Vijay Shankar and Hanuma Vihari powered Tripura to a commanding position against Assam with brilliant centuries in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match. Shankar's career-best 150 not out, combined with Vihari's 156, helped Tripura declare at 602/7, leaving Assam struggling at 67/4 by stumps on day two.

Shankar's Career-Best Knock

Vijay Shankar, batting at number seven, produced the innings of his life. The former India all-rounder remained unbeaten on 150 off just 143 balls, smashing 14 fours and four sixes. This marked his first major knock since switching from Tamil Nadu to Tripura for the current season.​

Shankar took charge alongside captain Manisankar Murasingh, putting together an entertaining 87-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Murasingh contributed a brisk 52 from 54 balls, including three fours and three sixes, as Tripura's lower order kept piling on the runs.​

Vihari Sets the Platform

Hanuma Vihari resumed day two on 143 not out and quickly moved to his 156. His patient knock came off 228 balls and featured 18 fours and two sixes. Starting the day with Tripura at 316/4, Vihari's innings gave the team a solid foundation before the lower order accelerated.​

Wicketkeeper-batter Sentu Sarkar also played a valuable hand, scoring 51 off 98 balls with eight boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking.​

Assam's Struggles

Tripura declared at 602/7, putting Assam under immediate pressure. By stumps on day two, Assam had crumbled to 67/4, still trailing by a massive 535 runs with six wickets remaining.​

Pacer Abhijit Sarkar led Tripura's bowling attack with impressive figures of 2/10. For Assam, the bowling effort earlier in the day was led by Darshan Rajbongshi, who took 3/83, while Ayushman Malakar grabbed 2/106. Left-arm spinner Rahul Singh toiled through 40 overs for just one wicket.​

Bengal Dominates Railways

In Surat, Bengal's bowlers put their team in a strong position to secure a third outright win of the season. After posting 474 in their first innings, Bengal pacer Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal ripped through Railways' batting order with a fiery spell of 4/17.​

Railways were left reeling at 97/5, still trailing by 377 runs with two days remaining. Jaiswal struck with the second ball of the innings, removing Zubair Ali for a duck. He quickly added Vivek Singh, Mohammad Saif, and captain Pratham Singh (11) to his tally, reducing Railways to 16/4.​

Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed, who earlier contributed 86 with the bat, picked up the fifth wicket by dismissing Suraj Ahuja late in the day.​

Majumdar and Gupta Power Bengal

Bengal's commanding total was built on centuries from Anustup Majumdar and Sumanta Gupta. Majumdar scored 135 off 182 balls with 15 fours, while Gupta registered his maiden first-class century, making 120 off 153 balls with 15 boundaries and two sixes.​

The duo helped Bengal recover strongly after resuming day two at 273/5. Contributions from Vishal Bhati (36) and Rahul Prasad (40 not out) ensured Bengal crossed the 470-mark.​

Kushagra's Double Century for Jharkhand

In Vadodara, young wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra slammed a brilliant 234 off 367 balls as Jharkhand posted 506 against Baroda. Playing in his 29th first-class match, the 21-year-old smashed 23 boundaries and four sixes during his marathon innings.​

Kushagra, who was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 7.2 crore ahead of IPL 2024 before moving to Gujarat Titans for IPL 2025, shared a crucial 118-run partnership with Sahil Raj (39) for the seventh wicket.​

Jharkhand quickly struck back with the ball. Right-arm pacer Sahil Raj took 2/15, reducing Baroda to 78/3. With opener Shivalik Sharma departing for 23, Baroda found themselves at 35/3 before Shashwat Rawat (20 not out) and Vishnu Solanki (28 not out) steadied the innings. Baroda trail Jharkhand by 428 runs.​

Gujarat vs Services Evenly Poised

At Nadiad, the match between Gujarat and Services remained balanced. After Services were bowled out for 248, Gujarat reached 171/4 in reply, still trailing by 77 runs.​

Services resumed at 203/8 and added valuable runs through a 30-run ninth-wicket stand between Arjun Sharma (20) and Amit Shukla (25 not out). Left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai completed a fine five-wicket haul with figures of 5/74.​

In Gujarat's reply, wickets fell quickly after a cautious start from the openers. At stumps, Kshitij Patel (18 batting) and Urvil Patel (37 batting) were holding the innings together with an unbeaten partnership.​

Uttarakhand in Control

In Rohtak, Haryana struggled in their second innings, reaching 105/6 while still trailing Uttarakhand by 71 runs. Uttarakhand had earlier posted 288 in reply to Haryana's first innings total of 112, with contributions from Yuvraj Chaudhary (60) and J Suchith (50).​

For Haryana, Parth Vats (3/60) and Nikhil Kashyap (3/67) shared six wickets in Uttarakhand's innings. At close of play, Dheeru Singh (31 batting) was fighting alone for Haryana, while Suchith continued his good form with the ball, taking 3/30 in his second innings spell.