Ranji Trophy 2023-24: Kargave’s unbeaten 98 not sufficient as Himachal tightens noose round Pondicherry on Day 2

Pondicherry batter Akash Kargave, batting on 98, saved dropping companions at common intervals as Himachal Pradesh dominated proceedings on the second day of a Ranji Trophy fixture on the Siechem Stadium on Saturday.

Kargave swept, punched, and rotated the strike nicely on a pitch that had begun to assist the spinners. But his aspect ended up dropping seven wickets whereas nonetheless trailing Himachal by 293 runs.

Kargave and Paras Ratnaparkhe started nicely for Pondicherry, although Vaibhav Arora’s tempo and Mayank Dagar’s left-arm spin with the brand new ball had them taking part in and lacking so much.

Eventually, it was the bowling partnership of Gurvinder Singh and Akash Vashisht that broke by Pondicherry’s prime order. Vashisht cleaned up Ratnaparkhe, who missed his sweep, and within the subsequent over, new batter Parameeshwaran edged straight to first slip off Gurvinder.

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Vaibhav then had Paras Dogra edging the ball to slide. Mohit Mittan tried to play a giant hit off Gurvinder however was caught brilliantly on the boundary by Dagar.

Arun Karthick and Kargave then started the rebuilding course of, including 28 runs within the subsequent 10 overs. However, Dagar had Karthick caught earlier than Pondicherry misplaced captain Rohit Damodaran two balls later. Vashisht then trapped Premraj Rajavelu in entrance.

Himachal batters offered a strong begin to the day earlier as they used the morning zip of the floor to their benefit and added 166 runs within the first session.

Nikhil Gangta and Rishi Dhawan had scored 24 runs within the first 20 minutes of play when the centurion nicked behind off Pankaj Yadav’s fuller supply. 

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That the duo continued to cost down the wicket in that temporary interval gave sufficient trace to the remaining batters in regards to the batting situations. Rishi added 23 runs with Mukul Negi earlier than Sidak Singh induced an edge to first slip.

Praveen Thakur was hurried by Gaurav Yadav’s tempo and located his stumps displaced after he placed on 43 runs with Mukul. It appeared like Pondicherry would be capable of preserve Himachal below 400, however Dagar counter-attacked with a 27-ball fifty.

Dagar and Mukul’s stroke-filled eighth wicket stand added 72 runs in simply 50 balls. The former was ultimately adjudged leg-before off Sidak, who completed with 4 wickets. Himachal rapidly added 25 runs extra after Lunch, earlier than getting bowled out for 463.