Ranji Trophy round-up: Ojha's 11 wicket-haul secures thrilling win for Bengal; Stuart Binny stars for Karnataka

Pragyan Ojha stars in Bengal’s first win of season Kolkata: Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha spun Bengal to their maiden victory this season as his career-best match haul of 11 wickets helped the hosts outplay Vidarbha by 105 runs in the Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match, which witnessed an intense finish on Tuesday. Chasing a stiff 297, Vidarbha almost saw the day through with a valiant 96 from Ganesh Satish (11x4, 1x6) but the new Bengal recruit trapped him LBW with a ball that stayed low en route to 4-60 in the second innings to make it 183 for nine in the last ball of 82nd over. [caption id=“attachment_2503066” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Pragyan Ojha and Bengal teammates celebrate their win. PTI[/caption] With light fading fast and Bengal needing the last wicket, two catches were dropped to add more drama in the fag end of the fourth and final day. But before it could go out of their hands Veer Pratap Singh (3-23), who had given the first two breakthroughs in the day, sealed the win dismissing Ravikumar Thakur to spark early Diwali celebrations in the hosts camp. Having defeated the team, which was placed second before the match, Bengal thus opened up the table to jump to top four and brighten their last-eight hopes, while Vidarbha dropped to fifth. Bengal are now ahead of Vidarbha and behind third-placed Assam on net run-rate as all the three teams have 16 points, while Delhi (24) and reigning champions Karnataka (21) occupy top two in the standings. Man of the Match Ojha, who has had a quiet season for his new team so far, made it memorable at the Jadavpur University second campus ground in Salt lake as he made all the difference in the bowling unit, en route to his career-best 11-118 in Ranji Trophy. In first-class cricket, this was his third 10th wicket match haul and first in Ranji Trophy with the other two coming in Test and a county for Surrey. Earlier Veer Pratap gave the first breakthroughs dismissing Wasim Jaffer (three) and Faiz Fazal (nine) before Satish stitched 67 with Subramaniam Badrinath (31). But before they could make it big, Ojha gave twin blows in Badrinath and Shalabh Shrivastava (1) in successive overs, while Ashok Dinda made it 85 for five at lunch castling Shrikant Wagh for a duck. It may have seemed a cakewalk for Bengal but Satish stood in between their win with his 201-ball knock spanning five hours and 25 minutes to frustrate Tiwary in the second session that belonged to Vidarbha. The Bengal skipper bowled nine overs and took the only wicket to fall in the second session, Amol Ubarhande (eight) but it did not help the cause as Ojha hardly got any support at the other end. Satish meanwhile started to look threatening having completed his 20th first-class half century with a boundary off Ojha against whom he also struck a six. Nothing working for Bengal, Tiwary brought in another part-timer in Pankaj Shaw, a move that clicked as the off-spinner dismissed Aditya Sarwate (24) LBW first ball to bring an end to his 56-run seventh wicket partnership with Satish. “It was the turning point of the match,” man of the match Ojha said acknowledging Shaw’s effort. “But we never gave up hope. It was about being patient and bowling consistently. Somebody had to do something extra ordinary and I’m glad that my contribution helped the team.” Satish looked solid in his defence and was happy to avoid the singles to avoid giving strike to the tailenders as he neared his century. Four runs shy of the feat, Ojha bowled an unplayable delivery that stayed low and went straight to hit Satish in front of middle stump and it was all open for Bengal. To add more drama, Tiwary dropped Bandiwar at slip before the same batsman was dropped by Ojha off his own bowling to miss out on his 12th victim. Tiwary opted to give a break to Ojha and brought on Veer Pratap who was quick to dismiss Thakur in the very first ball after the batsman took an outside edge and was caught by wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami. Brief Scores Bengal 334 and 164 Vidarbha 202 and 191 all out in 91.1 overs (Ganesh Satish 96, Subramaniam Badrinath 31; Pragyan Ojha 4-60). Points: Bengal 6, Vidarbha 0 UP fight in vain but concede lead to Mumbai in drawn game Mumbai: Uttar Pradesh were bowled out for 440, chasing hosts Mumbai’s huge first innings total of 610 for 9 declared, before the Ranji Trophy Group B match ended in a draw on Tuesday with the visitors making 140 in the second essay after following on. Starting the day at the overnight 350 for five, trailing the home team by 260 runs, UP lost both their overnight not out batsmen Eklavya Dwivedi (66) and Piyush Chawal (88) in the morning session and their slim hopes of gaining the first innings lead fizzled out. [caption id=“attachment_2473222” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  File image of Mumbai Ranji team. PTI[/caption] Medium pacer Abhishek Nayar, Mumbai’s best bowler of this type on view at the slow-paced Wankhede Stadium track, dismissed both the batsmen before left arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar polished off the tail to bring the UP first innings to an end and give Mumbai a huge lead of 170 runs. Nayar and Dabholkar finished with four wickets apiece before their captain Aditya Tare asked UP to follow on with a view to try and gain an outright victory. But the ploy did not work as UP recovered from the loss of an early wicket (Dwivedi for 6) through an unbeaten second wicket partnership of 128 runs between Himanshu Asnora (68 not out) and Umang Sharma (62 not out), who both compiled their second half centuries of the game. Play was called off by mutual agreement before the start of the mandatory overs. Mumbai gained three points by virtue of taking the first innings lead and remained on top of Group B with 20 points while UP had 14, including one from this game, to be sixth in the nine-team group. Mumbai clash next with Railways here from November 15-18 while UP host Tamil Nadu on the same dates. Brief scores: Mumbai 610 for 9 declared drew with Uttar Pradesh 440 (H Asnora 92, U Sharma 53, Sarfaraz Khan 44, E Dwivedi 66, P Chawla 84; V Dabholkar 4 for 116, A Nayar 4 for 63) and 140 for 1 (H Asnora not out 68, U Sharma not out 62; V Dabholkar 1 for 30). Points: Mumbai 3; UP 1. Karnataka pull off 2nd outright Ranji win against Odisha Mysuru: Karnataka registered their second outright win, beating Odisha by an innings and 64 runs on the fourth and final day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match. With this win Karnataka secured seven points, and are among the top contenders to qualify for the knockout stage with 21 points to their credit. [caption id=“attachment_2032513” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Stuart Binny. AFP[/caption] Stuart Binny and Shreyas Gopal, ably supported by Vinay Kumar, helped Karnataka skittle out Odisha for 104 runs in their second innings under 37 overs. Binny claimed four wickets for 34 runs and Gopal bagged three wickets for 43 runs, while Kumar ended with two for seven off seven overs and Udit Patel picked up one wicket. Batting first, Odisha put on 232 all out in their first innings with Govinda Poddar scoring 153 runs after he had smashed 15 boundaries and a six off 230 balls. In reply, Karnataka declared their first innings at 400 for nine after India discard Robin Uthappa scored his second century of the season with a superb 148 runs. He had scored his first ton against Rajasthan in the previous match. Karnataka opener Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair, also came good with their bat, scoring 78 and 73 runs, respectively. Nair and Uthappa took the game away from Odisha’s hands when they stitched a 169-run partnership for fourth wicket and helped hosts post 168-run first innings lead. Resuming at the overnight score of zero for one, Odisha started on a disastrous note, losing first innings centurion Poddar, who was caught by Abhishek Reddy off Kumar for seven. Binny turned the tide completely in Karnataka’s favour after he claimed two wickets in consecutive deliveries, first he sent back Nataraj Behera (19) and then Ranjit Singh for a naught. After the fall of Singh, no batsman held the crease and with Karnataka bowlers, especially Binny and Gopal, wrecking havoc. Anurag Sarangi was the top scorer for Odisha with 44 runs with six boundaries, scored off 75 balls. To the dismay of Odisha, they lost four batsmen – Rajesh Dhuper, Singh, Biplab Samanataray and Basant Mohanty – without opening an account. Assam thrashes Haryana by six wickets Rohtak, Nov 10 (PTI) Amit Verma (51) and Gokul Sharma (19) took their time before knocking off the required 38 runs on the final day as Assam recorded a comfortable six-wicket win over Haryana in their Ranji Trophy Group A match. It was a comeback-win for Assam as they had conceded a first innings lead of 48 runs but their bowlers brought them back by bundling out the rivals for just 111 in their second essay. Amit and Gokul remained steady when they came out this morning chasing a victory target of 160 runs. They batted slow, taking 16.1 overs to score the required 38 runs, but ensured that there is no twist in the tale. Brief Scores: Haryana 168 and 111 (H Rana 27;A Das 6/39, K Das 4/48) Assam 120 and 122 for 4 in 38 overs.(Amit Verma 51 not out, KB A Karthik 48; A Hooda 2/62). Tripura manage draw against Kerala Malappuram (Kerala), Nov 10 (PTI) Tripura managed to sneak away with a point after holding on for a draw against Kerala on the fourth and final day of their Ranji Trophy group C cricket match. Overnight 224/7, Tripura were bowled out for 236 this morning. In reply, Kerala declared their second innings at 117/4 to set the visitors a target of 229. At close of the match, Tripura were 53 for no loss and managed a point out of the match, while Kerala took away three points owing to their first innings lead. Brief Scores: Kerala: 347 and 117/4d Tripura: 236 and 53/0 in 17 overs (Udiyan Bose 32 not out). J&K top order responds to SOS call, eke out draw Jamshedpur: Ian Dev Singh (126) struck a fighting century, his ninth in first class, and Mithun Manhas (50 not out) scored his second fifty in a row to help Jammu and Kashmir salvage a draw against Jharkhand in their Ranji Trophy Group C match. At the top, Shubham Khajuria also scored a valiant 77, helping the side’s cause, following on. J&K batsmen batted with lot of resolve to get at least one point from the contest after conceding a huge first innings lead. They ended their second innings at 265 for four, losing only two wickets in the final day. Ian Dev Singh’s 126 came off 177 balls with 21 fours and two shots over the fence. Brief Scores: Jharkhand 1st innings: 551/8 declared Jammu and Kashmir 309 and 265 for 4 in 81.2 overs. All-round Axar helps Gujarat bag bonus point against Baroda Valsad: A strong all-round show by Axar Patel helped Gujarat thrash Baroda by an innings and 46 runs to bag a bonus point in the Group B Ranji Trophy cricket encounter. [caption id=“attachment_2348984” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  File image of Axar Patel. AFP[/caption] After a gutsy 81 in Gujarat’s only batting outing, Axar bagged three and four wickets respectively in the first and second Baroda innings to lead the rout. Satrting the day on 81 for four while following-on, Baroda crashed to 207 all out with Axar and off-spinner Rujul Bhatt bagging four wickets apiece. Skipper Ambati Rayudu (43) and Hardik Pandya (43) fought hard but the rest of teh batting just fell apart. The Parthiv Patel-led side had gained the upper hand from the very start after the hosts rode on opener Priyank Kirit Panchal’s 128 to post 505 in their only outing. Fifties from Manpreet Maneja (55), Rush Kalaria (68), Bhatt (61) and Axar also contributed handsomely in the team’s mammoth showing. The Ambati Rayudu-led Baroda could not match up to the tall score even as they fell twice. All-rounder Irfan Pathan did made his presence felt with a gutsy 58 in the first innings and also a six-wicket haul in the Gujarat innings. Gujarat are placed fourth in the points table led by Mumbai. They have 16 points from five games with two wins and a loss. Baroda on the other hand are languishing at the last-but-one place in the nine-team table with three losses and a single win in six matches. Brief Scores: Gujarat 505, Baroda 252 and 207 all out in 73.4 overs (Ambati Rayudu 43, Hardik Pandya 43; Axar Patel 4-71, Rujul Bhatt 4-8). Points: Gujarat 7, Baroda 0. Himachal, Services share a point Dharamsala: Himachal Pradesh and Services shared a point after their Ranji Trophy Group C game ended in a draw with the visitors ending day four at 448/8 in response to the hosts’ first innings total of 531. Overnight centurions Rajat Paliwal (107) and Yashpal Singh (115) did not last long after resuming the Services’ innings at 344/3. Himachal could have pressed harder for the first innings lead had it not been for a shortened day four when 47.1 overs were bowled. Brief scores: Himachal Pradesh 531 all out. Services 448/8 in 170 overs (Rajat Paliwal 106, Yashpal Singh 115; Akshay Chauhan 3/140, Sreshth Nirmohi 3/62). Rain-hit Andhra-TN match ends in draw Chennai: After two days had been washed out owing to rain, Andhra and Tamil Nadu shared a point each after their Group B Ranji Trophy match ended in a draw at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. When the stumps were drawn on the fourth and final day, Tamil Nadu were 164 for seven in 37 overs. Opting to bat after winning the toss, Andhra were all out for 203 in 77.2 overs on the first day of the game. Baba Indrajith top-scored for the hosts with a 51-ball 43. Tamil Nadu now have 16 points from five matches, while Andhra totalled 10 from six games. Tamil Nadu take on Uttar Pradesh at Kanpur in the next round. Batting was difficult on a slow turner and the home side’s opening batsman Baba Aparajith made his exit in the fifth over for just 6 runs. Then, wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Kathik joined captain Abhinav Mukund and the former straightaway started scoring freely. But Dinesh was ran out while trying to take a quick single - he made 29 runs of 23 balls and hit four fours and a six. The duo added 44 runs for the second wicket in 7.2 overs. Vijay Shankar was clean bowled by Shivraj for 3. In-form Indrajith and R Satish steadied the innings before Satish was run out for 33. Indrajith, too, got out when he stepped out to hit B Sudhakar and was stumped by keeper Bharath. Later, Malolan Rangarajan made an useful 26. Saurashtra secure 3 points against Goa Rajkot: The Group C Ranji Trophy cricket match between Saurashtra and Goa ended in a draw, with the home team securing three points for taking the first-innings lead. Goa scored 239 in the first innings and then saw Saurashtra managing to take a crucial lead of 19 runs at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium. The visitors declared their second innings at 299 for seven in 89 overs. In reply, Saurashtra were 223 for five in 76.1 overs when the stumps were drawn on the fourth and final day. Opener Avi Barot top-scored for the hosts with 93 off 155 balls, while Amit Yadav was the most successful Goa bowler with figures of 3/52). PTI