Irani Cup: Ravichandran Smaran 126 not out takes Rest of India to 306/8 against Jammu and Kashmir

Ravichandran Smaran remained unbeaten on 126 as Rest of India reached 306 for eight at the Sher-I-Kashmir Stadium on the third day of the Irani Cup on Saturday. The innings came against Jammu and Kashmir, who had posted 278 in their first innings.

Rest of India made 237 in their first innings and were 306 for eight in the second when play was halted. Sanat Sangwan contributed 55 in the reply, while Sahil Lotra (3/71) and Umar Nazir Mir (3/87) were the leading wicket-takers for Jammu and Kashmir.

Smaran’s unbeaten 126 came off 131 balls and included 15 fours and five sixes. His knock anchored the lower-middle order and proved the principal scoring effort for RoI in the second innings.

RoI began the day 17 runs in deficit with one wicket down; Sanat Sangwan and Sudeep Kumar Gharami (33) provided a tidy platform in the morning session. Gharami was cleaned up by Lone Nasir Muzaffar after a 50-run stand with Sangwan, and Sangwan later put on 70 with Saransh Jain for the third wicket.

Sangwan fell to Umar Nazir Mir in the 52nd over, finishing on 55 off 160 balls with three fours and a six. Umar Nazir then removed Saransh Jain (25) and Sarfaraz Khan (0) in quick succession, the latter edging on the fifth ball he faced, while Sahil Lotra trapped Rishabh Pant lbw for eight off 18 balls.

Smaran added a 52-run sixth-wicket partnership with Manav Suthar (16) and was involved in an ongoing ninth-wicket stand of 109 with Mukesh Choudhary (9). Those lower-order contributions extended RoI’s second-innings total and frustrated the J&K attack.

At stumps Rest of India led Jammu and Kashmir by 265 runs. Mukesh Choudhary was batting on 9 at the other end when stumps were drawn and Rest of India held the advantage.