Ranji Wrap: Gurkeerat helps Punjab beat Andhra; Bhatia's 99 props up Rajasthan

Off-spinner Gurkeerat Singh Mann registered his career best bowling figures as Punjab defeated a sorry-looking Andhra by seven wickets on the second day of a Group B Ranji Trophy cricket match, here today. After the fall of 17 wickets on the opening day, it was no different today as well as 16 more tumbled on a rank turner at the Dhruve Pandove stadium. Resuming their first innings at 127 for seven in reply to Andhra 80 all out, Punjab added 20 more runs to finish on 147 to take a first innings lead of 67 runs. [caption id=“attachment_156420” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Rajat Bhatia. PTI[/caption] But the first innings lead hardly mattered as Punjab rode on Gurkeerat’s innings-best five for 38 to bundle out Andhra for a meagre 133 in their second innings, thereby setting a paltry target of 67 runs to chase for an outright win with more than two days play remaining in the match. Gurkeerat finished with career-best match figures of nine for 52, which includes his first innings bowling figures of four for 14. Gurkeerat was ably supported by pacer Rajwinder Singh (3/33) who picked up three wickets in the second innings, while Sarabjit Ladda (2/40) accounted for two. The 67-run target was a mere formality for Punjab to complete which they achieved in 19.3 overs but not without losing three top-order batsmen. By virtue of this win, Punjab pocketed six points from the match while Andhra returned empty-handed. Brief Scores: Punjab: 147 & 67 for three in 19.3 overs (Mandeep Singh 22 not out; Hanumappa Shivraj 1/10). Andhra: 80 & 133 all out in 41.4 overs (KS Bharat 39; Gurkeerat Singh 5/38). Points: Punjab 6, Andhra 0. Rajasthan reach 219/7 in reply to Karnataka’s 281 in 1st inngs Rajat Bhatia missed out on a century by just one run as Rajasthan reached 219 for seven, still trailing Karnataka’s first innings total by 62 runs, on the second day of a Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match here today. At stumps, Deepak Chahar was batting on 13 and K Ajay Singh was on six. Earlier, resuming on 270 for eight in their first essay, Karnataka could add just another 11 runs to their overnight total, getting all out for 281. Aniket Choudhary finished with best figures of five for 77 for Rajasthan. In reply, Rajasthan were struggling at 48 for four before Bhatia came to the team’s rescue. He played a responsible knock of 99 that came off 171 deliveries and included 14 hits to the fence. Bhatia also put on a crucial 76-run stand with Puneet Yadav (28) for the fifth wicket, followed by another fruitful partnership of 60 runs with Dishant Yagnik (21) for the sixth wicket. But at the end, Bhatia got out, falling just one short of a well deserved hundred. R Vinay Kumar (2/39) and David Mathias (2/41) picked up two wickets each. Delhi reduced to 245/7 against Odisha Suryakant Pradhan’s four-wicket haul did the most damage as Delhi’s batting squandered a good start to be left tottering at 245 for 7 in their first innings on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match against Odisha here today. Overnight 99 for one, Delhi’s batsmen failed to convert their starts into big scores, allowing the home side to have the upper-hand. Middle-order batsman Milind Kumar top-scored for the visitors with a 138-ball 59, which was laced with eight fours. There were other decent contributions up the order as well but the absence of that one big sheet-anchor effort hurt Delhi. The opening pair of Dhruv Shourey (42) and skipper Gautam Gambhir (41) and Nitish Rana (37) were the other notable contributors to the total. The middle-order failed miserably with Pradhan being the wrecker-in-chief. The medium-pacer’s day’s figures read an impressive 4 for 83 in 32.5 overs. Basant Mohanty notched up a couple of wickets. Brief Scores: Delhi 1st Innings: 245/7 in 115 overs (Milind Kumar 59, Dhruv Shorey 42, Gautam Gambhir 41, S Pradhan 4/83). Railways in deep trouble against TN Railways were in a spot of bother at 129 for seven in their first innings in reply to Tamil Nadu’s 328 at the close of play on the second day of a Group B Ranji Trophy cricket match, here today. Opener V Cheluvaraj was a fighting a lonely battle at 63 not out while Arindam Ghosh (48) gave him good support at the middle as the duo shared 104 runs for the fourth wicket. Saurabh Wakaskar (11) was the only other Railway batsman to have reached double digit score. Pace duo of A Aswin Crist (4/42) and J Kousik (3/7) wrecked the Railways innings with their incisive bowling. Earlier resuming the overnight score of 288 for six, the last four Tamil Nadu batsmen could add just 40 runs. Overnight centurian Baba Indrajith added 30 more runs before falling to Railway’s top bowler Anureet Singh, who finished with impressive figures of five for 104. Indrajith faced 233 balls and struck 24 boundaries during his knock. From here on, it will be a Herculean task for Railways to take the vital first innings lead as they still trail Tamil Nadu by 199 runs with just three wickets in hand. Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu 1st innings; 328 all out in 111.2 overs (Baba Indrajith 151; Anureet Singh 5/104). Railways 1st innings: 129 for seven in 59 overs (V Cheluvaraj 63 not out; A Aswin Crist 4/42). J&K put on 460 against Hyderabad Riding on a splendid show by their batsmen, Jammu and Kashmir posted a mammoth first-innings total of 460 against Hyderabad on the second day of their Ranji Trophy group C match here today. After skipper Mithun Manhas’ 150 yesterday, the visiting side rode on Parveez Rasool’s 120-ball 75 and Ram Dayal’s 48 to get over the 400-run mark and grab the edge. For Hyderabad, Anwar Ahmed was the best bowler with a haul of 5/92. In reply, Hyderabad were 113/2 in 41 overs with opener Tanmay Aggarwal’s 57 being their best individual score so far. Rohit Sharma picked up both the wickets that fell today ending the day with figures of 2/33. Brief Scores: Jammu and Kashmir 1st Innings: 460 all out in 131.2 overs (Mithun Manhas 150, Parveez Rasool 75, Anwar Ahmed 5/92). Hyderabad 1st Innings: 113/2 in 41 overs (Tanmay Aggarwal 57, Rohit Sharma 2/33). Praveen, Saurabh give UP upper hand against Gujarat Praveen Kumar (5/16) and Saurabh Kumar (5/37) shared 10 wickets between them to bundle out Gajarat for 100 and give Uttar Pradesh 173-run first innings lead on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group B cricket match here today. At the close of play, UP were 163 for seven in their second innings, with an overall lead of 336 runs and three wickets remaining. Earlier, resuming at 272 for nine in their first innings, UP could add just one more run to their overnight score to finish at 273. In reply, Gujarat kept losing wickets at regular interval even as Praveen and Saurabh wrecked havoc. Only three home team batsmen could reach the double digit mark as they fell for a meagre 100 in 31.4 overs. The visitors also did not have an ideal start to their second innings as both the openers Tanmay Srivastava (1) and Almas Shaukat (8) got out cheaply. But one-down batsman Umang Sharma (66) hit a half-century to steady the boat. At stumps, Piyush Chawla was unbeaten on 17 and Praveen Kumar was batting on five. For Gujarat, Axar Patel was the pick of the wickets with figures of four for 54. Brief scores: Uttar Pradesh: 273 & 163 for 7 (Umang Sharma 66, Axar Patel 4/54). Gujarat: 100 all out (Parthiv Patel 39; Praveen Kumar 5/16, Saurabh Kumar 5/37). Saurashtra lead Services by 10 runs at end of Day 2 Good bowling display from Services’ Muzzaffaruddin Khalid and DG Pathania, who took five and four wickets respectively, helped the team bowl out Saurashtra for 264 on day two of their Ranji Trophy Group C crciket match here today. At the close of play, Saurashtra led Services by 10 runs in the first innings. A A Barot top-scored for Saurashtra with 66 runs. C S Jani was bowled by Muzzaffaruddin Khalid for 47. Saurashtra captain J N Shah managed to make 23. Khalid (5-74) and Pathania (4-72) were the pick among the bowlers sharing nine wickets between them. Brief Scores: Services 254 all out in 69.1 overs (Rajat Paliwal 121, Yashpal Singh 55 not out; Jaydev Unadkat 6-80, Shaurya Sanandia 3-62) Saurashtra 264 all out in 92.4 overs (AA Barot 66, CS Jani 47; Muzzaffaruddin Khalid 5-74, DG Pathania 4-72). Bengal have edge against Haryana Mukesh Kumar led Bengal’s impressive bowling show as they restricted the Virender Sehwag-led Haryana to 186 for eight to take control of their Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match here today. Bengal were all out for 329 in their first innings with Sachin Rana returning figures of five for 46 at the CH Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium. The match’s biggest attraction and Haryana captain Virender Sehwag (28) was bowled by Mukesh Kumar (4/49) after getting a start. The just-retired India player hit three boundaries while facing 46 balls. Earlier, a ninth-wicket partnership of 78 runs between Pragyan Ojha (51) and Ashok Dinda (45) frustrated the hosts after they had Bengal at 250 for eight at one stage on the first day yesterday evening. Overnight 22, Ojha hit three fours and two sixes in his 103-ball knock, while Dinda found the fence six times in his 51-ball innings. When their turn to bat came, Haryana lost wickets at regular intervals to give the visiting side advantage by the end of second day’s play. They were stuttering at 120 for eight at one stage before a ninth-wicket partnership of 66 runs between Rohit Sharma (55 not out) and Yuzvendra Chahal (33 not out) avoided a humiliation. At stumps, Sharma and Chahal were at the crease, with the hosts still trailing by 143 runs with just two wickets remaining. Maharashtra trail Vidarbha by 144 runs Vidarbha had the edge as they restricted Maharashtra to 144 for six after being bowled out for 332 in their Group B Ranji Trophy cricket match here today. At stumps on day two, Maharashtra were trailing by 188 runs with four wickets in hand at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground. Vidarbha’s overnight batsman Faiz Fazal top-scored for the hosts with a 273-ball 120, while Shalabh Srivastava and the other overnight batsman Ravi Jangid made 63 and 40 respectively. Fazal struck 16 boundaries during his stay at the crease. For Maharashtra, Shrikant Mundhe and Anupam Sanklecha picked up three wickets each, while Chirag Khurana had two. Opener Swapnil Gugale was Mahrashtra’s top-scorer with 42 off 80 balls. Khurana (19) and Mundhe (7) were at the crease when the stumps were drawn. For the home team, Shrikant Wagh and Ravikumar Thakur picked up two wickets apiece. Goa 141/2 against Jharkhand on 2nd day An unbeaten knock of 67 by opener Swapnil Asnodkar steered Goa to 141 for two in their first innings against hosts Jharkhand on the second day of the four-day Group C Ranji Trophy cricket match at Keenan stadium here today. Elected to bat first after winning the toss, Goa openers Amogh Desai (26, 2x4) and Asnodkar started on a confident note, stiching together 84 runs before off-spinner Samar Quadri struck the first blow in the 31st over. Quadri, who was brought in the seventh over, maintained a good line and length from the beginning and kept building pressure on the Goan openers, who were facing the host seamers with ease. The visitors suffered the first blow when Quadri had Desai caught off Sunny Gupta at the score of 84. Desai faced 107 deliveries to notch up 26 studded with two boundaries. Following Desai’s dismissal, Sagun Kamat stepped in to partner Asnodka, who kept the scoreboard ticking with some brilliant strokes around the field, but could not last long as Quadri struck again to have him caught off Kumar Deobrat in the 45th over. Kamat contributed 25 runs with the help of a four and a six off 38 deliveries. At close, Asnodkar was batting at 67 while Dheeraj Jadhav, who joined him after Kamat’s departure, was on 8. The first day’s play was washed out due to heavy downpour. PTI