Gujarat put ROI on backfoot

Mumbai, January 21

Cheteshwar Pujara made a fighting 86 but Rest of India (ROI) floundered against Gujarat on Day 2 of the Irani Cup at the Brabourne Stadium.

At stumps, Pankaj Singh (7) and Mohammed Siraj (8) were at the crease with ROI struggling at 206/9, chasing Gujarat’s first innings total of 358. The Ranji Trophy champions were poised to take a handy first innings lead on Day 3.

Pujara, who came in to bat after the fall of opener Abhinav Mukund (8), kept the innings together but the other batsmen failed to support him. The Saurashtra batsman hit nine fours in 156 balls before top-edging a short ball from Ishwar Chaudhary to the wicketkeeper. ROI slumped from 166/3 to 192/9 in 16 overs and lost their last four wickets for the addition of just one run in a sensational collapse. Akhil Herwadkar was the other notable contributor for ROI with 48 runs, laced with one six and seven fours.

For Gujarat, left-arm spinner Hardik Patel got three for 73. Earlier, Gujarat added 58 runs to their overnight total (300/8) before their first innings came to an end. 

Brief scores 

Gujarat: 358 all out (M Juneja 47, C Gandhi 169; Pankaj Singh 4/104, S Kaul 5/86) vs ROI: 206/9 (A Herwadkar 48, C Pujara 86, Pankaj Singh 7*, Mohd Siraj 8*; C Gaja 3/46, Hardik Patel 3/73)

Shikhar, Ishant in Delhi squad for T20 tourney 

New Delhi: Shikhar Dhawan and  Ishant Sharma were picked in the Delhi T20 squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The team will be led by Gautam Gambhir and it features rookie wicketkeeper batsman Arjun Gupta. Rishabh Pant will be on national duty for the T20I series. — PTI