Captain R. Sai Kishore produced a masterful display at Chepauk, claiming a hat-trick to propel Tamil Nadu to an innings victory over Uttarakhand. His six-wicket haul in the second innings completed a match return of 10 for 74, while Ajith Ram supported him with four wickets to finalize the result. He ended the day unbeaten on 37 in the second innings.
Assam secured a comfortable nine-wicket win against Tripura. Despite a gritty performance from Tripura captain Manisankar Murasingh, who struck 161 off 160 balls to force a fourth innings after starting the day at 54 for 5, Mohit Thakur’s eight-wicket match haul proved decisive. Elsewhere, Bengal triumphed over Services by 60 runs as Pradipta Pramanik and Shahbaz Ahmed combined for seven wickets in a spin-dominated finish. Captain Manisankar Murasingh blitzed a sensational 160-ball 161 to force a fourth innings, although Assam cantered home by nine wickets, walking at 54 for 5 with Tripura staring at a massive innings defeat. In a contest dominated by spin, Bengal had the final say over Services as Pradipta Pramanik (4 for 48) and Shahbaz Ahmed (3 for 44) scripted an impressive 60-run win.
Baroda claimed a swift 10-wicket victory after Bhargav Bhatt’s 6 for 53 triggered a collapse for Bihar, who managed only 251 in their second attempt after an initial 138 from Mangal Mahrour. In other contests, Vidarbha survived a scare against Jammu and Kashmir; despite Sunil Kumar’s four-wicket effort, Nachiket Bhute’s match-winning 5 for 48 in the second innings ensured the visitors chased down a small target. Before Baroda knocked off a 2-run target, but his efforts were in vain as the visitors crashed from 203 for 2 to 251.
Sikkim dominated their encounter with Arunachal Pradesh, securing an innings and 328-run win. Gurinder Singh hit 146—the team’s third century of the match—before Satyajeet Bachhav dismantled the opposition with a 5 for 27 spell to bowl them out for 123. His 146 set up a declaration at 572/5 before Sikkim romped to a massive innings win.
Maharashtra holds a commanding 358-run lead against Jharkhand, built on an unbeaten 169 from Ankit Bawne, while Ruturaj Gaikwad marked his season debut with an unbeaten 101 at No. 7. Meanwhile, Hyderabad is pushing for a result after K. Himateja’s unbeaten 123 and a fifty from Tanay Thyagarajan set Andhra a daunting 398-run target. Stroking his way to an unbeaten 101 at No.7, ruturaj Gaikwad’s first hit out with the bat in this Ranji Trophy season was a fruitful one. Allowing Hyderabad to set Andhra a target of 398, k Himateja enhanced a burgeoning reputation with a magnificent unbeaten 123.
Saurashtra edged a narrow first-innings lead over Karnataka, thanks to 79 from Samar Gajjar, Arpit Vasavada’s 65, and a vital ninth-wicket stand of 40 runs by Parth Bhut and Jaydev Unadkat, despite Vidwath Kaverappa’s four-wicket haul. In the battle between Gujarat and Delhi, Manan Hingrajia’s century and Jaymeet Patel’s 72 provided a necessary rescue act. Keeping the Delhi bowlers at bay, manan Hingrajia’s ton rescued Gujarat in the company of Jaymeet Patel’s 72.
Mumbai extended their dominance over Himachal Pradesh to a lead of 388, driven by Akash Anand’s century and Sarfaraz Khan’s 154. In the match between Chhattisgarh and Punjab, Amandeep Khare’s defiant 91 was overshadowed by Harpreet Brar’s career-best 7 for 56, which forced a follow-on.
Uttar Pradesh defeated Goa by 68 runs after a spin-heavy contest saw Yash Kasvankar pick up his second five-wicket haul of the match, while Kartik Yadav took five for Goa in the losing effort. In the fixture between Puducherry and Madhya Pradesh, Sagar Trivedi celebrated his birthday with four wickets to leave the opposition reeling at 19 runs for five wickets on Day 3. But it was bittersweet for the latter as Goa fell well short in pursuit of 235 against Uttar Pradesh, a pair of seventies for Aryan Juyal and Suyash Prabhudessai. Yash Kasvankar’s second five-fer of the match bowled Uttar Pradesh out for 197.
Finally, Kerala enforced a follow-on against Odisha after Vaisakh Chandran’s four-fer restricted them to 225. Railways produced a resilient batting performance against Rajasthan led by Bhargav Merai’s 73, and Nagaland remains in the hunt against Mizoram, with Sedezhalie Rupero unbeaten on 108 and Yugandhar Singh contributing 98 to support the chase of 258. While Eshaan Goyal and Ravi Singh contributed fifties in Railways’ gritty batting effort against Rajasthan, bhargav Merai top-scored with 73. Staying unbeaten on 108 off 297 deliveries against Mizoram, sedezhalie Rupero put up a strong vigil. With Yugandhar Singh’s 98 equally critical in setting up the foundation, nagaland need 258 runs to enter the lead.
