Srinagar, Oct 03 (KNO): Ravichandran Smaran’s unbeaten century rescued Rest of India from a precarious position and helped them stretch their lead over Jammu and Kashmir to 265 runs at stumps on the third day of the Irani Cup encounter at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar on Saturday.
According to the details available with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) Rest of India begun the day with a 17-run deficit and finished on 306 for eight after 94 overs, with Smaran remaining unbeaten on 126 and Mukesh Choudhary on 9.
J&K had reduced Rest of India to 197 for eight, with the visitors’ lead standing at only 156 runs, but Smaran and Choudhary frustrated the hosts with an unbeaten 109-run partnership for the ninth wicket.
Smaran, who had scored 68 in Rest of India’s first innings, once again played a rescue act for the visitors. He reached his second fifty of the match and went on to complete a century, finishing unbeaten on 126 off 131 balls, with 15 fours and five sixes.
The late partnership completely changed the position of the match after J&K had produced a strong spell of bowling in the afternoon and evening sessions.
Sanat Sangwan, who was unbeaten on 52 at lunch, scored 55 off 160 balls before Umar Nazir Mir provided the breakthrough. The J&K pacer then dismissed Saransh Jain for 25 and Sarfaraz Khan for a duck in the same over, reducing Rest of India from 128 for two to 131 for five.
Umar Nazir finished with three for 87, while Sahil Lotra also claimed three wickets for 71 runs. Lotra dismissed Manav Suthar for 16 before removing Rest of India captain Rishabh Pant for eight and Akash Deep for two.
Despite the collapse, Smaran, as per KNO, continued to hold one end together. He first added 52 with Suthar and then found a valuable partner in Choudhary, who faced 47 balls for his unbeaten nine.
Earlier, J&K had taken a crucial 41-run first-innings lead after posting 278 in reply to Rest of India’s 237.
The hosts had slipped to 166 for eight before captain Paras Dogra, Abdul Samad and Lone Nasir Muzaffar helped them recover.
Dogra top-scored with 75, while Samad made 57. Nasir then produced an attacking 64 off just 58 balls from the lower order, striking eight fours and three sixes, to take J&K past Rest of India’s total.
Nasir’s counter-attacking innings came after J&K had lost eight wickets for 166 runs and proved vital in giving the hosts their first-innings advantage.
Rest of India began their second innings cautiously after losing Shikhar Mohan early. Sudip Kumar Gharami made 33 before being dismissed by Nasir, while Sangwan and Saransh steadied the innings before J&K’s bowlers triggered the middle-order collapse. With 265 runs now separating the teams, Rest of India will resume on Sunday with two wickets in hand and Smaran still at the crease.
With 265 runs separating the sides, J&K will look to wrap up the Rest of India innings quickly on Sunday before beginning their chase, while the visitors will aim to add to their lead with two wickets still in hand as the match heads into its final two days.
Notably, the Irani Cup encounter, being played from October 1 to 5, is the first edition of the prestigious fixture to be hosted in Srinagar.
Scorecard: Rest of India 237 & 306/8 (94 overs); J&K 278. Rest of India lead by 265 runs—(KNO)