day’s play. J&K still trail Railway’s first-inning total by 22 runs with only four wickets in hand.
Earlier, the third day’s play started with Railways resuming from an overnight total of 293 runs for the loss of eight wickets. While J&K would have hoped to wrap up the inning quickly, there all plans were dashed as number eight batsman Yuvraj went on to slam a brilliant ton and take Railways total to 426.
Yuvraj formed a 132 run stand with AkashPandey for the ninth wicket. Akaash was the first wicket to fall during the day on a score of 421. He scored 43 runs. Yuvraj followed soon with Railways ending its inning on 426. Yuvraj scored 103 run knock which included 10 boundaries and three sixes. They earned a first-inning lead of 167 runs as J&K had scored only 259 runs in its first inning.
For J&K, AbidMushtaq took five wickets while AuqibNabi took two. ParvezRasool and Umar Nazir took one each.
In the second inning, J&K top order failed completely leaving them on 145 runs for the loss of six wickets. They still trail Railway’s first-inning total by 22 runs. For J&K, Ian Dev is batting on 23 along with AuqibNabi on one. SuryanshRaina got out after scoring 39, Abdul Samad 29, Fazil Rashid 29, Henan Malik 7, QamranIqbal 15 and ParvezRasool on nought. For Railways, ShivamChoudhary took three wickets while Karn Sharma took two.
Earlier J&K in its first inning had scored 259 runs with QamranIqbal top-scoring with 83 while Karn Sharma took a six-wicket haul for Railways.
With full days of play left, Railways would go for an all-out win against J&K on Sunday. With six wickets down, J&K may not be able to show much of a resistance to stall the Railways charge. J&K now are almost out of the tournament, even if they are able to earn a shock draw out of this match.
Score
First Inning
J&K: 259/10 (Qamran 83, Auqib 44, Henan 34, Karn Sharma 6-wkts)
Railways: 426/10: Yuvraj 103, Pratham 75, Shivam 47, AbidMushtaq 5-wkts)
Second Inning
J&K: 145/6 ( Raina 39, Fazil 29, Samad 29, Shivam 3-wkts) trail by 22 runs.