SRINAGAR: Defending champions Jammu and Kashmir suffered a batting collapse to be bowled out for 120 in their first innings before Madhya Pradesh reached 59 for four in their second essay, taking an overall lead of 135 runs on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match here on Monday.
J&K, who had dismissed Madhya Pradesh for 196 on the opening day, failed to build on their bowling performance as their innings ended in 46.3 overs.
Wicketkeeper-batter Kanhaiya Wadhawan remained unbeaten on 35 off 63 balls, including three fours and a six, while opener Qamran Iqbal scored 31 off 64 deliveries. Shubham Pundir contributed 20 and Abdul Samad made 17, but the defending champions lost wickets at regular intervals.
J&K slipped to seven for two before Qamran and Pundir added 34 runs for the third wicket. Their dismissals at team scores of 41 and 62 triggered another collapse, with the hosts losing their last four wickets for just 32 runs.
For Madhya Pradesh, pacers Avesh Khan and Aryan Pandey claimed three wickets each, while Akshay Sharma took two for 18 in 10 overs. Ravi Kiran picked up one wicket.
Madhya Pradesh then lost four wickets in their second innings, with Harsh Gawli (11), Himanshu Mantri (0), Yash Dubey (22) and Chanchal Rathore (8) returning to the pavilion. Auqib Nabi and Sunil Kumar took two wickets each to keep J&K in contention.
At stumps, Madhya Pradesh captain Shubham Sharma was unbeaten on 15, while Aryan Pandey was yet to score.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma had taken five wickets for 36 runs in 21.2 overs on the opening day, while Sunil Kumar claimed four for 69 to dismiss Madhya Pradesh for 196.




