It required only 48 balls for Delhi’s dashing wicket-keeper batsman to register a century and rewrite record books for the fastest first-class ton by an Indian. Pant, who had smashed 117 in the first innings against Jharkhand, once again took on the bowlers and slammed 135 off just 67 balls, including eight fours and 13 sixes in the Ranji Trophy game at St. Xavier's KCA Cricket Ground, Trivandrum. Pant hit a total of 21 sixes in the match, the second most by a batsman in a first-class game.
In midst of an incredible run, Pant now aggregates 799 runs this season from just 707 balls in seven innings. He has hit 44 sixes and 79 fours and has a phenomenal average of 113.01. The match though ended in a draw with Jharkhand taking a first innings lead.
Assam vs Saurashtra in Kolkata: Saurashtra 153 (Arup Das 7-49) and 81 (Arup 5-21, Krishna Das 4-24) lost to Assam 171 (Arun Karthick 57; Jaydev Unadkat 6-48) and 66/1 by nine wickets.
Assam picked up their first win this season after three losses and once again the duo of Krishna Das and Arup Das was at the fore. The two shared nine wickets between them as Saurashtra was shout out for only 81 runs in 39.5 overs. Arup, who claimed 7/49 in the first innings, picked his second five-for (5/21) in the match while Krishna took four to go with his two wickets in the first innings.
Set a small target of 64 runs, Assam lost opener Rahul Hazarika for eight off Jaydev Unadkat, who had picked six wickets in the first innings and also remained not out on 46. This was Saurashtra’s second loss in four game and they are at the bottom of the table while Assam are sixth.
Delhi vs Jharkhand in Trivandrum: Jharkhand 493 (Ishan Kishan 273; Subodh Bhati 3-80) drew with Delhi 334 (Rishabh Pant 117, Unmukt Chand 109; Sunny Gupta 3-62) and 480-6 (Pant 135; Shahbaz Nadeem 3-185).
The high-scoring game that saw three centuries and one double century ended in a draw with Rishabh Pant taking the honours on the final day. He helped Delhi get one point. Made to follow on, Delhi put up 480 with overnight batsman Dhruv Shorey and Nitish Rana sharing a strong 82-run stand after Unmkut Chand and Shorey had added 109 for the first wicket. Once Rishabh Pant was in the middle, the run-rate shot up as he and Vaibhav Rawal added 93 for the fourth wicket in just 64 balls. Pant was unstoppable and added another 68 for the fifth wicket with Milind Kumar at over six runs per over.
Rishabh was caught behind by Ishan Kishan off Ashish Kumar as Delhi lost their fifth wicket for 375 runs. There was no respite for Jharkhand bowlers as No. 7 Manan Sharma made a patient half-century and remained unbeaten on 53 with Milind on 65 off 114 balls. Jharkhand captain Saurabh Tiwary used as many as nine bowlers in the 126 overs they bowled.
Team Rajasthan vs Odihsa in Patiala: Team Rajasthan 323 (SF Khan 110; Govinda Poddar 3-59) drew with Odisha 172 (Aniket Choudhary 4-46, Pankaj Singh 4-61) and 506-8 dec (Subhransu Senapati 137, Ranjit Singh 116).
After being asked to follow-on, Odisha displayed a superlative batting performance as they posted 506-8 with centuries from Ranjit Singh, Subhranshu Senapati and debutant Abhishek Yadav. Odisha were propelled by a 233-run stand between Ranjit and Senapati that lasted as many as 80 overs. Though Odisha lost two quick wickets after the stand was broken in the first session, a 138-run partnership between wicket-keeper Saurabh Rawat and Abhishek Yadav further frustrated Team Rajasthan. With the match ending in a draw, Team Rajasthan bagged three points while Odisha got one.
