Punjab Sustains Innings Defeat Against Karnataka Despite Shubman Gill's Century

Punjab skipper and opener Shubman Gill (102) struck a classy century but failed to save his team from an innings defeat against Karnataka in their Ranji Trophy Group C match here on Saturday. Gill added 95 runs on the third day to his overnight 7 to score 102 from 171 balls from which he struck 14 fours and three sixes. He scored his first fifty off 119 balls and the next 50 runs came in just 40 balls.

He was the eighth Punjab batter to be dismissed in the second essay after they conceded a huge 420-run lead in the first innings. Punjab had scored a paltry 55 in their first innings with Gill contributing just four runs. They were 24 for 2 in 13 overs in their second innings at stumps on the second day on Friday.

In the end, Punjab were shot out for 213 in 63.4 overs in their second innings to lose by an innings and 207 runs. Karnataka, who had made 475 in 122.1 overs in their first innings with Ravichandran Smaran (203) scoring his maiden first class double hundred, collected seven points, including a bonus point for an innings win.

Pacer Yashovardhan Parantap and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal took three wickets each for Karnataka during Punjab's second innings. Gill had failed to impress in the recent five-match Test series in Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The 25-year-old right-hander was unable to put up any significant contribution.

He played in five innings in three Tests, scoring just 93 runs with a highest score of 31 at an average of 18.60. He was dropped for the fourth Test but came back in the fifth and last game as captain Rohit Sharma opted out. But Gill could just score 20 and 13 in the last Test.

Bengal suffer batting collapse, bowled out for 85 to lose

At Kalyani, hosts Bengal suffered a batting collapse as they were bowled out for just 85 while chasing 369 to lose the match by 283 runs on Day 3. Pacer Anuj Thakral returned with 10-wicket haul in the match with his effort of 4/32 in the Bengal second innings. He had taken 6/31 in the Bengal first innings.

He and Anshul Kamboj (4/35) wreaked havoc on the Bengal batters while Ajit Chahal took two wickets as Wriddhiman Saha top-scored with 25 not out. Earlier in the day, Haryana had scored 336 in their second innings from 91.2 overs after resuming at 158 for 2, with Nishant Sindhu (80) and Himanshu Rana (72) scoring half centuries.

UP close in for victory against Bihar after three batters' 100-plus scores

At Patna, Aryan Juyal (200 not out off 256 balls) scored an unbeaten double century in a magnificent batting show while opener Abhishek Goswami (198) and Karan Sharma (118 not out) also struck tons as Uttar Pradesh sniffed victory over Bihar. The unbroken third wicket stand between captain Juyal and Sharma yielded a mammoth 276 runs.

Uttar Pradesh declared their second innings at 603 for 2 in 121.3 overs and then reduced Bihar to 130 for 5 at stumps on Day 3. Bihar still trails by 225 runs in the second innings with five wickets in hand, going into the fourth day on Sunday.

Brief Scores:

At Bengaluru: Punjab: 55 & 213 all out in 63.4 overs (Shubman Gill 102; Yashovardhan Parantap 3/37, Shreyas Gopal 3/19) lost to Karnataka 475 (Ravichandran Smaran 203; Mayank Markande 3/53, Jassinder Singh 3/66) by an innings and 207 runs.

At Kalyani: Haryana 157 & 336 all out in 91.2 overs (Nishant Sindhu 80, Himanshu Rana 72; Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 5/92) beat Bengal 125 & 85 all out in 21.4 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 25; Anshul Kamboj 4/35, Anuj Thakral 4/32).

At Patna: Bihar 248 & 130 for 5 in 57 overs (Babul Kumar 38; Saurabh Kumar 2/38, Shivam Sharma 2/37) trails Uttar Pradesh 603 for 2 declared (Aryan Juyal 200 not out, Abhishek Goswami 198, Karan Sharma 118 not out; Nawaz Khan 1/25) by 225 runs.

At Thiruvananthapuram: Madhya Pradesh 160 & 369 for 8 declared in 101 overs (Rajat Patidar 92, Venkatesh Iyer 80 not out, Shubham Sharma 54; Nedumankuzhy Basil 4/117) leads Kerala 167 and 28 for 1 in 12.5 overs (Akshay Chandran 24) by 334 runs.