Rest of India 237 and 306 for 8 (Smaran 126*, Sangwan 55, Lotra 3-71, Nazir 3-87) lead Jammu & Kashmir 278 by 265 runs
Ravichandran Smaran, battling with the tail, burgled a century for Rest of India (RoI) on day three of their Irani Cup game against Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). In the company of No. 10 Mukesh Choudhary, he had already dragged their lead to 237 when J&K's Umar Nazir Mir came on to bowl. Nazir angled it back into the left-hander. He struck Smaran on the pads. The batter was given out on 104. Then, the no-ball buzzer rang out loud: Smaran had been reprieved, and would stay unbeaten till stumps.
By the end of play, RoI extended their lead to 265 runs, two wickets still left to play with. Smaran walked back unbeaten on 126 off 131 balls. In total, J&K bowled 21 no-balls in the innings, and Nazir 22 in the game by himself. If the previous day's play had ended with J&K securing a crucial 41-run first-innings lead thanks to their lower-order comeback, this one ended with them letting RoI back into the contest with their unforced errors.
RoI were 24 for 1 overnight, and returned to bat with the game in fast-forward. The pitch had assisted pace and bounce, suiting J&K's battery of fast bowlers, who mostly operate in the sub-130kph range. But on day three, conditions had largely flattened out.
Nazir bowled from one end, and Sunil Kumar from the other. They quickly adjusted their lines to bowl back-of-a-length and outside off stump. At the end of an attritional first session against J&K's defensive bowling, RoI opener Sanat Sangwan had brought up a 141-ball half-century, and kept his side in the contest on 120 for 2.
Fellow opener Shikhar Mohan had departed in the first session to a superb fuller delivery off Sunil which swung away from him. However, the rest of RoI's top order fell to poor shots after lunch. Sudip Kumar Gharami was out on 33. He chopped onto his stumps off a loose pull. Then, facing Nazir, Sangwan nibbled at a delivery hanging well outside off. Bowling allrounder Saransh Jain, promoted to No. 4, played on himself, just two overs later. He had edged another back-of-a-length delivery.
Nazir, suddenly, had two canny wickets to his name, though he had already been bowling plenty of no-balls. In fact, both the Sangwan and Jain wickets came immediately after a no-ball. Three deliveries after sending Jain back, in the 54th over, Nazir needed no prelude for once. He got Sarfaraz Khan to prod at a ball nibbling away outside off. RoI were 131 for 5 at that stage.
From here, Smaran, batting at No. 6, pounced on J&K's errors. Smaran is a calm figure at the crease. He has been named Karnataka's captain for the opening game of the Ranji Trophy with Devdutt Padikkal on India A duty, on the back of his chart-topping 950 runs last season. Smaran also scored a vital 68 in the first innings for RoI in the Irani Cup. He started well here, hitting three pristine fours in a single over by Lone Nasir.
Along with J&K's erring lines and lengths as the day proceeded, they dropped chances in the field as well. Already, around the 38th over, Shubham Pundir was standing too deep in the cordon. He dropped an edge and then failed to grab another because the ball bounced in front of him. Upon being chided by the other close-in fielders, Pundir remedied his mistake by repositioning himself melodramatically close to the batter. Eventually, he stepped a few metres back, to a better calibrated spot.
No more obvious edges would fly Pundir's way, though J&K's fielders attempted wild throws from the deep during run-out chances and were plagued by their no-ball epidemic. They still had the advantage because of their first-innings lead, however. And RoI were also effectively one batter down. Their captain Rishabh Pant was feeling sick. He walked out at No. 8, sniffling and coughing. He immediately played wild scoops and heaves across the line.
Shortly after tea, Pant was plumb lbw going for another slog across the line. He was out for an 18-ball 8, falling to offspinner Sahil Lotra. Lotra was J&K's best - more importantly, most disciplined - bowler of the day. He took 3 for 71 from his 26 overs. Lotra bowled with flight and dip, plucking out Manav Suthar and Akash Deep either side of Pant's dismissal.
After Akash Deep's dismissal, RoI were 197 for 8, with J&K firmly on top. But they would not take another wicket for the rest of the third session. Smaran compiled an unbroken 109-run partnership with Choudhary. J&K went on the defensive as Smaran farmed the strike. The hosts kept their fielders stationed near the ropes for the majority of the over, allowing Smaran easy singles. They would call for close-in catchers only when Choudhary was back on strike.
The ploy did not work on a pitch with little vitality left in it. As the light faded in Srinagar, Smaran reached his century off just 113 deliveries. J&K were almost done with their misery soon after, when Smaran was struck on the pads on 104 in the 90th over. Then, Nazir's most decisive no-ball of the day was announced at the ground in the form of the fateful buzzer.
Smaran took it as an invitation to accelerate. After reaching his century, he smacked 26 off his next 18 deliveries. He danced down the track and swung through the line with abandon. Barring this little period, he had been more cautious but still productive with his boundary-scoring throughout. He collected 15 fours and five sixes during his innings.
Smaran's partner Choudhary found himself on strike for the final over of the day. Part-time spinner Pundir came on and flighted the ball. Choudhary swung one of them over mid-off for his sole boundary of the day. Then, Samran was back at the crease.
He consulted the umpire to confirm it was the last over, then played out its final two deliveries. He would have been looking to secure his return tomorrow, to grow RoI's sizeable lead. As he walked off with Choudhary at stumps, though, his job was, maybe, done already.
