Ranji Trophy: Ayush Badoni's gritty 99 puts Delhi ahead against Railways

NEW DELHI: Delhi on Friday took the first innings lead against Railways in their Group D Ranji Trophy match, powered by captain Ayush Badoni's impressive 99 after Himanshu Sangwan's crucial dismissal of Virat Kohli on the second day.
Delhi, starting at 41 for 1, surpassed Railways' total of 241 thanks to a solid 133-run partnership between Badoni and Sumit Mathur.
At the end of play on Day 2, Delhi reached 334 for 7, establishing a 93-run lead.
Badoni's aggressive batting display kept the Railways bowlers under pressure. His innings came to an end when he attempted a slog sweep against leg-spinner Karn Sharma in the 56th over.
The morning session saw Yash Dhull and Sanat Sangwan face some challenging moments against the Railways pacers. Dhull, after scoring 32 runs including a classic cover drive, was dismissed leg before wicket by left-arm pacer Rahul Sharma.
Kohli's arrival at the crease was met with enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. However, his stay was brief as Himanshu Sangwan cleaned bowled him with a delivery that moved back slightly.
Kohli had just hit a boundary but was caught off-guard while attempting another aggressive shot from outside the crease.
Sangwan continued his impressive spell by dismissing opener Sanat Sangwan for 30 runs in his next over.
Delhi found themselves at 97 for four in the 30th over before captain Badoni took charge of the situation. He particularly targeted left-arm spinner Ayan Chaudhari, hitting him for three sixes.
Badoni's aggressive intent was evident as he reached the 90s with consecutive sixes. However, his attempt to sweep Karn Sharma resulted in his dismissal at 99, caught at short fine-leg.
The captain's innings featured 12 fours and three sixes, highlighting his importance to Delhi's campaign. Badoni currently leads Delhi's stats in both batting and bowling in this Ranji Trophy season.
Sumit Mathur remained unbeaten on 78 off 189 balls, providing crucial support to stabilize Delhi's innings.
TN inch closer to quarters
Tamil Nadu moved closer to securing a quarterfinal berth, requiring 97 more runs to defeat Jharkhand in their ongoing match in Jamshedpur.
Spin all-rounder Utkarsh Singh, who earlier claimed six wickets, made a valuable contribution of 35 runs in Jharkhand's second innings.
The hosts set a target of 233 runs for Tamil Nadu.
Starting the day at 5/1, Jharkhand's innings saw Utkarsh Singh and Aditya Singh emerging as joint top-scorers with 35 runs each.
Tamil Nadu's chase saw them lose five wickets, with Vijay Shankar and Ajith Ram remaining unbeaten on 33 and 5 runs respectively at stumps.
Currently leading their group with 25 points, Tamil Nadu needs just a draw to advance to the quarterfinals.
Pujara misses ton
Cheteshwar Pujara narrowly missed his century, scoring 99 runs as Saurashtra maintained control against Assam by enforcing a follow-on.
Saurashtra built a strong total of 474 runs after adding 114 runs to their overnight score.
The Saurashtra bowling attack proved effective, dismissing Assam for 164 runs in 41 overs. Following their substantial lead, Saurashtra enforced the follow-on.
At the end of play, Assam reached 67 runs for the loss of one wicket but still faced a deficit of 243 runs.
Saurashtra aims to secure a bonus point victory when play resumes on Saturday.
Brief scores:
In Delhi: Railways 241 all out. Delhi 334/7 in 96 overs (Ayush Badoni 99, Pranav Rajuvanshi 39, Sumit Mathur 78 not out; Himanshu Sangwan 2/46.
In Rajkot: Saurashtra 474 in 117 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 99, Harvik Desai 130, Gajjar Samar 60 not out). Assam 164 all out in 41 overs (Riyan Parag 51, Mukhtar Hussain 46 not out; Dharmendra Sinh Jadeja 4/61) and 67/1 in 18 overs.
In Jamshedpur: Jharkhand 185 and 154 (Utkarsh Singh 35; Aditya Singh 35; Sai Kishore 5/43) lead by 96 runs over Tamil Nadu 106 all out and 137/5 (Mohamed Ali 44, Vijay Shankar 33 not out; Manishi 3/36).