Smaran Ravichandran’s unbeaten 126 put Rest of India in a strong position at the end of the third day of the Irani Cup in Srinagar. Jammu and Kashmir had reduced them to 197/8, a lead of just 156, but Smaran’s unbroken 109-run stand for the ninth wicket with Mukesh Choudhary took ROI to 306/8 at Stumps, 265 runs ahead. Choudhary only contributed nine runs in that defining partnership.
ROI began the day 17 runs behind and enjoyed a bit of luck first up when Sudip Kumar Gharami was dropped on 11 by Shubham Pundir at first slip. Gharami went on to make 33 before Lone Nasir Muzaffar dismissed him for the second time in the match, an attempted pull going onto the stumps off an inside edge.
Rishabh Pant was down with a fever, so Saransh Jain came in at No. 4, ahead of both Sarfaraz Khan and Pant. He and Sangwan put on 70 in 157 balls, with J&K keeping their lines wide of off and the pitch not offering as much to the pacers as the first two days. Sangwan reached his fifty just before Lunch, and ROI went into the break on 120/2, having made 96 runs for one wicket in 32 overs in the session.
The afternoon belonged to Umar Nazir Mir, who took three wickets in nine balls. Sangwan, who had batted 160 balls for his 55, poked at one angled across him and edged it to the keeper. In Mir’s next over, Saransh was cramped while trying to cut and chopped the ball onto his stumps for 25. Three balls later in the same over, Sarfaraz pushed at a ball outside off and edged it to Pundir at slip for a five-ball duck. And just like that, ROI had slipped from 128/2 to 131/5.
With Pant still unwell, Smaran came in at No. 6. He hit three boundaries in one Muzaffar over and added 52 for the sixth wicket with Manav Suthar before Sahil Lotra trapped Suthar lbw. Pant came out at No. 8 despite the fever as ROI went to Tea on 188/6.
Lotra struck twice soon after the break. Pant played across a full delivery and was lbw for 8 while Akash Deep dragged a slog to Shubham Khajuria at short mid-wicket.
From there, J&K let the game drift. They allowed Smaran singles and instead chose to attack the No. 10, but Choudhary kept the ball out, survived a blow to the shoulder from an Umar Nazir bouncer, and even ramped one for four. Smaran attacked the spinners, hitting Abid Mushtaq for two sixes and reaching his second fifty of the match with a drive off Lotra. J&K had two chances to run Choudhary out, but both throws missed the stumps. They also kept bowling no-balls, with Umar Nazir bowling 15 of them, three in one over with the second new ball.
Smaran brought up his hundred with a drive past mid-off in Muzaffar’s next over and went on to take 13 runs from it. On 104 he was trapped in front by Umar Nazir, but came off a no-ball.
Brief Scores: Rest of India 237 & 306/8 (Smaran Ravichandran 126*, Sanat Sangwan 55; Umar Nazir Mir 3-87, Sahil Lotra 3-71) lead Jammu and Kashmir 278 by 265 runs.
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