Ranji Round-up: Jharkhand end Delhi's quarterfinal hope, Kerala stun Gujarat

Bengal once again rode on Shahbaz Ahmed's all-round effort to thrash Hyderabad by 72 runs for their second successive win in the Ranji Trophy on Sunday. Fresh from scripting Bengal's epic turnaround against Baroda in their previous group B match, the left-arm spin bowling all-rounder followed up his gritty second innings 51 with fine figures of 16-5-41-3.

Pacer Akash Deep was the wrecker-in-chief (13.2-2-41-4) as Hyderabad, who were overnight 16 for three in their pursuit of 239, folded for 166 inside two sessions. Mukesh Kumar (2/49) and Ishan Porel (1/20) were also among the wickets as Bengal (12 points) went past Hyderabad to occupy the top spot in Group B with a match left.

Tilak Varma (90 from 152 balls; 9x4, 1x6) waged a lone battle for Hyderabad after Himalay Agarwal's first ball dismissal by Akash Deep on the final day. Playing his third Ranji match, the 19-year-old looked at ease and threatened to steal the show from Bengal before Akash Deep ended his dogged resistance, dismissing him 1o runs shy of a maiden first-class century. Hyderabad's second innings folded in 61.2 overs.

Left-hander Varma, who was overnight 11, shared 42 runs with wicketkeeper-batter Prateek Reddy (19) before putting together 27 runs with Buddhi Rahul (17). Just when Hyderabad looked settled with Prateek and Varma making steady progress, Shahbaz got into the act in his very first over of the day and cleaned up the former.

Akash Deep at the other end gave another breakthrough, dismissing Buddhi Rahul as a collapse looked imminent before skipper T Ravi Teja gave a fine support to Varma. The duo added 49 runs from 91 balls as Hyderabad inched closer, needing 105 runs when Shahbaz turned it around with his twin blow in successive overs.

Shahbaz broke the partnership by dismissing the Hyderabad skipper for 23 and in his next over, he castled Tanay Thyagarajan for a duck. Varma continued his resistance with the tail-enders as Bengal kept rotating the bowlers before Akash Deep finally sealed the proceedings. Bengal will take on Chandigarh in their final round group B fixture from March 3.

Brief Scores: At Barabati Stadium: Bengal 242 and 201. Hyderabad 205 and 166; 61.2 overs (Tilak Varma 90, Ravi Teja 23; Akash Deep 4/41, Shahbaz Ahmed 3/41). Bengal won by 72 runs.

Points: Bengal 6, Hyderabad 0.

At Vikas Cricket Ground: Chandigarh 168 and 473/7; 136 overs (Ankit Kaushik 105 not out, Harnoor Singh 86, Arslan Khan 72, Manan Vohra 64; Bhargav Bhatt 3/133, Abhimanyusingh Rajput 2/68). Baroda 517. Match drawn.

Points: Baroda 3, Chandigarh 1.

Jharkhand end Delhi's hopes

Dhruv Shorey's counter-attacking hundred set up a fitting final hour but Shahbaz Nadeem's second five-wicket haul enabled Jharkhand to oust Delhi from quarterfinal contention with a thrilling 15-run win in the final over of their Ranji Trophy group H encounter.

Shorey scored a superb 136 off 177 balls to keep Delhi in hunt in chase of 335, but they wilted under pressure during the final half an hour when Nadeem (5-83 in 31 overs) and fellow left-arm orthodox spinner Anukul Roy (2-71 in 20.4 overs) brilliantly closed down the run-scoring opportunities.

Delhi skipper Pradeep Sangwan was coolly stumped by debutant wicketkeeper Kumar Kushagra after he failed to get going. Nadeem's 10-wicket match haul ensured that Jharkhand, with full six points, stay in contention for a knockout berth when they lock horns with Tamil Nadu (6 points) in their last game.

However, both teams will want that Delhi at least stop Chattisgarh (7 points and current group toppers) from going beyond a point. For Delhi, the tournament is as good as over and only seven points (including a bonus) against Chattisgarh will give them a slim chance in theory.

Shorey added 60 with Yash Dhull (19), 65 with Himmat Singh (34) for the fourth wicket and another 87 with the stodgy Jonty Sidhu (59) for the fifth wicket. Once Shorey was gone, Jonty did well with Lalit Yadav (17) before he was stumped for the second time in the game by debutant Kushagra.

Even then, at 289 for six, Delhi, with 46 runs to get, looked in control but Lalit going for a non-existent third run was found short when keeper Kushagra shit  collected one neatly from the deep and threw down the stumps at the non-striker's end. Strangely, Sangwan played a lot of dot balls and towards the end it seemed that he was happy with a point when it would have been of little help.

Tamil Nadu fail to win outright vs Chattisgarh

Tamil Nadu stayed in the hunt for a quarter-final berth with a first innings lead against Chattisgarh but they would regret the fact that only three came from the game instead of six despite them enforcing follow-on.

Having scored 470 in the first innings, Tamil Nadu couldn't get Chattisgarh all out as they ended on 172 for 8, getting a point and maintaining top position in the group with seven points.

It was skipper Harpreet Singh Bhatia (43 not out of 162 balls), who again defied the Tamil Nadu spinners who shared the spoils with left-armers Ravi Srinivasan Sai Kishore and M Siddharth, both of whom got three wickets each. The seasoned Baba Aparajith got two wickets.

Brief Scores: Jharkhand 251 and 307/7 decl (Kumar Suraj 131 no, Nazim Siddiqui 110, Nistish Rana 3/47). Delhi 224 and (target 335) 319 all out (Dhruv Shorey 136, JontySidhy 59, Shahbaz Nadeem 5/83). Jharkhand 6; Delhi 0

Tamil Nadu 470. Chattisgarh 304 (Harpreet Bhatia 170 no) and (f/o) 172/8 (Harpreet Bhatia 43 no, R Sai Kishore 3/44, M Siddharth 3/48).

Points TN 3; Chattisgarh 1.

Kerala stun Gujarat

Kerala rode on opener Rohan Kunnummal's aggressive unbeaten 106 off 87 balls to stun Gujarat by eight wickets in their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy game on Sunday. Chasing a stiff 214 for a win, Kerala lost opener Rahul P (7) cheaply. But Kunnummal  and skipper Sachin Baby (62; 5x4; 2x6) attacked Gujarat bowlers in the 143-run stand in 135 balls at the Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium.

When Baby was dismissed by Siddharth Desai, Kerala needed just 44 runs. Kunnummal, who hammered 12 boundaries and three sixes, then led the team home in company of Salman Nazir (28 not out; 2x4, 2x6) in just 35.4 overs. Kunnummal, who had also scored a century in the first essay, was adjudged as the player of the match as Kerala bagged all six points on offer. 

Earlier, Kerala first shot out Gujarat for 388 before gaining a slender first innings lead as they were bowled out for 439 in their first essay, riding on centuries by Kunnummal and Vishnu Vinod.

Kerala bowlers had reduced Gujarat to 84/5, with pacer Basil Thampi (2-45) wreaking havoc at the beginning. However, lower-order batters Karan Patel (81 off 150 balls) and Umang Rohitkumar (70 off 175 balls) conjured a 138-run stand for the sixth wicket to post a fighting total.

But once left-arm spinner Sijoman Joseph (3-48) dismissed Karan Patel, the other Kerala bowlers ran through the Gujarat tail to eventually bundle them out for 264 in their second essay. It was Gujarat's second successive defeat, after they lost to Madhya Pradesh in the lung-opener, and hence cannot make the knock-outs.

Brief Scores: Gujarat 388 and 264 (Karan Patel 81, Umang Rohitkumar 70; Jalaj Saxena 4/57, Sijoman Joseph 3/48) versus Kerala 439 and 214/2 (Rohan Kunnummal 106 not out, Sachin Baby 63; Chintan Gaja 1/42). Kerala won by 8 wickets.

Punjab trounce Haryana

Punjab bowlers impressed after a superlative batting effort from Mandeep Singh and Anmol Malhotra to set up an easy 10-wicket win over Haryana in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group F match on Sunday.

Resuming the day on 149 for 4 after following on, Haryana folded their second innings with the addition of just 54 runs as the trio of Baltej Singh (3/17), Siddharth Kaul (2/75) and Abhishek Sharma (3/15) ran through their batting lineup to set Punjab an easy target of 42 runs.

In reply, Punjab overhauled the target in 8.5 overs with Prabhismaran Singh (25 not out) and Abhishek Sharma (20 not out) sealing the win with a bonus point. After the win, Punjab climbed to the top of the group F table with 10 points, while Himachal Pradesh remained second with eight points.

Earlier, Mandeep Singh struck an unbeaten 159 while wicketkeeper-batter Anmol Malhotra (100) also slammed a century as Punjab notched a mammoth 444 in their first innings.

Haryana skipper Himanshu Rana slammed 149 to keep his side in the game but Baltej Singh and Siddharth Kaul shared seven wickets between them to bundle them out for 282 as Punjab enforced a follow-on. Baltej returned with a match haul of seven wickets, while Siddharth Kaul finished with five wickets.

Brief Scores: At Arun Jaitley Stadium: Punjab 444 and 45 for no loss in 8.5 overs. Haryana: 282 and following on 203 all out in 59.5 overs (Nishant Sindhu 57, Yashu Sharma 32; Abhishek Sharma 3/15, Baltej Singh 3/17). Punjab won by 10 wickets.

Points: Punjab 7, Haryana 0.

Nagaland go top of Plate Group with win over Arunachal

Nagaland thrashed Arunachal Pradesh by an innings and 83 runs in the Ranji Trophy here on Sunday to jump to the top of the plate group table. Seasoned all-rounder Rongsen Jonathan was the star of the final day's play with a career-best 5-52 as Nagaland bowled out Arunachal Pradesh for 237 runs in their second essay to coast to bonus point win.

Shrikant Mundhe was adjudged Man of the Match for his first innings double century that powered Nagaland to 536/7 declared in reply to Arunachal Pradesh's 216. Nagaland now have 13 points, three points ahead of Manipur who had to settle for three points on the basis of their first innings lead over Mizoram. 

After taking a 70-run first innings lead, Manipur declared their second innings at 425/9 to set a challenging 496-run target. In response, Mizoram salvaged a gritty draw with fighting fifties from Uday Kaul (88 not out), Iqbal Abudlla (81) and skipper Taruwar Kohli (69) to return with one point.

Brief Scores: At Eden Gardens: Bihar 431/9 declared and 263/3; 48.1 overs (Yashasvi Rishav 112 not out, Sakibul Gani 101 not out). Sikkim 673/8 declared; 168 overs (Kranthi Kumar 287, Ashish Thapa 151 not out, Liyan Khan 75, Sumit Singh 56; Abhijeet Saket 3/114). Match drawn.

Points: Sikkim 3, Bihar 1.

At Videocon Academy: Arunachal Pradesh 216 and 237; 92.1 overs (Kamsha Yangfo 74, Nazeeb Saiyed 62; Rongsen Jonathan 5/52). Nagaland won by an innings and 83 runs.

Points: Nagaland 7, Arunachal Pradesh 0.

At Jadavpur University Second Campus, Saltlake: Manipur 197 and 425/9 declared. Mizoram 127 and 302/8; 104.5 overs (Uday Kaul 88 not out, Iqbal Abdulla 81, Taruwar Kohli 69; Bishworjit Konthoujam 4/46, L Kishan Singha 3/65). Match drawn.

Points: Manipur 3, Mizoram 1.