Mujtaba Yousuf helps J&K seize advantage against Haryana

A six-wicket haul by debutante left-arm medium-pacer Mujtaba Yousuf helped Jammu and Kashmir gain the upperhand against Haryana, despite a fighting ton by Pramod Chandila, on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group C match on Thursday. Replying to J&K's first innings score of 340 all out, Haryana were dismissed for 291 in 89.1 overs to concede a 49-run lead. Resuming at 2 for 1, Haryana slipped to 66 for four as Yousuf (6/49) and Aquib Nabi (2/49) struck to dismiss Ajit Chahal (16), Chaitanya Bishnoi (4) and Y R Sharma (18).

Opener Ankit Kumar (63) and Chandila came together to steady the ship and put on 120 runs for the fifth wicket. The two mixed caution with aggression and defied the J&K attack, playing some superb shots. Left-arm medium-pacer Abid Mushtaq (2/66) broke the stubborn partnership, having trapped Ankit Kumar leg-before wicket for 63. Chandila then found an able partner in wicket-keeper Rohit Sharma, who made 41 (85 balls, 4 fours). The duo forged a 73-run partnership to push the score along. Aquib Nabi got the breakthrough, dismissing Sharma caught by substitute Henan Nazir before Yousuf had Chandila caught by Waseem Raja to end his stay. Yousuf then ran through the lower order, getting the last three wickets including that of captain Harshal Patel (0) to hand the home team the advantage going into day three of the contest.

Brief scores (at end of day 2)

Jammu & Kashmir 340 all out in 87 overs (Shubham Singh Pundir 84, Shubham Kajuria 62, Parvez Rasool 49, Ram Dayal 43; Rahul Tewatia 7/98) vs Haryana 291 all out in 89.1 overs (Pramod Chandilla 119, Ankit Kumar 63, R P Sharma 41; Mujtaba Yousuf 6/49).

At Guwahati: Tripura 497 all out in 117.4 overs (M B Mura Singh 118, AA Sinha 90, Pratyush Singh 63, Milind 53, Harmeet Singh 41; Ranjeet Mali 5/114) vs Assam 162 for 1 in 59 overs (Rishav Das 88 batting, Gokul Sharma 39 batting).  

At Baramati: Maharashtra 207 all out in 49.4 overs (A Palkar 60, V V More 59, N S Shaikh 47; Agrim Tiwari 3/49, Pradeep Chamoli 3/52) and 140 for 2 in 46 overs (Ankit Bawane 50 batting, Swapnil Fulpagar 40 batting) vs Uttarakhand 251 all out in 38 overs (Kamal Singh 101, Saurabh Rawat 49, Vaibhav Bhatt 33; Satyajit Bachhav 4/71).

At Cuttack: Odisha 436 all out in 146.2 overs (Debasish Samantray 156, Biplab Samantaray 74,  Anurag Sarangi 65; Ashish Kumar 6/79) vs Jharkhand 71 for 2 in 24 overs (Kumar Suraj 42 batting).

At Raipur: Chhattisgarh 179 all out in 52.1 overs (Amandeep Khare 97; Raushan Raj 4/53) and 17 for no loss Services 398 all out in 107 overs (Rahul Singh Gahlaut 115, Rajat Paliwal 91; Puneet Datey 5/60).