Excelsior Sports Correspondent
VADODARA, Dec 1: After bundling out Jammu and Kashmir for a paltry total of 169 runs early in the morning session, Hyderabad declared their second innings at 244/2 to set a target of 404 runs for J&K in Ranji Trophy Group C Match at Vadodara, today.
J&K were struggling at 42/4 in their second essay when the stumps were drawn on third day today. Ram Dayal (6) and Aditya Pratap Singh (0) were at the crease. Shubham Khajuria (4), Ahmed Banday (16), Pranav Gupta (01) and Ian Dev Singh (13) were back to pavilion.
Earlier, Hyderabad rode on second consecutive century (103) of the match by Tanmay Agarwal and 66 by S Badrinath to take the score to 244 before declaring their innings.
J&K still needs 362 runs to win with 6 wickets in hand.
At Mumbai, an unbeaten 156 by wicketkeeper-batsman Nakul Verma helped Services declare their second innings at 340 for seven and set a challenging target of 285 for Chhattisgarh on the penultimate day of their Group C Ranji Trophy match at Mumbai.
Services, who were trailing by 56 runs in their first essay, had a terrible start to their second innings at the MCA’s Bandra-Kurla Complex ground here as opener Aanshul Gupta was dismissed on four and one down Ravi Chouhan (4) too fell cheaply with the scoreboard reading 8 for two.
Amit Pachhra (2) also did not lost long and Services were in deep trouble at 19 for three.
However, Verma was joined by Shamsher Yadav (40) and two played responsible knocks to stitch a crucial 110-run-stand for the fourth wicket to steady the boat.
Even after Yadav’s dismissal, Verma continued to play well and found an able partner in Rahul Singh, who missed his century by just one run.
Verma and Rahul ensured that the team cross the 300-run mark with a solid 175-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Verma scored 156 not out off 224 balls, studded with 19 fours and a six, while Rahul was caught by Shivendra Singh off Pankaj Rao on 99 that came off just 109 balls.
His valiant knock comprised 12 fours and three sixes.
For Chhattisgarh, both Pankaj Rao and Abhuday Kant Singh scalped three wickets each while Sumit Ruikar bagged one.
At stumps, Chhattisgarh were 6 for no loss. They now need 279 runs to win the match with all wickets intact.
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