Ranji Trophy: Stumper Kushagra's Brisk Ton Takes Jharkhand To 356/9 vs Delhi

Promising wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra struck a breezy unbeaten 133 to steer Jharkhand to 356 for 9 on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group D match against Delhi here on Thursday.The 20-year-old Kushagra, who was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 7.2 crores but released early this month after playing just four matches in 2024 IPL, hit 14 boundaries and five sixes during his strokeful 166-ball unbeaten innings.Courtesy Kushagra's aggressive ton, Jharkhand added 220 runs for the loss of six wickets from 70 overs played on Day 2 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The visitors had begun the day at 136 for 3.Sharandeep Singh added just two runs to his overnight 64 to be the first Jharkhand batter to get out.Coming out to bat at the fall of Sharandeep, Kushagra stitched 93 runs for the fifth wicket with captain Virat Singh (56 off 125 balls) to swell the visiting side's total. He then shared another 59 runs with Manishi (14) for the eighth wicket to eventually take Jharkhand past the 350-run mark.With just two days left in the match, Jharkhand have placed themselves in a strong position in the match.For Delhi, Simarjeet Singh, Money Grewal and Sumit Mathur have so far taken two wickets apiece, while Siddhant Sharma and Ayush Badoni got a wicket each.On Day 1 on Wednesday, Sharandeep scored a dogged half-century as Jharkhand batters were painstakingly slow in their approach.They improved their run rate a bit on Thursday -- above three per over.Having lost to Chattisgarh in the last game, Delhi, in their final home game of the season, made wholesale changes under new skipper Ayush Badoni.Brief Scores: In Delhi: Jharkhand 1st Innings 356 for 9 in 125 overs (Sharandeep Singh 64, Kumar Kushagra 133 not out; Simarjeet Singh 2/43, Money Grewal 2/65, Sumit Mathur 2/52) vs Delhi.In Ahmedabad: Railways 229 vs Tamil Nadu 324 for 6 in 93 overs (M Shahrukh Khan 86, Narayan Jagadeesan 56, C Andre Siddarth 78; Shivam Chaudhary 2/51, Kunal Yadav 2/92).In Chandigarh: Saurashtra 531 for 9 declared in 138 overs (Harvik Desai 99, Chirag Jani 198, Sheldon Jackson 69, Arpit Vasavada 58, Prerak Mankad 53; Nishunk Birla 4/160, Vishu Kashyap 3/117) vs Chandigarh 78 for 5 in 23 overs (Arslan Khan 42; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 2/17).In Raipur: Assam 289 all out in 95.2 overs (Denish Das 104, Sumit Ghadigaonkar 61; Ravi Kiran 5/59, Ashish Chouhan 3/71) vs Chattisgarh 214 for 4 in 72 overs (Aayush Pandey 108 not out, Rahul Singh 2/46).

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Ranji Trophy: Stumper Kushagra's Brisk Ton Takes Jharkhand To 356/9 vs Delhi

Courtesy Kushagra's aggressive ton, Jharkhand added 220 runs for the loss of six wickets from 70 overs played on Day 2 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The visitors had begun the day at 136 for 3.

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