Cheteshwar Pujara confirmed his insatiable starvation for runs along with his seventeenth double hundred in first-class cricket earlier than Prerak Mankad’s all-round present put Saurashtra accountable for their Ranji Trophy opener towards Jharkhand on day three in Rajkot on Sunday. Pujrara, unbeaten on 157 in a single day, ended with 243 not out off 356 balls as Saurashtra declared their first innings at 578 for 4 in response to Jharkhand’s 142 all within the first innings, gaining a large lead of 436 runs. The declaration got here after Mankad (104 not out off 176) accomplished his second first-class hundred.

Jharkhand openers Kumar Deobrat (74 not out off 130) and Nazim Siddique (45 off 51) batted with much more objective within the second innings however twin strikes from medium pacer Mankad left them at 140 for 2 at stumps on day three.

Jharkhand nonetheless path Saurashtra by 296 runs.

Pujara, the 103-Test veteran who was dropped from the Indian staff following the WTC closing in June final 12 months, hardly put a foot mistaken in his marathon effort comprising 30 fours. His nimble foot work towards the spinners stood out.

It was Pujara’s eighth double hundred in Ranji Trophy and seventeenth first-class double ton. It ties him up with Herbert Sutcliffe and Mark Ramprakash. He is now behind solely the nice Don Bradman (37), Wally Haymond (36) and Patsy Hendren (22). The 35-year-old additionally has three triple a whole bunch in first-class cricket.

India’s dependable quantity three for greater than a decade shall be wanting to make most of his outings in Ranji Trophy earlier than the squad is introduced for the house Test collection towards England, beginning January 25.

His unconquered 256-run stand with Mankad has put his staff in a domination place.

After making an influence, Mankad removed Jharkhand opener Siddique and quantity three Aditya Chandresh Singh (0). On a flat deck, Mankad constantly bowled within the off-stump channel and was rewarded with two wickets.

Deobrat nevertheless annoyed the Saurashtra bowlers with a stable effort together with 9 fours. Brief scores: At Rajkot: Jharkhand 142 in 49 overs and 140/2 in 45 overs (Kumar Deobrat 74 batting; Prerak Mankad 2/12) vs Saurashtra 578/4 decl in 156 overs (Harvik Desai 85, Sheldon Jackson 54, Cheteshwar Pujara 243 not out, Prerak Mankad 104 not out).

At Solapur: Manipur 137 in 54.1 overs & 114 all out in 55.2 overs (Hitesh Walunj 3/11, Siddhesh Veer 4/10) vs Maharashtra 320 in 81.2 overs. Maharashtra gained by innings and 69 runs.

At Nagpur: Services 241 and 155 all out vs Vidarbha 219 and 45/0 in 14 overs (Faiz Fazal batting 20, Sanjay Raghunath batting 25).

At Rohtak: Haryana 100/6 in 52 overs (Rohit Pramod Sharma batting 38; Aniket Choudhary 2/15, Manav Suthar 2/23). Rajasthan (unhealthy mild impacted play once more).

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)