da 888： An unbeaten century from Sridharan Sharath saw Tamil Nadu declare at396/5 on Day Three of their Ranji Trophy league match at Chennai onMonday
Staff Reporter27-Nov-2001*Sridharan Sharath puts Tamil Nadu on course for victoryAn unbeaten century from Sridharan Sharath saw Tamil Nadu declare at396/5 on Day Three of their Ranji Trophy league match at Chennai onMonday.Sharath, resuming from his overnight score of 12, lost his partner,skipper Robin Singh, but then found able support in TR Arasu (55*).Batting with his usual elan, Sharath made 141 off 252 balls, with 18fours and a six. The pair put on 190 runs for the sixth wicket.Hoping to force an outright victory, Tamil Nadu declared and then hadGoa reeling at 92/4 by the close of play. L Balaji took four wicketsfor 36 runs, and only first-innings hero Kiran Powar was able to staveoff the bowling onslaught.Needing 66 runs just to avoid an innings defeat, Goa will be hardpressed to ensure a draw, let alone an outright win in their firstRanji tie of the season.*Faiq gives Andhra a chance at victoryAfter taking five wickets in the first innings, Mohammad Faiq scalpedfour batsmen in Kerala’s second essay, giving Andhra Pradesh arealistic shot at victory in their Ranji Trophy league match at Cochinon Monday.Andhra Pradesh, overnight on 234/8, lost their last two wickets forthe addition of only 25 runs. Kerala, however, could not capitalise ontheir fine bowling effort. Apart from Sreekumar Nair, who made anunbeaten 46, none of the batsmen could stay at the crease long enoughto post a decent total.Wickets fell at regular intervals and, at the close of play, Keralawere 131/7, with Nair and KN Ananthapadmanabhan at the crease.*Jammu & Kashmir set a steep targetChasing a nigh-impossible 469 for victory, Jammu & Kashmir foundthemselves at 128/3 on Day Three of their Ranji Trophy league matchagainst Delhi at the Feroze Shah Kotla grounds in Delhi.The home side, overnight on 46/1, were propelled to a good total of316/4, a score that enabled them to declare and push for a win.Skipper Mithun Manhas, batting first with Pradeep Chawla (52) and thenwith Sohail Rauf (81) made 128 off just 132 balls, with 18 fours andone six.The Delhi batsmen scored their runs in a hurry, with the 316 comingoff 59 overs in just 242 minutes, leaving the visiting bowlinghapless. Jammu & Kashmir were, at the close of play, staring down thebarrel at 128/3. Kavaljit Singh on 54 and Guru Pratap Singh on 6 werethe batsmen at the crease.*Sangram Singh piles on the runsHelping his team surpass Services’ first-innings total, Sangram Singhmade an unbeaten 215, enabling Himachal Pradesh to declare at 463/5 onDay Three of their Ranji Trophy league match at Una.Batting with a stodgy Rajiv Nayyar, who made 90 off 289 balls, SangramSingh hit 26 fours and four sixes in his 308-ball, 405-minute knock.He was the dominant partner in stands with Varinder Sharma, AmitSharma and Chetan Kumar, none of whom even crossed 20.Services, now effectively unable to push for a win, were 25 for noloss at stumps on Monday, with openers PMS Reddy and K Chawda at thecrease.*Punjab take a big first-innings leadBowled out for 318, Punjab took a first-innings lead of 114 runs intheir Ranji Trophy league match against Haryana at Gurgaon on Monday.Ankur Kakkar, batting overnight on 81, fell just three runs short of awell-deserved century, becoming the eighth wicket to fall. Hisdeparture hastened the end of the Punjab innings, which only lastedfive overs more.Haryana, beginning their second innings badly with the fall of oneopener early, then consolidated to some extent. The middle-orderbatsmen, although able to get a start, could not take it further, andthe side found themselves on 173/6 at the close of play on Day Three,with skipper Parender Sharma (21*) and S Vidyut (23*) at the crease.