Ranji Trophy: Jadeja shines with the bat in Saurashtra's win; TN, Karnataka record wins too

Ravindra Jadeja shines again in Saurashtra’s win but this time with the bat New Delhi: All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was among the three half-centurions as Saurashtra chased down a steep 302-run target to register a four-wicket win over Services in their Ranji Trophy group C cricket match on Monday. Overnight 311/6, Services declared at that score this morning, setting Saurashtra a stiff target. [caption id=“attachment_1626813” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Ravindra Jadeja . AP[/caption] However, the visiting team put up a superb combined show to clinch a victory with four wickets to spare. The foundation for the triumph was laid by opener Mohsin Dodia (65) and skipper Sagar Jogiyani (27), who shared a second wicket stand of 71 runs. The wickets feel regularly after that but Saurashtra batsmen did not allow that to disturb the chase significantly and shared significant partnerships in the middle order to cross the line in 80.3 overs. Jadeja (55) and Arpit Vasavada (57) were the most notable contributors in the lower half of the line-up. For, Services, Muzzaffaruddin Khalid was the pick of the bowlers with a haul of 4/147 in 31 overs. Brief Scores: Services: 254 and 311/6 declared Saurashtra: 264 and 302/6 in 80.3 overs (Mohsin Dodia (65), Ravindra Jadeja (55), Arpit Vasavada, Muzzaffaruddin Khalid 4/147) Rahil picks 4/38 as TN complete 8 wicket win New Delhi: Left-arm spinner Rahil Shah triggered Railways’ collapse to help Tamil Nadu register a convincing eight-wicket win over the hosts in a Group B Ranji Trophy cricket match. Resuming at the overnight score of 200 for four, Rahil Shah, who didn’t bowl in the first innings, scalped four wickets for 38 runs, including that of V Cheluvaraj (88) to trigger Railways’ collapse. Railways lost their last six wickets for 40 runs inside 19 overs. The hosts lost their first wicket of the day in the fifth over when captain Mahesh Rawat (78) was trapped leg before by seamer J Kousik (2/45). Rahil then got into the act, dismissing Cheluvaraj, the other overnight batsman who had scored two fifties in the match, caught behind three overs later to reduce Railways to 215 for six. There was hardly any resistance from the other Railways batsmen, as Rahil cleaned up the tail with three more wickets to bundle out the hosts for 240 in 88.2 overs. Set a paltry target of 77, Tamil Nadu lost a chance to secure seven points when captain Abhinav Mukund was bowled by Anureet Singh in the ninth over. But the visitors rode on Dinesh Karthik’s 40-ball 43 to complete the chase in 23.2 overs. By virtue of the win, Tamil Nadu pocketed six points while Railways returned empty-handed. Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu: 328 & 77 for 2 in 23.2 overs (Dinesh Karthik 43; Anureet Singh 2/43) beat Railways 164 & 240 (V Cheluvaraj 88, Mahesh Rawat 78; Rahil Shah 4/38) by eight wickets. Points: Tamil Nadu 6, Railways 0. Wakhare, Sarwate spin Vidarbha to 82-run win over Maharashtra Nagpur: Spin duo of Akshay Wakhare (6/58) and Aditya Sarwate (4/74) combined to skittle out Maharashtra for 162 as Vidarbha notched up a 82-run win and grabbed six points from their Ranji Trophy Group A match. Wakhare and Sarwate dished out brilliant spin bowling to derail Maharashtra’s chase as they were bundled out in 46.3 overs at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground. Chasing 245 to win, Maharashtra resumed their second innings at 3 for 1 on the fourth and final day and opener Harshad Khadiwale produced a strokeful 55 which was studded with nine boundaries and one six. Apart from Khadiwale, Ankit Bawne (23), Kedar Jadhav (28) and Rohit Motwani (28) were the other batsmen who could reach doubles figures but they could not capitalise on their scores as Wakhare and Sarwate wrecked havoc. Overnight batsman Bawne was the first to be dismissed in the 13th over when he was caught by Wasim Jaffer off Wakhare, Khadiwale was sent packing next by Sarwate with Faiz Fazal taking the catch. Shikant Mundhe (4), Jadhav and Chirag Khurana (9) then became the victim of Wakhare in the 24th, 28th over and 34th over, while Rahul Tripathi was trapped infrom of wicket by Sarwate as Maharashtra slipped to 135 for seven in the 37th over. Akshay Darekar (2) and Anupam Sanklecha (1) then were removed by Sarwate and Wakhare in the 41st and 44th over, while skipper Rohit Motwani was the last batsman to be dismissed. Brief Score: Vidarbha 332 & 149 Maharashtra 237 & 162 in 46.3 overs (H Khadiwale 55; A Wakhare 6/58). Karnataka earn six points with 92-run win over Rajasthan Jaipur: Pranay Sharma scored a century but could not prevent Rajasthan from slumping to a 92-run defeat against Karnataka on the fourth and final day of their Ranji Trophy Group A cricket match on Monday. This victory has given Karnataka six points. Chasing 358, Rajasthan were bundled out for 265 despite Pranay (114) and Dishant Yagnik (71 not out) chipping in with crucial runs. Resuming on 42 for three, Rajasthan got off to a determined start with overnight batsmen – Pranay and Tanveer-Ul-Haq – adding 60 runs in the morning before Stuart Binny dismissed the latter for 19. Tanveer’s wicket triggered a mini collapse as Rajat Bhatia and Puneet Yadav fell inside the next two overs with the home team reeling at 116 for six. However, Pranay, who went on to complete his second first-class century, along with Yagnik, fought back to keep the hosts’ chances alive with a 98-run partnership for the fourth wicket. But Pranay’s dismissal off David Mathias’ bowling put a check on Rajasthan’s run rate and then they eventually got all out, even as Yagnik remained unbeaten at the other end. Brief scores: Karnataka: 281 & 318 for five decl Rajasthan: 242 & 265 all out in 82 overs (Pranay Sharma 114, Dishant Yagnik 71 not out; David Mathias 3/53). Wickets galore on final day but Delhi match ends in draw Bhubaneswar: Both Odisha and Delhi suffered batting collapses as 18 wickets fell on the final day of their Ranji Trophi Group A match, which ended in a draw on Monday. On the morning of the final day even the first innings of Odisha was not complete as the hosts resumed at 195 for four. However, quick wickets spiced up the day, preventing it from becoming a drab affair. It was Delhi paceman Pradeep Sangwan, who wreaked havoc by scalping five batsmen. He removed both overnight batsmen Anurag Sarangi (6) and Pratik Das (16) in his successive overs. [caption id=“attachment_2317110” align=“alignright” width=“380”] File picture of Gautam Gambhir. AP[/caption] He then accounted for Suryakant Pradhan (7) Deepak Behera (11) and Dhiraj Singh as Odisha lost the last six wickets for just 22 runs. Sangwan ended up with career-best figures of seven for 38. Delhi began their second innings in solid fashion with each of the three top-order batsmen scoring half-century. They were comfortably placed at 159 for three but ended up losing next six wickets for just 34 runs. Skipper Gautam Gambhir was dismissed first by Shiraj Singh while the other opener Dhruv Shorey (62) was run out. Nitish Rana also batted well for his 52 but mayhem followed after his dismissal. After Rana’s dismissal as fourth wicket, Delhi added only 23 runs to their total, declaring the innings at 193 for nine. Basant Mohanty was the most successful bowler with six for 39. Set a target of 288 runs, Odisha ended the day at 88 for three in 38 overs and the match was drawn. MP beat Baroda by 87 runs despite Yusuf Pathan’s heroics Vododara: Yusuf Pathan gave Madhya Pradesh a mighty scare before the visitor’s rode on Mihir Hirwani and Punnet Datey’s fine bowling to register a 87-run win over Baroda in an exciting Ranji Trophy Group B cricket match. Chasing a stiff 262-run target for an outright win, Baroda were in dire straits at 31 for the loss of five wickets. But then walked in dangerous Yusuf (86 off 98 balls) and in Swapnil Singh’s (47) comapany raised hopes of an improbable victory for Baroda before the challenge fizzled out. [caption id=“attachment_1128497” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Yusuf Pathan has said it is good for Indian cricket to have competition for places. Reuters[/caption] Yusuf and Swapnil shared 132 runs for the sixth wicket to raise the hopes of the home team but once the big-hitting batsman departed, the writing was on the wall for Baroda as Hirwani ran through the lower-order to bundle out the hosts for 174 in 48.4 overs. Besides Yusuf and Swapnil, if other top-order batsmen could have made significant contributions the end result could have been different for Baroda. Hirwani (4/41), son of former India leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani, and pacer Datey (4/20) were the wrecker-in-chief for Madhya Pradesh. Hirwani, thus, finished with impressive match figures of nine for 101 to win the man-of-the-match award. Earlier resuming their second innings at the overnight score of 113 for two, Madhya Pradesh took chance and played agressively to score 175 runs off just 28 overs before declaring their innings at 288 for the loss of six wickets. Overnight batsman Rajat Patidar smashed a quickfire 101 off 127 balls, while Harpreet Singh (53) and Rameez Khan (52) made fifties to make a match out of the tie and give their bowlers a chance to register an outright win. Swapnil was the pick of the bowlers for Baroda with figures of four for 94. The win gave Madhya Pradesh 6 points. Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh: 269 & 288 for six decl in 68 overs (Rajat Patidar 101; Swapnil Singh 4/94) beat Baroda 296 & 174 all out in 48.4 overs (Yusuf Pathan 86; Puneet Datey 4/20, Mihir Hirwani 4/41) by 87 runs. Bengal grabs three points from drawn Ranji Tropy match Rohtak: Owing to their first innings lead, Bengal grabbed three crucial points against Haryana after their Group A Ranji Trophy match ended in a draw at the CH Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, Lahli on Monday. Resuming their second innings at 146 for seven, Bengal declared at 211 for eight, to set Haryana a target of 316. Overnight Bengal batsman Pankaj Shaw (61) produced a patient 148-ball half century which included two fours. Haryana’s runchase was derailed early on when they were reduced to 14 for 2 in 6.1 overs but skipper Virendra Sehwag blasted a 52-ball 46 laced with six boundaries, while Rohit Sharma (50) and Sachin Rana (50) cracked twin half centuries to reignite the chase. However, Sehwag was dismissed by Sayan Mondal in the 23rd over and once Rohit and Sachin were sent back to the hut by Mukesh Kumar and Ashok Dinda respectively in the 43rd and 52nd over, the match was headed to a draw. Wicket-keeper Rahul Dalal (1) was also dismissed by Dinda as Haryana eventually ended their second innings at 195 for six in 62 overs. For Bengal, Dinda (3/52) scalped three wickets, while V Pratap Singh (1/40), SS Mondal (1/32) and Mukesh Kumar (1/46) picked one each. Brief Score: Bengal 329 & 211/8d in 93.5 overs (P Shaw 61; AH Hooda 4/65) Haryana 225 & 195/6 in 62 overs (R Sharma 50, S Rana 50; A Dinda 3/52). Himachal Pradesh hammer Tripura Dharamsala: Himachal Pradesh hammered Tripura by an innings and six runs on day four of the Ranji Trophy Group C match. Tripura, who had a big task of saving the game after resuming the day at 88 for three, were bowled out for 270 in their second innings. They had made 285 in their first innings and Himachal Pradesh replied with 561 for five. It was an exciting win for the hosts in the end as the visitors fell short of seven runs to make Himachal bat again. It was a collective bowling effort from the Himachal bowlers with Rishi Dhawan taking two wickets and Ankush Bedi and Akash Vasisht picking up three each. Brief Scores: Tripura: 285 & 270 in 84.5 overs (Udiyan Bose 60, Nirupam Sen Chowdhary 66 not out; Ankush Bedi 3/50, Akash Vasisht 3/63). Himachal Pradesh: 561 for five decl in 130 overs. Goa earn three points as match against Jharkhand ends in draw Jamshedpur, Nov 2 (PTI) Shadab Jakati (5/72) took a five-wicket haul to bundle out Jharkhand for 209 and give Goa a 93-run first innings lead and three points in a Group C Ranji Trophy cricket natch that ended in a draw. In reply to Goa’s first essay total of 302, Jharkhand today resumed at 154 for four but failed to surpass the visiting team’s score. Jharkhand lost their last six wickets for just 50 runs with left-arm spinner Jakati and offspinner Amit Yadav (3/59) wreaking havoc. Goa then declared their second innings at 102 for five and set Jharkhand a target of 196 late on the final day. Yadav (3/47) took three wickets in Jharkhand’s chase and they slumped to 100 for six before the stumps were drawn, and the home team managed to draw the game. Brief scores: Jharkhand: 209 (Sumit Kumar 51; Shadab Jakati 5/72, Amit Yadav (3/59) & 105 for six (SP Gautam 41; Amit Yadav 3/47) Goa: 302 & 102 for five dec (Darshan Misal 39). Points: Goa 3, Jharkhand 1. PTI