Rajkot, Feb 25 (PTI) Shubham Sharma’s stroke-filled 111 coupled with Akshat Raghuwanshi’s 100 firmly put Madhya Pradesh in a commanding position against Meghalaya on the second day of their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy game here on Friday.
After bundling out Meghalaya for a meagre 61, MP posted a mammoth 499 for 6 declared in their first essay, courtesy hundreds by inform Shubham Sharma, Raghuwanshi at the Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium ground ‘C’.
Experienced campaigner Rajat Patidar and Yash Dubey also chipped in by scoring 86 and unbeaten 85 respectively.
MP resumed from their overnight score of 141 for 2 and Sharma, who played a vital role in the team’s win over Gujarat in the lung-opener, hammered a listless Meghalaya attack, striking 15 boundaries in his 169-ball knock.
Patidar played perfect second fiddle, even as he struck 12 boundaries and forged a 131-run stand for the third wicket.
But then Aryan dismissed Sharma to peg back MP.
Patidar also missed a deserving hundred, as he was removed by Akash Kumar, leaving MP at 297 for 4.
Skipper Aditya Srivastava (42; 4×4) also played his part to perfection.
But there was more agony in store for Meghalaya as then Raghuwanshi and Yash Dubey joined forces and took on the opposition attack with gusto.
While Raghuwanshi hit 12 fours and a maximum, Dubey in his unbeaten knock struck 10 boundaries and two sixes. The duo conjured a staggering 160-run stand for the sixth wicket.
After Raghuwanshi departed, the MP skipper declared the innings, as the central team had a sizable first innings lead.
In the second essay, Meghalaya was 16 for 0 when stumps were drawn and the north eastern side now has a tough task at hand of saving the game or even settling for a draw.
Brief Scores: Meghalaya 61 all out (W Nongkhlaw 19, Kishan Lyngdoh 11; Gaurav Yadav 5/11, Kumar Kartikeya 2/6) and 16/0 versus Madhya Pradesh 499/6 declared (Shubham Sharma 111, Akshat Raghuwanshi 100, Rajat Patidar 86, Akash Kumar 2/77, Aryan Bora 2/124). Meghalaya trail by 422 runs.
Gujarat 388 (Het Patel 185, Karan Patel 120; Nidheesh MD 5/54, Basil Thampi 4/118) versus Kerala 277/4 (Rohan Kunnummal 129, Sachin Baby 53; Siddharth Desai 2/86, Roosh Kalaria 1/42). Kerala trail by 111 runs.
