The efforts of Aryan Juyal (76) and Karan Sharma (67) stood out as Uttar Pradesh held nerves to beat 41-times champions and hosts Mumbai by two wickets in a Ranji Trophy match on Monday.
On the final day, Mumbai were bowled out for 320 after resuming at 303/8 in their second innings. Juyal and Karan laid the foundation of a tricky chase of 195 with a 104-run stand for the third wicket after UP were jolted twice early on.
Despite regular strikes from Mumbai, Karan stood tall with a 173-ball 67 not out (7x4s, 2x6s) to take his side over the line and help UP earn six points.
The visitors Uttar Pradesh finished at 195/8 in almost 70 overs with right-arm off-spinner Tanush Kotian (5/58) leading the fightback for Mumbai with the ball.
In another game, Andhra crushed hosts Chhattisgarh at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur by 126 runs in what turned out to be a one-sided contest.
Chasing 320 to win, the hosts were bowled out for a mere 193 despite opener Eknath Kerkar hitting a resolute 199-ball 76 at the top and skipper Amandeep Khare recording his second fifty of the game with a quickfire 67 off 55 balls with seven fours and two sixes.
It was an all-round show from the visiting Andhra team for whom Hanuma Vihari piled up 183 in their first-innings total of 431, which had Chhattisgarh buried under a mountain of pressure through the course of the game.
While Nitish Kumar Reddy (3/36) and Prasanth Kumar (3/21) were among the top wicket-takers in the second innings, Prithvi Raj Yarra (2/40) and Girinath Reddy (1/25) also chipped in as Andhra walked away with six points.
At the Moin ul Haq Stadium in Patna, Bihar earned three points from their clash against Kerala having taken a 150-run lead in the first innings.
Kerala were bolstered by a fine unbeaten 109 from Sachin Baby whose century took the visitors ahead by 70 runs in the second innings but the match ended in a draw. Bihar posted 377 in reply to Kerala's 227 in the first essay.
Brief scores:
At Mumbai: Mumbai 198 and 320 (Shivam Dube 117, Shams Mulani 63; Aaqib Khan 4/63) lost to Uttar Pradesh 324 and 195/8 in 69.5 overs (Aryan Juyal 76, Karan Sharma 67*; Tanush Kotian 5/58) by 2 wickets.
Points: Mumbai 0, Uttar Pradesh 6.
At Raipur: Andhra 431 and 150/2d beat Chhattisgarh 262 and 193 in 59.4 overs (Eknath Kerkar 76, Amandeep Khare 67; Prasanth Kumar 3/21) by 126 runs.
Points: Andhra 6, Chhattisgarh 0.
At Patna: Kerala 227 and 220/4 (Sachin Baby 109*; Ashutosh Aman 2/26) drew with Bihar 377.
Points: Kerala 0, Bihar 3.
Delhi beat Uttarakhand by seven runs
Delhi rode on skipper Himmat Singh's brave 194 followed by Himanshu Chauhan and Hrithik Shokeen's brilliant bowling effort to eke out a seven-run win over Uttarakhand for their first win in Group D of the ongoing Ranji Trophy season in Mohali on Monday.
After Himmat lifted Delhi with a counter-attacking 194, Himanshu (5/39) and Shokken (3/81) ran through the Uttarakhand batting line-up to help their side record a vital win which game them six points.
Despite the win, Delhi are languishing at the seventh spot in the eight-team Group D with seven points from one win and two draws.
Resuming the day needing 77 runs for win with four wickets in hand, Uttarakhand folded for 165 in 79.3 overs. Akhil Rawat was the lone warrior for Uttarakhand as he scored a valiant 63 off 185 balls but he lacked support from the other end.
But once Rawat fell to Shokeen leg-before, the writing was on the wall for Uttarakhand.
At Cuttack, Rajesh Mohanty sparked a batting collapse in Himachal Pradesh ranks who lost nine wickets for a mere 88 runs on the final day against hosts Odisha, who romped home with a 238-run win.
Mohanty returned 20-5-33-5 whereas Biplab Samantray took 2/25 and Debabrata Pradhan, Sunil Roul and Harshit Rathod took one wicket apiece as Himachal were shot out for a mere 149 in the second essay, having scored 176 in the first.
Prashant Chopra waged a lone battle of sorts with 57.
On the account of a superior batting show in the first innings which saw Jammu and Kashmir taking a lead of 74 runs, they walked away with three points while the hosts Baroda had to contend with one point.
Mahesh Pithiya starred with 5/82 for the visitors while Sahil Lotra's 63 not out was the standout performance for Baroda who were struggling at 193/7 when stumps were drawn.
Brief Scores:
Delhi 147 and 264/9d (Himmat Singh 194, Lakshy Thareja 43). Uttarakhand 239 and (target 173) 165 all out in 79.3 overs (Akhil Rawat 63; Himanshu Chauhan 5/39, Hrithik Shokeen 3/81).
Points: Delhi 6, Uttarakhand 0.
Jammu & Kashmir 457 and 193/7 in 76.4 overs (Sahil Lotra 63 not out; Mahesh Pithiya 5/82) vs Baroda 383;
Points: Jammu & Kashmir 3, Baroda 1.
Odisha 138 & 425/8d vs Himachal Pradesh 176 and 149 all out in 57.4 overs (Prashant Chopra 57; Rajesh Mohanty 5/33)
Points: Odisha 6, Himachal Pradesh 0.
