Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage on Day Two of the Ranji Trophy 2015-16 game between Jharkhand and Himachal. On day one, Jharkhand decided to bat first after winning the toss. Riding on opening batsman SP Gautam’s century, they were 306 for the loss of four wickets at the end of day’s play yesterday. Gautam struck 17 fours and a six in his knock. Sauarbh Tiwary also chipped in with 79 with the help of six fours and a six. At stumps yesterday, Ishank Jaggi and Kumar Deobrat were batting on 43 and five respectively. Rishi Dhwan picked two wickets while BB Sharma and PS Chopra bagged a wicket each. In a nutshell, day one belonged to Jharkhand. Let’s see if Himachal are able to bounce back in the match today. Complete coverage of Ranji Trophy 2015-16B
Both, Jharkhand and Himachal have done well in Group C. Both have two outright wins in their six games. However Himachal is above Jharkhand on the points table owing to the fact that their remaining four games have all been draws. Jharkhand have however lost two and drawn other two. At present Himachal have 24 points while Jharkhand have 17. Evidently a win is more crucial for Jharkhand at this stage. A defeat can crush their hopes for a promotion. However, judging by yesterday’s play Jharkhand certainly look the better team in the match but still Himachal cannot be taken lightly and are known to come back stronger. Rishi Dhawan bowled well yesterday and Himachal fans will be hoping that he plays an important part in finishing off the remaining Jharkhand batsmen today.
Playing XI:
Jharkhand: Saurabh Tiwary, Shahbaz Nadeem (C), Samar Quadri, Ishank Jaggi, Jaskaran, Kumar Deobrat, SP Gautam, Sonu Kumar Singh, Anand Singh, Kaushal Singh, Sumit Kumar (W)
Himachal: AK Bains (W), RR Dhawan, Robin Bist, AP Vashisht, AN Chauhan, AR Kalsi, BB Sharma (C), NR Gangta, PK Dogra, PS Chopra, AS Bedi