Ranji Trophy 2025-26 Elite Group Highlights: Centuries, Five-Wicket Hauls and Record-Breaking Performances
Paras Dogra scored his 34th first-class century, and Abdul Samad made 85, helping Jammu & Kashmir take a 99-run lead over Delhi. Simarjeety Singh shined with six wickets, keeping Delhi under pressure. Meghalaya's Akash Choudhary made history by scoring the fastest fifty in first-class cricket in just 11 balls. He also became the first batter to hit eight sixes in a row, smashing six sixes in a single over against Arunachal Pradesh.
In Hyderabad, wicketkeeper-batter Rahul Radesh, who was 15 overnight, went on to score 129, taking his team to 364. Rajasthan struggled at 117/5, but a century partnership between Kunal Singh Rathore and Kukna Ajay Singh brought some fightback.
Jharkhand’s Kumar Kushagra turned his overnight 133 into a double century, helping his team reach 506. He added 118 runs for the seventh wicket with Sahil Raj. Raj also picked early wickets as Jharkhand ended the day strongly ahead. Meanwhile, Sumanta Gupta scored his first hundred for Bengal, taking their total to 474. Railways were 97/5 at the end of the day, troubled by Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal’s four wickets.
Other highlights included Mayank Verma’s maiden century for Chhattisgarh, Shivam Mavi’s first hundred for UP as they declared on 535/6, and Shams Mulani adding important lower-order runs for Mumbai in a total of 446. Al Bashid Muhammed scored 126 for Manipur to take them to 400, while Vijay Shankar’s unbeaten 150 helped Tripura reach 602/7 against Assam.
Siddharth Desai’s Five-Wicket Haul Helps Gujarat Fight Back
Karnataka, from an overnight score of 257/5, were bowled out for 313, with Shreyas Gopal putting in a strong bowling performance and taking key wickets. He broke a 98-run opening partnership and kept picking wickets to stop Maharashtra, who had Prithvi Shaw scoring a quick 71 from gaining the upper hand. Sandeep Warrier also impressed with four wickets for Tamil Nadu, helping them secure a narrow five-run lead despite Shaik Rasheed’s lone 87 not out.
Gujarat’s Siddharth Desai picked five wickets to bowl out Services for 248, leaving Gujarat 77 runs behind at stumps with six wickets in hand. In Chandigarh, Nishunk Birla and Vishnu Kashyap shared seven wickets to bowl out Punjab for 142 giving Chandigarh a 31-run lead. Batting again, they ended on 168/7, with Harpreet Brar taking three wickets. Saurashtra’s Jaydev Unadkat took four wickets, but Kerala, led by Rohan Kunnummal’s 80 and Baba Aparajith’s 69, managed a 73-run lead in the first innings.
