Irani Cup: Smaran hundred helps Rest of India extend lead against Jammu and Kashmir

Brief Scores: Rest of India 237 & 306/8 in 94 overs (Sanat Sangwan 55, R Smaran 126 not out; Sahil Lotra 3/71, Umar Nazir Mir 3/87) lead Jammu and Kashmir 278 by 285 runs.

Ravichandran Smaran remained unbeaten on a well-measured 126 as the Rest of India reached 306 for eight to lead by 265 runs against Jammu and Kashmir on the third day of their Irani Cup match here on Saturday.

Smaran's knock came off 131 balls with 15 fours and five sixes, while opener Sanat Sangwan made 55 as Rest of India held advantage when stumps were drawn here at the Sher-I-Kashmir Stadium.

Sahil Lotra (3/71) and Umar Nazir Mir (3/87) were the pick among bowlers for the hosts but the RoI batters, despite the failures of India batters Rishabh Pant (8) and Sarfaraz Khan (0), gave their side the upper hand.

Batting as low as No. 8, Pant had a second consecutive disappointing outing with the bat when Lotra pinned him in front of the wickets for eight off 18 balls.

Earlier, No. 5 Sarfaraz's poor footwork saw him edging one to the slip cordon on the fifth ball that he faced.

Starting the day with 17 runs in deficit and one wicket down, RoI batters Sangwan and Sudeep Kumar Gharami (33) produced a tidy start to keep the J&K bowlers at bay.

Lone Nasir Muzaffar, who had scored an important half-century on Day Two, provided the first breakthrough when he cleaned up Gharami after a 50-run stand with Sangwan.

The left-handed Sangwan found strong support at the other end from Saransh Jain, as they added 70 runs for the third wicket to take RoI ahead.

Having batted really well for his half-century, Sangwan became Umar Nazir's first victim of the innings when he edged one behind in the 52nd over. Sangwan made 55 off 160 balls with three fours and a six.

Nazir then dealt a double blow to RoI, cleaning up Saransh (25) and dismissing Sarfaraz in a space of four deliveries to put J&K in control.

But with a measured effort and resolve, Smaran found dependable partners in Manav Suthar (16), with whom he added 52 runs for the sixth wicket, and 109 runs with Mukesh Choudhary (9) for the ongoing ninth wicket stand, to give RoI much needed relief.

Mukesh Choudhary was batting on 9 at the other end when stumps were drawn.