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Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Samson hits third ton in a row, Kerala set Saurashtra 405 target

Sanju Samson celebrates his hundred Associated Press

Sanju Samson's 175 - his third hundred in a row - was instrumental in Kerala declaring their second innings on 411 for 6 and setting Saurashtra a target of 405 on the final day in Thiruvananthapuram. Should Kerala manage to bowl out the visitors on Monday, they will have 24 points against current table-toppers Saurashtra, who have 23.

Resuming on 69 for 1, Jalaj Saxena and Rohan Prem set the tone for Kerala with 44 each before Samson took over. Along with KB Arun Karthik (81), he added 214 runs for the fourth wicket. Samson's 180-ball knock included 16 fours and eight sixes. Dharmendrasinh Jadeja claimed four victims to finish with ten wickets in the match. Saurashtra lost opener Avi Barot early in their chase, going into stumps at 30 for 1.

In Surat, Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel led from the front with a 172-ball 173 to take his team's total to 601 for 4 before declaring the innings against Rajasthan. Faced with an enormous 448-run first-innings deficit, Rajasthan batted a lot more assuredly in their second innings to go to stumps on 183 for 4.

Despite losing opener Amitkumar Gautam early, Rajasthan, powered by half-centuries from brothers Chetan Bist and Robin Bist - didn't endure too much panic. Chetan (54) and Robin (81) added 115 for the second wicket before the former was dismissed by left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai at the stroke of tea. Rajasthan would've finished the day in a better position, if it weren't for the two late wickets they lost in the last five overs.

In the morning, resuming on 450 for 3, Gujarat galloped towards an even bigger total thanks to Parthiv, who continued to bat at a brisk pace. He raised 105 runs for the fourth wicket in the company of Manprit Juneja, who brought up his runs in a flurry as well to finish with an unbeaten 83 off 100 balls.

Elsewhere, Haryana managed a slender first-innings lead after bowling Jammu & Kashmir out in the morning for 176, but slumped to 161 for 9 in their second innings in Rohtak. In the morning, resuming on 175 for 7, J&K lost their last three wickets for only one run as seamers Ashish Hooda and Ajit Chahal finished with three wickets each.

With a lead of eight runs, Haryana started their second innings well but suffered a collapse as they went from 63 for 1 to 64 for 4, with seamer Ram Dayal accounting for two of the three wickets. Soon after, Dayal, who finished with his second five-for of the match, also dismissed Guntashveer Singh to leave Haryana reeling on 74 for 5. A 54-run partnership between Rajat Paliwal and Rohit Sharma stabilised Haryana momenarily, but the dismissals of Rohit and captain Amit Mishra in quick succession set them back again. Haryana now lead by 169 runs in this low-scoring clash whose final day looks set to produce a result.

Rajasthan 3rd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st9CD BistAV Gautam
2nd115R BistCD Bist
3rd57R BistAR Gupta
4th1AR GuptaShubham Sharma
5th11AR GuptaMK Lomror
6th72R BishnoiMK Lomror
7th17MK LomrorSS Dobal
8th54SS DobalTajinder Singh
9th5Pankaj SinghTajinder Singh
10th0TM Ul-HaqTajinder Singh

Ranji Trophy

Group A
TeamMWLDPTNRR
KNTKA6402320.479
DELHI6303270.333
MAHA6221160.084
HYD621116-0.156
RLYS623114-0.312
UP603250.508
ASSAM60422-0.977
Group B
TeamMWLDPTNRR
GUJ6501340.097
KER6510310.636
SAU6312260.245
J + K61419-0.077
HRYNA61419-0.506
JHK61418-0.049
RAJ60246-0.294
Group C
TeamMWLDPTNRR
MP631221-0.116
MUM6204210.228
AP6105190.326
BRODA6114160.508
TN601511-0.112
ODSA60246-0.648
TPURA60244-0.426
Group D
TeamMWLDPTNRR
VIDAR6402310.358
BENG6213230.367
PNJB6222180.609
HP6114140.3
CGR613213-0.514
SVCS612310-0.273
GOA60246-0.7