Opener Priyank Kirit Panchal became the first cricketer from Gujarat to score a tripe century at the First Class level as he stayed unbeaten on 314 on day two of the Ranji Trophy Group A match here on Wednesday.
Panchal played as many as 460 balls, collecting 32 fours in the process. With his marathon innings, he eclipsed Mukund Parmar's 283 to become the first triple centurion from the state.
Panchal has hit purple patch this Ranji season, having scored 232 and 56 in his last two innings against Mumbai.
Courtesy his monumental effort, Gujarat declared their first innings at 624 for six after starting the day at 281 for two.
Punjab face a huge task in their first innings and were 20 for one in six overs at stumps on day two with opener Jiwanjot Singh.
Bhargav Merai (65), Rijul Bhatt (60), Rush Kalaria (60 not out) and stand in skipper Axar Patel (65 not out) were the Gujarat batsmen who contributed to the massive total.
Jharkhand in control
VIZIANAGRAM: Jharkhand were in command of their Ranji Trophy Group B clash against Assam after making 316 in their first innings and then dismissing the north-eastern side 126 on the second day here.
Overnight 251/4, Jharkhand suffered a collapse of their own on Wednesday and folded for 316 with Saurabh Tiwary (88) and Ishank Jaggi (93)being their top-scorers.
For Assam Krishna Das inflicted maximum damage with a haul of 4/65 in his 36 overs.
In reply, Assam endured a batting collapse and opener Pallavkumar Das was the top-scorer with a 68-ball 30. Rahul Shukla was the standout bowler for Jharkhand with a figures of 4/48.
Delhi recover after collapse
CHENNAI: All-rounder Manan Sharma and tail-ender Vikas Tokas engaged in a 72-run stand for the ninth wicket to ensure first innings lead and atleast three points for Delhi against Vidarbha in a Ranji Trophy group B encounter, here on Wednesday.
With top guns like Shikhar Dhawan (6), Gautam Gambhir (22), Unmukt Chand (0) and Rishabh Pant (29) being dismissed cheaply, Delhi were down and out at 178 for 8 at the start of the 58th over.
In the next 23.5 overs, Manan and Vikas played with a lot of grit and determination to deny Vidarbha, what they saw as an opportunity to get three points and then push for victory.
Manan in fact surpassed his previous best score of 81. He has so far played 119 balls to hit 9 boundaries and a six off a half-tracker bowled by leg-break bowler Azhar Sheikh.
Credit to Tokas as he hung in there for 88 deliveries to give him the support that he needed.
Earlier, India discard Gambhir again paid price for his open chested stance as an incoming delivery from Rajneesh Gurbani found him plumb in-front.
Unmukt Chand only had some success during the Jharkhand game and he edged an angled delivery from left-armer Shrikant Wagh to glovesman Siddhesh Wath.
Flavour of the domestic season Rishabh Pant (29) showed some discretion initially by defending but even his 29 had 22 runs in boundaries -- four fours and a huge six over mid-wicket off lalit Yadav's bowling.