KL Rahul’s fifty, Akash Deep’s fifer headline Ranji Trophy action:Mavi takes seven wickets for Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai’s Siddhesh Lad hits century

KL Rahul’s half-century and Akash Deep’s five-wicket haul were some of the highlights of the second day in the Ranji Trophy’s latest round on 30 January. The race for the quarter-finals have heated up in the Ranji Trophy and the action has also intensified. Only two teams, Mumbai and Bengal have booked their spots in the quarter-finals before this round. KL Rahul stars with half-century against Punjab KL Rahul was the standout performer for Punjab in their Group B match against Karnataka. The right-hander struck 59 runs off 87 balls, which included nine fours. His effort helped Karnataka reach 255/6, 45 short of Punjab’s 309. Mayank Agarwal fell four runs short of a half-century, hitting 46 runs off 64. For Punjab, Harpreet Brar took four wickets. Earlier in the day, Punjab scored 309 runs in their first innings with knocks from Emanjot Singh Chahal (83) and Abhijeet Garg (81). Shivam Mavi’s seven-wicket haul rattles Vidarbha Shivam Mavi produced a fiery bowling performance, picking up seven wickets (7/59) for Uttar Pradesh to bowl Vidarbha out for 237. Coincidentally, Uttar Pradesh were bowled out for 237 in their first innings as well, with Vidarbha captain Harsh Dubey taking six wickets. For Vidarbha, Danish Malewar (80 off 117 balls) and Nachiket Bhute (63 off 85 balls) were the standout performers. At the end of Day 2, Uttar Pradesh were 75/2 with captain Aryan Juyal (35*) and Aaditya Sharma (25*) at the crease. Also read: Mumbai players wear masks in Ranji Trophy clash vs Delhi: Siraj takes four wickets for Hyderabad, MP bowled out for 187 against Maharashtra Akash Deep, Shahbaz Ahmed sizzle for Bengal with five-wicket hauls Akash Deep sizzled for Bengal with a five-wicket haul, bowling out Haryana for just 100 runs in their first innings. Shahbaz Ahmed also took five wickets. For Haryana, opener Yuvraj Singh was the top-scorer with 29 runs. Bengal ended the second day at 155/3, with a massive lead of 248 runs. Captain Abhimanyu Easwaran was unbeaten on 61*, with Sudip Kumar Gharami also hitting the same number of runs. For Haryana, Amit Rana took two wickets while Anshul Kamboj snared one. Kumar Kartikeya bamboozles Maharashtra Kumar Kartikeya took a six-wicket haul that helped Madhya Pradesh bowl out Maharashtra for 179. This was after Madhya Pradesh managed just 187 in their first innings. At the end of Day 2, Madhya Pradesh were at 166/4, leading by 174 runs. For Madhya Pradesh, Venkatesh Iyer scored 60 off as many balls and Shubham Sharma struck 55. Ruturaj Gaikwad was Maharashtra’s best performer in the first innings with 46 runs off 69 balls, hitting four fours and one six. Also read: Virat Kohli’s Instagram account recovered after disappearing for 6 hours: Account with over 274M followers activated; fans flood social media with reactions Siddhesh Lad’s century lifts Mumbai Siddhesh Lad scored an unbeaten century (102*) that helped Mumbai gain a 45-run lead over Delhi in a marquee Group D Ranji Trophy clash. Suved Parkar also hit 53* as Mumbai look to put on a good first innings total and put on a sizeable lead. Musheer Khan also hit 57 runs for Mumbai. For Delhi, Divij Mehra and Money Grewal took two wickets each while Rahul Chaudhary scalped one. Hyderabad ahead against Chhattisgarh Hyderabad have a healthy 132-run lead against Chhattisgarh. Mohammed Siraj’s four-wicket haul helped Hyderabad bowl out Chhattisgarh for 283. Abhirath Reddy (121) and Kodimela Himateja (125*) hit centuries for Hyderabad. Jammu and Kashmir gained a 219-run lead against Himachal Pradesh at the end of Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy. Batting first, Himachal Pradesh had been bowled out for 168 runs with Sunil Kumar taking five wickets (5/55). In response, Jammu and Kashmir are at 387/5 with contributions from Shubham Pundir (165), captain Paras Dogra (52) and Abdul Samad (61). Wicketkeeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan hit an unbeaten 56*.