Smaran hits double ton to put Karnataka in driver's seat

Hubli (Karnataka), Nov 17 (PTI) Promising Ravichandran Smaran hit an unbeaten 227 and was being supported well by the lower-order to put Karnataka in the driver's seat on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match against Chandigarh here on Monday.

Resuming at the overnight personal score of 110 with Karnataka at 298 for 5, Smaran stitched crucial partnerships with Shreyas Gopal (62), Vidyadhar Patel (30) and Shikahr Shetty (59) as Karnataka declared at a mammoth 547 for 8 in 160 overs.

Smaran first stitched 141 runs for the sixth wicket Gopal and then shared unconquered 120 with Patel to take Karnataka to the imposing total.

Smaran decorated his 362-ball knock with 16 boundaries and two hits over the fence.

For Chandigarh, medium pacer Jagjit Singh (2/70), off-spinner Vishu Kashyap (2/141) and left-arm spinner Nishunk Birla (2/159) shared six wickets between them.

At stumps on the second day, Chandigarh were struggling at 72 for 4 in reply to Karnataka's mammoth score.

Opener Arjun Azad made 32. At the close of play, skipper Manan Vohra was batting on 14.

Leg-spinner Gopal was the pick of the bowlers for Karnataka with figures of 3 for 18.

Maharashtra enjoy slight upperhand over Punjab ============================== In Chandigarh, Punjab finished the second day at 125 for 4 in reply to Maharashtra's 350 all out.

Punjab still trail Maharashtra by 225 runs with six wickets in hand.

Resuming at the overnight score of 275 for 5, Maharashtra middle and lower order failed to rise to the occasion, managing just 75 runs for the remaining five wickets.

Arshin Kulkarni top-scored for Maharashtra with a 229-ball 133.

Right-arm pacer Gurnoor Brar picked 4 for 115 for Punjab.

Saurashtra post big total against Goa ======================= In Rajkot, Saurashtra rode twin centuries from Prerak Mankad (155) and Sammar Gajjar (116) to post a commanding 587 for 7 declared against Goa.

Besides the duo, Hetvik Kotak remained unbeaten on 50.

For Goa, left-arm spinner Darshan Misal picked up four wickets for 195.

In reply, Goa finished the day at 125 for 2 with Abhinav Tejrana remaining unbeaten on 75 off 88 balls, an innings which included nine boundaries and two sixes.

Giving him company was Lalit Yadav on 23.

Kerala vs Madhya Pradesh match lies even stevens ================================ Madhya Pradesh were 155 for 6 in reply to Kerala's 281 all out at stumps on day two in Indore. Resuming their innings at 246 for 7, Kerala were bundled out for the addition of just 35 runs.

Madhya Pradesh too didn't have the best of the outing with the bat with Saransh Jain holding the fort with an unbeaten 41 and giving him company was Aryan Pandey on 33.

Brief Scores: In Hubli: Karnataka 547 for 8 declared in 160 overs (Ravichandran Smaran 227; Karun Nair 95, Shreyas Gopal 62; Jagjit Singh 2/70) vs Chandigarh 72 for 4 in 17.4 overs (Arjin Azad 32; Shreyas Gopal 3/18).

In New Chandigarh: Maharashtra 350 all out in 113.3 overs (Arshin Kulkarni 133, Prithvi Shaw 74; Gurnoor Brar 4/115).

In Rajkot: Saurashtra 585 for 7 in 150 overs (Prerak Mankad 155, Sammar Gajjar 116; Darshan Misal 4/195) vs Goa 125 for 2 in 30 overs (Abhinav Tejrana 75 batting; Jaydev Unadkat 1/26).

In Indore: Kerala 281 all out in 114.4 overs (Baba Aparajith 98, Abijith Praveen 60; Saransh Jain 3/40) vs Madhya Pradesh 155 for 6 in 61 overs (Saransh Jani 41 batting, Aryan Pandey 33 batting; MD Nidheesh 2/39). PTI SSC SSC AT AT