NEWSRight-arm medium pacer Anubhav Agarwal claimed a five-wicket haul to help Madhya Pradesh trounce Meghalaya by an innings and 301 runs in their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy game on Saturday.
First MP shot out Meghalaya for a meagre 61 in their first innings and then piled up a staggering 499/6 declared, courtesy centuries by Shubham Sharma and debutant Akshat Raghuwanshi. MP bowlers led by Agarwal (5/38) then wreaked havoc as they bundled out their opponents for a paltry 137 in their second essay to register a convincing win.
Meghalaya started on their overnight score of 16/0 on the third day and needed to bat two days to salvage a draw, but their batter failed to show resistance as MP bowlers kept striking at regular intervals at the Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium C.
Agarwal was the more lethal one and his wickets included openers Wallam Kynshi (12), Kishan Lyngdoh (6), one-down batter Chirag Khurana (26), Larry Sangma (4) and D Ravi Teja (10). Meghalaya's innings never got going and they were tottering at 62/5 at one stage.
Skipper Punit Bisht, with his 64-ball 38, only delayed the inevitable. But once spinner Kumar Kartikeya (3/18) dismissed him, it was just a matter of time. Kartikeya and pacer Gaurav Yadav (2/39), then ripped apart the tail to complete MP's sheer domination.
Brief Scores: Meghalaya 61 all out and 137 all out (Punit Bisht 38, Chirag Khurana 26; Anubhav Agarwal 5/38, Kumar Kartikeya 3/18) lost to Madhya Pradesh 499/6 declared (Shubham Sharma 111, Akshat Raghuwanshi 100, Akash Kumar 2/77, Aryan Bora 2/124) by an innings and 301 runs.
Gujarat 388 and 128/5 (Karan Patel 28 not out, Umang Rohitkumar 25 not out; Basil Thampi 2/29) versus Kerala 439 (Rohan Kunnummal 129,Vishnu Vinod 113; Siddharth Desai 5/132, Arzan Nagwaswalla 3/102). Gujarat led by 77 runs.
Delhi virtually out of last-eight race
Ishant Sharma got a wicket in his first spell but never looked incisive in his nine overs as Jharkhand, riding twin centuries from Nazim Siddiqui and Kumar Suraj, put Delhi on the brink of elimination in their group H Ranji Trophy match.
Jharkhand ended the third and penultimate day at 288 for five in 76 overs and, with an overall lead of 315, is all but sure of three points. They would probably bat another hour on the final day to nullify any remote chance of Delhi chasing the target in just five hours.
If Delhi end with another one point, they would only survive in theory as even a seven point game (bonus) against Chattisgarh won't allow them to surpass Tamil Nadu. In the morning, Jonty Sidhu (79) was the fifth victim of left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem when he tried to give him the charge as Delhi were all out for 224, giving Jharkhand an important 27-run lead.
They did come back strongly during the first session, reducing Jharkhand to 67/4 as both Navdeep Saini (13-2-45-1) and Ishant (9-2-29-1) bowled good opening spells in tandem. However, once right-handed opener Siddiqui (110, 177 balls, 13x4) and the left-handed Suraj (129 batting off 160 balls, 17x4, 3x6) took charge, Delhi were slowly and surely batted out of the game during the second session when left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra (0-74) looked flat compared to Nadeem.
Siddiqui played the cover drives well while Suraj was severe square of the wicket with his cuts and pulls. Ishant bowled two more short spells but never looked in rhythm and, in fact, during his final spell, lost a bit of cool as Suraj treated him with disdain.
Once Delhi went wicket-less at tea, the shoulders started drooping and with Ishant not bowling much with the old ball, Jharkhand batters found other Delhi bowlers easy to negotiate as both off-spinners Lalit Yadav and Nitish Rana looked off-colour.
Brief Scores: Jharkhand 251 and 288/5 (Nazim Siddqui 110, Kumar Suraj 129 batting, Ishant Sharma 1/29, Navdeep Saini 1/45).
Delhi 224 (Jonty Sidhu 79, Shahbaz Nadeem 5/58).
Tamil Nadu look good for full points
Tamil Nadu reduced Chattisgarh to 257/8 at stumps after declaring their first innings at 470 for nine. Chattisgarh still need 64 runs to avoid follow-on with only two wickets in hand. For Chattisgarh, their skipper Harpreet Bhatia played a lone hand with an unbeaten 145 but hardly got any support from the other end. Left-arm spinner R. Sai Kishore (4-48) was the most successful bowler.
An outright win on the final day will take Tamil Nadu to nine points and on top of the table before the final match against Jharkhand, while Chattisgarh need to save the match and remain on top with seven points, having won the first game outright.
Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu 470/9 decl. Chattisgarh 257/8 (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 145 batting, R Sai Kishore 4/48).
Karnataka near win against J&K
Karnataka reduced Jammu & Kashmir to 190 for 4 in the second innings having set them a mammoth 508-run target on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match on Saturday. Skipper Ian Dev Singh Chauhan (batting on 65) and Abdul Samad (21 batting) were at the crease with J & K needing a further 318 runs for an unlikely win.
Prasidh Krishna, who had taken six wickets in J & K's first innings, got the first breakthrough for Karnataka with the scalp of Qamran Iqbal (4). Shreyas Gopal picked up two wickets - Jatin Wadhwan (15) and Shubham Singh Pundir (9) to reduce the opposition to 57 for 3 before Fazil Rashid (65) and Ian Singh fought back with a 79-run stand for the fourth wicket.
After the exit of Rashid, the J & K captain and the highly rated Abdul Samad put on 63 runs and ensured that there were no further setbacks for the team. Earlier, resuming at 128 for 2, Karnataka went on the offensive and added 170 runs in 29 overs with Karun Nair adding 71 (not out) to his brilliant knock of 175 in the first innings and K V Siddharth hitting 72.
In the other match in the group, Railways secured the crucial first innings lead by replying with 525 for 9 at stumps against Pondicherry, which had scored 342. Arindam Ghosh, who scored a ton in the first match last week, continued his good run, making 100 while Mohammed Saif fell agonisingly short of ton, being dismissed for 99.
Ghosh and Saif added 146 runs in 276 balls and took the game away from Pondicherry, whose bowlers had kept the Railways batters in check on Friday.
Brief scores: Stumps Day 3 : Karnataka 302 all out in 103.1 overs 298 for 3 declared in 71 overs (K V Siddharth 72, Karun Nair 71 not out, R Samarth 62, Abid Mushtaq 3 for 65) vs Jammu and Kashmir 93 all out in 29.5 overs (Prasidh Krishna 6 for 35) and 190 for four in 59 overs (Fazil Rashid 65 (140b, 8x4, 2x6), Ian Dev Singh Chauhan 65 batting (114b, 8x4, 2x6), Shreyas Gopal three for 90).
Pondicherry 342 vs Railways 525 for nine in 151.4 overs (Vivek Singh 92, Shivam Chaudhary 51, Arindam Ghosh 100 (193b, 12x4, 2x6), Mohammad Saif 99 (190b, 7x4, 3x6), Upendra Yadav 60 (82b, 9x4, 1x6), Yuvraj Singh 46, Sagar Udeshi three for 144, Pavan Deshpande two for 74).
Maharashtra fight back against Vidarbha
Vidarbha gained an upper hand in their Elite Group G Ranji Trophy game against Vidarbha on Saturday despite Naushad Shaikh's stroke-filled 103 for Maharashtra. Vidarbha, courtesy Ganesh Satish's 275, had posted a mammoth 569/5 declared in their first essay.
Maharashtra, who started from their overnight score of 46/1 having lost opener Yash Nahar (22), had a mountain to climb. They ended the third day at 273/6. Maharashtra skipper Ankit Bawane also played his part to perfection by scoring 92.
Maharashtra were reduced to 63/3 as Vidarbha's left-arm spinner Aditya Sarvate (5/64) grabbed two quick wickets, removing Rahul Tripathi (0) and last match's double centurion Pawan Shah (33) cheaply. But then skipper Bawane found an able ally in Naushad Shaikh, as the two rallied the innings with their 184-run fourth wicket stand at the Gurgaon cricket ground.
The duo easily tackled the strong Vidarbha attack with Shaikh being the more aggressive one. While Bawane struck 10 fours, Shaikh hammered 13 boundaries and a six in his 196-ball innings. Their partnership helped Maharashtra come back into the game. However, when it looked like that Shaikh would frustrate the Vidarbha bowlers more, Sarvate gave Vidarbha a much-needed breakthrough, trapping Shaikh in front of the wicket as Maharashtra lost their fourth wicket at 247.
Bawane and wicket-keeper Vishant More (0) also fell in quick succession as Vidarbha pegged back their rivals. When the stumps were drawn, Azim Kazi (10 not out) and Satyajeet Bachhav (05 not out) held fort and have a tough task at hand on the final day.
For Vidarbha, Sarvate was the pick of the bowlers. While the match looks headed for a draw, Vidarbha will fancy their chances of grabbing the crucial first-innings lead.
Brief Scores: Vidarbha 569/5 declared (Ganesh Satish 275, Akshay Wadkar 145 not out, Mukesh Choudhary 3/101, Satyajeet Bachhav 2/134) versus Maharashtra 273/6 (Naushad Shaikh 103, Ankit Bawane 92, Aditya Sarvate 5/64). Maharashtra trail by 297 runs.
At Rohtak: Assam 265 and 120 (Rishav Das 73, Pallav Kumar Das 12; Yash Dayal 4/37, Ankit Rajpoot 4/56) versus Uttar Pradesh 274 and 112/4 (Samarth Singh 51 not out, Rinku Singh 22 not out; Hridip Deka 2/27) Uttar Pradesh won by six wickets.
Bengal set up thrilling final day vs Hyderabad
All-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed once again came up with a gritty second innings half-century as Bengal set Hyderabad a challenging target of 239 runs in their must-win Ranji Trophy group B match at the Barabati Stadium on Saturday.
In reply, Hyderabad were left reeling at 16/3 with Bengal pace trio of Mukesh Kumar, Ishan Porel and Akash Deep snaring one wicket each. Hyderabad require 223 runs, while Bengal will need seven wickets as the match hung in balance.
Hyderabad began their chase on an ominous note when opener Tanmay Agarwal was trapped by Mukesh Kumar off the first ball of their second innings. Porel then gave another breakthrough in the fourth over dismissing No.3 batter Mickil Jaiswal (5).
Akash Deep cleaned up Akshath Reddy for a duck off the final delivery of the third day. Earlier, Bengal resumed their second innings on 16/1 with a slender lead of 38 runs collapsed in a heap and were reduced to 118/5 when Shahbaz rescued them with a 87-ball 51.
The left-hander, who scored a 71 not out in the second innings in Bengal's win over Baroda in the previous match, put on a match-turning 65-run partnership with Anustup Majumdar (42; 127b). Rookie off-spinner Tilak Varma (3/13) then broke Bengal's resistance with three wickets in five balls to bundle them out for 201 in 79 overs.
Brief Scores: At Barabati Stadium: Bengal 242 and 201; 79 overs (Shahbaz Ahmed 51, Anustup Majumdar 42, Ritwik Roy Chowdhury 41; Tilak Varma 3/13, Tanay Thyagarajan 3/44). Hyderabad 205 and 16/3; 13.2 overs (Tilak Varma 11). Match to continue.
At Vikas Cricket Ground: Chandigarh 168 and 231/2; 62 over (Harnoor Singh 86, Arslan Khan 72). Baroda 517; 132.2 overs (Vishnu Solanki 104, Jyotsnil Singh 96, Bhargav Bhatt 75, Atit Sheth 59; Jagjit Singh Sandhu 5/118, Gurinder Singh 3/114). Match to continue.
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