Published: Jan 22, 2017, 03:10 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 22, 2017, 03:16 PM (IST)
Gujarat held their nerves in the second session of Day Three heading for tea with lead of 275 runs, in the ongoing Irani Cup 2016-17 against the Rest of India (ROI). The game that had tilted towards Gujarat with Parthiv Patel and Priyank Panchal’s highest third wicket partnership of 85 runs in this innings, that included 9 fours. Panchal also got to his 13th First-Class fifty off 110 deliveries. But Rest of India (ROI) bowlers found their way through in the final hour of the session breaking the partnership. Siddarth Kaul first got Panchal followed by Shahbaz Nadeem finally getting his first tricky wicket of captain Parthiv. Manpreet Juneja and first innings’ centurion Chirag Gandhi remained unbeaten on 11 and 1 respectively with score reading 143 for 4.
Gujarat were in complete sync the second session with Panchal and Parthiv continuing the flow of runs with back-to-back boundaries off Siraj’s second over post lunch. However, the ball had to be changed twice due to bad shape during the 30th and 32nd over, which provided further opportunity for the ROI bowlers to get quick wickets. But it went in the favour of the batsmen. Gujarat went past the 200-run lead in style with a boundary through covers.
Meanwhile, Panchal got to his fifty with 2 quick runs. It was a moment to cheer for Gujarat as Parthiv and Panchal also added 50-run stand when Gujarat’s score read 99 for 1.
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The ROI pacers had their day out with Pankaj getting the first wicket and Kaul breaking another crucial partnership, who could have posed danger to ROI. Panchal was gone for 73 with Saha diving to his left to grab the catch. The spinners also had something to rejoice about as Ranji Trophy’s leading wicket-taker this season Nadeem, got the big gun Parthiv for 32. However, there was a twist as the wicket of Parthiv was not out. He faced a rough deal with umpire and muttered his way to the pavilions as the ball struck the pads and not the bat.
In the first session, Gujarat wrapped up ROI to 226 with Pankaj remaining unbeaten on 9. Gujarat began their second innings with a lead of 132 on board losing an early wicket of Samit Gohil for 1. Pankaj once again drew the first blood for ROI. Siraj’s last minute heroic, provided ROI a relief breaking another growing partnership dismissing Dhruv Raval for 23.
Brief scores:
Gujarat 143 for 4 (Priyank Panchal 73, Dhruv Raval 23; Pankaj Singh 1 for 28, Mohammed Siraj 1 for 30) & 358 lead Rest of India 226 (Akhil Herwadkar 48, Cheteshwar Pujara 86; Chintan Gaja 4 for 60, Mohit Thadani 2 for 48, Hardik Patel 3 for 79) by 275 runs
