Ranji Trophy 2018-19: Saurabh Kumar takes 14 wickets as UP beat Haryana by six wickets; Delhi gain stranglehold over Bengal

Rohtak: Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar overall took 14 wickets as Uttar Pradesh thrashed hosts Haryana by six wickets in their Elite Group C Ranji Trophy game inside two days here. For Uttar Pradesh, Saurabh Kumar, was adjudged the Man of the Match as he ended the game with figures of 14-65 at the Chaudhry Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, picking seven wickets each in both the innings. The visitors grabbed 6 points with the thumping win. On Sunday, as many as 20 wickets had fallen on the opening day. [caption id=“attachment_4393551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Getty Images[/caption] Haryana were bundled out for 110 in their first essay with 25-year-old Saurabh taking 7-33. The visitors then managed to take a slender-first innings lead after they posted 133 on the board. Resuming on overnight score of 10 for no loss, Haryana batsmen again meekly surrendered to Saurabh, who ended the second innings with brilliant figures of 7-32. Haryana was shot out for paltry 129. For the hosts, opener Amit Kumar top-scored with 51, but other batters faltered in the second innings too. Jayant Yadav chipped in with a 26-run knock. Needing 107 to win, Uttar Pradesh chased the target in 21.2 overs, losing four wickets in the process. UP opener Samarth Singh remained unbeaten on 53 in company of Rinku Singh (20 not out) as the duo took the side home. Meanwhile, at Guwahati, Jammu and Kashmir require another 211 runs to win against hosts Assam with nine wickets in hand. At Porvorim, Rajasthan secured the first-innings lead against Goa, with four of its batsmen striking half centuries. At Jamshedpur, hosts Jharkhand have managed to take the crucial first-innings lead against Tripura with both their openers Kumar Deobrat (136 not out) and Nazim Siddiqui (134) slamming centuries. And at New Delhi, Services have taken first-innings lead against Odisha, who were bundled out for 177 on Sunday. Brief Scores: At Rohtak: Haryana 110 and 129 (Amit Kumar 51, Jayant Yadav 26, Saurabh Kumar 7-32) lost to Uttar Pradesh 133 and 110 for 4 (Samarth Singh 53 not out, Rinku Singh 20 not out, Sanjay Pahal 1-10). Uttar Pradesh won by 6 wickets. Uttar Pradesh 6 points, Haryana 0 points. At Guwahati: Assam 128 and 245 (Rishav Das 95, Surupam Purkayastha 46, Amit Sinha 33, Parvez Rasool 3-30) versus Jammu and Kashmir 144 and 19/1 (Qamran Iqbal 13 not out, Arup Das 1-9). Jammu and Kashmir need 211 runs to win. At Porvorim: Goa 244 versus Rajasthan 343/3 (Robin Bist 98 not out, Mahipal Lomror 89, Ashok Menaria 66 not out, Amogh Desai 1-40). Rajasthan lead by 99 runs. At Jamshedpur: Tripura 253/9 (Rajib Saha 48 not out, U U Bose 44, Rahul Shukla 4-38) versus Jharkhand 307/4 (Kumar Deobrat 136 not out, Nazim Siddiqui 134, Neelambuj Vats 3-45). Jharkhand lead by 54 runs. At New Delhi (Palam): Odisha 177 versus Services 183/4 (N K Singh 64, Ravi Chauhan 48, Abhishek Raut 2-52). Services lead by 6 runs. Delhi gain upperhand after lacklustre Bengal batting Seamer Subodh Bhati triggered a middle-order collapse in the second session as Delhi gained upperhand against Bengal with a slender 20-run first innings lead after the second day in a Ranji Trophy group league encounter. In a nippy five over spell, Bhati took three wickets as Bengal lost five wickets in the post-lunch session before being all out for 220 in reply to Delhi’s first innings score of 240. Bhati got a good support from Kulwant Khejroliya (3/86) as the left-arm medium pacer dealt a big blow dismissing skipper Manoj Tiwary (15), whose wrong judgement proved to be costly in the context of the innings. Tiwary shouldered arms to an incoming Khejroliya delivery that moved in a shade after pitching to take the off-stump for a walk. At stumps, Delhi were 41/2 in their second essay, with an overall lead of 61 runs at close on day two. Ashok Dinda (2/22) took both the wickets in a spirited bowling display and was the only Bengal bowler to make an impact, something that kept Bengal’s fading hopes alive in the must-win Elite Group B fixture. Both the teams need minimum six points to stay in contention for a quarterfinal berth. Dinda trapped opener Hiten Dalal (11) leg before with a delivery that sharply came back in with some pace while Anuj Rawat (10) threw his wicket away in a complete lack of application. The wicketkeeper-batsman chased down a widish delivery only to mis-hit the ball to skipper Tiwary at mid-off. Delhi skipper Nitish Rana survived some anxious moments and nearly got out before an inside edge off his gloves came to his rescue against Dinda. Earlier despite Abhishek Raman’s cheap dismissal inside seven overs, Bengal were looking comfortable with 81/1 in the first session before a couple of key wickets – Abhimanyu Easwaran (40) and Tiwary (15) – before the lunch tilted the momentum in favour of Delhi. Easwaran was done in by left-arm spinner Shivank Vashist as he tried to cut with very little room available and was caught behind. Struggling for form, Bengal No 3 Sudip Chatterjee (56) made his first half-century of the season in a chancy knock but could not make it big and became Bhati’s first victim in an incisive third spell (5-0-11-3). Known for his wicket-to wicket bowling, Bhati got one to rear up from length as Sudeep edged it to Rawat behind the stumps. Bhati later dismissed Writtick Chatterjee and Aamir Gani in successive overs, in what appeared two dubious decisions. Umpires Anil Dandekar and Saiyyed Khalid have had a pretty poor match so far failing to hear big nicks and giving decisions when there is none. However there was no such things with Anushtup Majumdar, who has had a penchant of playing irresponsible strokes over the years when the situation called for a little discretion. Urging his batsmen to score runs collectively, Bengal skipper Tiwary said the match was still wide open. “I’m tired of answering for others, we have experts who can answer better. I just want all our specialist batsmen should score big runs,” Tiwary said. On his misjudgment to be bowled by Khejroliya, Tiwary admitted that it was a technical glitch. “But, I can’t score in every match. There will be ups and downs. I scored a 90 and got an unfortunate run-out in last match. Yes, a big score was expected from me in this must-win match. But I want a collective consistency from our batsmen.” Brief Scores: Delhi 240 and 41/2; 19 overs (Ashok Dinda 2/22). Bengal 220; 58.4 overs (Sudip Chattterjee 56, Abhimanyu Easwaran 40, Pradipta Pramanik 37 not out; Subodh Bhati 3/28, Kulwant Khejroliya 3/86). Mumbai trail by 342 runs Vidarbha piled up a mammoth 511 in their first essay and then reduced Mumbai to 169/6 on the second day of their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy Game here on Monday. For Vidarbha, veteran Wasim Jaffer (178) and one-down Atharva Taide (95) had laid foundation of a big score at the Vidarha Cricket Association stadium. Resuming at 389/4, Ganesh Satish added 13 runs to his overnight tally and fell at 90 as he missed a deserving hundred. Satish became pacer Shardul Thakur’s second victim. But a determined Mohit Kale struck a patient 68 in 126 balls. And contributions from lower order batsmen – Apoorv Wankhede (25), Akshay Wakhare (20 not out) and Aditya Sarwate (16) – helped the hosts cross the 500-run mark. For the visitors, slow left-arm bowler Dhurmil Matkar ended with a five-wicket haul but had to concede 141 runs. However, 41-time Ranji champions Mumbai, who need an outright win to stay alive in the tournament, had a disastrous start. They lost opener Vikrant Auti (7), in-form captain Siddhesh Lad (3) and Shreyas Iyer (0) cheaply. The visitors were reeling at 31-3, but then Jay Bista (64) and all-rounder Shubham Ranjane (52) resurrected their innings with their 99-run stand for the fourth wicket. As things looked positive for Mumbai, Bista threw his wicket away, with Mumbai at 130-4. Then the domestic giants lost Ranjane and experienced batsman Aditya Tare (12) in quick succession. At close of play, all-rounder Shivam Dubey (21 not out) and Dhurmil Matkar (6 not out) were holding fort. For Vidarbha, young off-spinner Akshay Wakhare (4-55) was the pick of the bowlwers and his scalps included Bista, Iyer and Ranjane. Meanwhile, at Pune, visitors Gujarat have taken a massive 184-run lead against Maharashtra with skipper Priyank Panchal and opener Kathan Patel slamming centuries. After bundling out Maharashtra for 230 on Sunday, Gujarat ended the second day at 414/3. At Alur in Karnataka, Chhattisgarh have a mountain to climb as they trail hosts Karnataka by 297 runs. Karnataka posted a massive 418 in their first essay while Chhattisgarh were teetering at 121/3. And at Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi, Baroda had an upper hand, after they took the crucial first-innings lead against Railways. Brief Scores: At Nagpur: Vidarbha 511 (Wasim Jaffer 178, Atharva Taide 95, Ganesh Satish 90, Dhurmil Matkar 5-141) versus Mumbai 169/6 (Jay Bista 64, Shubham Ranjane 52, Shivam Dubey 21 not out, Akshay Wakhare 4-55). Mumbai trail by 342 runs. At Pune: Maharashtra 230 versus Gujarat 414/3 (Priyank Panchal 141, Kathan Patel 107, Manprit Juneja 81, Anupam Sanklecha 1-61). Gujarat lead by 184 runs. At Alur (Karnataka): Kartanaka 418 (Dega Nischal 107, Sidharth K V 105, R Vinay Kumar 90 not out, Pankaj Rao 7-82) versus Chhattisgarh 121/3 (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 53 not out, Amandeep Khare 43 not out, Abhimanyu Mithun 3-26). Chhattisgarh trail by 297 runs. At New Delhi (Karnail Singh Stadium): Baroda 313 (Krunal Pandya 160, Mitesh Patel 61 not out, Amit Mishra 5-76) and 14/2 (Kedar Devdhar 6 not out, Amit Mishra 2-9) versus Railways 200 (Mahesh Rawat 50, Arindam Ghosh 46, Krunal Pandya 4-40). Baroda lead by 127 runs.