Ranji Trophy: Puducherry call the shots on Day 2

CHENNAI: For the second day in succession, it was Cricket Association of Puducherry (CAP) that called the shots against Sikkim at the Krishnagiri Stadium in Wayanad. Puducherry declared their first innings at an imposing 647/8 before reducing their opponents - Sikkim - to 48 for 5 in their Ranji Trophy clash on Friday.
Having started the day at 418 for 4, the overnight batsmen - Fabid Ahmed (99, 5x4, 1x6) and Saju Chothan (81, 8x4) - piled more misery on their opposition with a 176-run stand for the fifth wicket that took Puducherry past the 500-run mark.Sikkim's first success of the day came in the post-lunch session when medium-pacer Ishwar Chaudhary (2 for 118) cleaned up Saju to leave Puducherry at 583 for 5. Fabid fell one short of his third first-class century when he was caught by Lee Yong Lepcha off Dinesh's (2 for 70) bowling. Puducherry finally concluded their innings at the stroke of tea.
Sikkim, in reply, failed to get the start they wanted. Pankaj Singh (2 for 10) accounted for opener Bibek in the third over before Abhijeet Saranath (1 for 10) dismissed Nilesh Lamichaney for a duck. For a brief period, Sikkim's third-wicket pair - Ashish Thapa (14, 2x4) and Jahan (16, 1x4) - hung in there. But their stand was cut short by skipper D Rohit. He dismissed Ashish and Jahan off his successive overs to leave Sikkim struggling at 29 for 4 in the 14th over. The situation turned worse for Sikkim when Pankaj had Lee Yong Lepcha (0) caught by Thalaivan Sargunam as the side was precariously placed at 40 for 5.
Brief scores: Puducherry 647 for 8 declared in 157 overs (Paras Dogra 253, Fabid Ahmed 99, Saju Chothan 81). Sikkim 48 for 5 in 22.4 overs (Pankaj Singh 2 for 10, D Rohit 2 for 12).