Left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar shone with a four-wicket haul as Mumbai demolished Punjab by 180 runs to register their second successive win in the Ranji Trophy in Chandigarh.
After setting a target of 399 for Punjab, Mumbai dismissed the hosts for 214 to pocket six points for an outright win and top the table in Group A.
Dabholkar sent back most of the Mumbai middle-order in a fine performance during which he bowled 25 overs conceding 87 runs in all.
Overnight 108 for four, Punjab were relying on India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh to steer the innings but he could not convert his solid start into a big knock.
The left-hander departed after top-scoring for his team with a 94-ball 40, which included three fours. He was the lone scalp that pacer Javed Khan managed.
Mumbai bowlers kept it economical with another left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla picking up three wickets. Senior pacer Zaheer Khan grabbed two for 27 in his 13 overs.
Punjab's number 11 Rajwinder Singh produced an entertaining 29-run cameo that came off 17 deliveries, delaying the inevitable.
But Abdulla brought an end to his knock to draw the curtains on Punjab's innings after 68.3 overs. Punjab are now third in the group standings with seven points.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai: 282 and 271
Punjab: 155 and 214 in 68.3 overs (Yuvraj Singh 40, Rajwinder Singh 29, Vishal Dabholkar 4/87, Iqbal Abdulla 3/37).
Wagh's five-for helps Vidarbha beat Haryana
Nagpur: A sensational bowling performance by pacer Shrikant Wagh (5/30) helped Vidarbha register an eight-wicket win over Haryana in their Ranji Trophy group A match.
Vidarbha bowlers, led by left-arm pacer Wagh, bowled out Haryana for a paltry 102 in their second innings giving their batsmen just 145 runs to chase on the final day.
An unbeaten half century by Faiz Fazal (50) and skipper Shalabh Shrivastava (27 not out) guided the hosts to a comfortable victory at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.
Resuming on 29 for two, Haryana batsman Harshal Patel (6) was dismissed by Wagh in the first over of the day without adding any runs to his overnight score of six. Sunny Singh (19) too was bowled by the 25-year-old pacer to peg the visitors at 41 for four.
Wagh was ably supported by off-spinners Akshay Wakhare (3/33) and Sumit Ruikar (2/12) as regular strikes by the trio scuttled the Haryana batting in 46.5 overs.
For Haryana, who had a 42-run first innings lead, Avi Barot (24) was the highest run scorer followed by Singh.
Chasing a modest target, Vidarbha lost wickets of Amol Ubarhande (21) and Wagh (31) before opening their season account with full six points.
Fazal's fifty came off 97 ball including six fours while Shrivastava hit five boundaries in his 29-ball knock.
Brief Scores:
Haryana 329 & 102 all out (Avi Barot 24, Sunny Singh 19; Shrikant Wagh 5/30)
Vidarbha: 287 & 145 for two (Faiz Fazal 50, Shrikant Wagh 31; Mohit Sharma 1/26).
Sehwag, Gambhir flop again for Delhi
Surat: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir's wretched form in domestic cricket continued as Delhi could only manage a solitary point against Gujarat despite a lion-hearted effort from their bowlers on the final day of their group A Ranji Trophy game.
Chasing a victory target of 257 in maximum 47 overs, Sehwag (15) and Gambhir (44) couldn't make a match of it as play was called off after Delhi crawled to 100 for three in 32 overs. Gujarat had scored 320 in the first innings and then managed to bowl out Delhi for 295 thereby ensuring three points by virtue of 25-run first innings lead.
Starting the day at 89 for four, Gujarat were all out for 231 in their second innings but more importantly played 77.4 overs which also reduced Delhi's chances of making a match of it.
The tail wagged for Gujarat as their spin trio of Akshar Patel (29), Jesal Karia (32) and Rakesh Dhurv (25) played close to 27 overs between themselves to clinch three points for the hosts.
It was a stiff target and once Sehwag came in at No 3, he announced his arrival with a boundary but another irresponsible shot brought about his downfall. Trying to hit left-arm spinner Akshar out of the park, the India discard missed the flight and was stumped by Parthiv Patel.
Delhi skipper Gambhir found it difficult to get going on a track that offered turn as painstaking 83-ball-44 included four boundaries and was adjudged leg before by padding up a straighter one from Dhurv. Once Gambhir was gone, it was just formality and two captains called off the match at start of mandatory over.
Brief Scores:
Gujarat 320 & 231 in 77.4 overs (Parthiv Patel 56, Jesal Karia 32, Vikas Mishra 4/83)
Delhi 295 & (target 257) 100/3 (Gautam Gambhir 44, Virender Sehwag 15).
Gupta stars in UP’s win over Baroda
Vadodara: Left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta bagged four wickets, including three in an over, as Uttar Pradesh cruised to a 182-run win over Baroda in their Group B Ranji Trophy match.
The 26-year-old spinner from Meerut ran through the Baroda lower-order as they fell short of the stiff 369-run target by some distance, giving the visitors six points for the victory.
Pace spearhead R P Singh and leg-spinner Piyush Chawla picked two wickets before the hosts were bundled out for 186 in 64.3 overs.
Ambati Rayudu was the only batsman to offer some resistance as he top-scored with 56 while hard-hitting all-rounder Yusuf Pathan blasted a 46-ball 49 with the help of nine fours and a six.
Overnight five for two with both the openers gone, Baroda, barring the 82-run stand for the sixth wicket between Rayudu and Pathan, could not do much on the final day of the second round encounter.
Earlier, on the third day on Saturday, opener Tanmay Srivastava made an unbeaten century before spearhead R P struck twice at the fag end to put Uttar Pradesh in sight of an outright win.
After UP declared their innings at 294 for six, senior pacer R P, who grabbed fours wickets in their first innings, once again made life difficult for the hosts dealing them two quick blows in the form of Saurabh Wakaskar and Aditya Waghmore.
Brief scores:
UP 302 and 294/6 decl
Baroda 228 and 186 all out (Rayudu 56, Yusuf 49; Kumar 4/14).
TN earn three points in drawn match against MP
Indore: A strong batting performance by the middle-order after being forced to follow on helped Madhya Pradesh avoid defeat but Tamil Nadu walked away with three points due to their first innings lead in the drawn Ranji Trophy Group B match.
In reply to a mammoth 532 for eight declared, Madhya Pradesh were bowled out for 269 in their first innings and were 196 for three in their second essay when stumps were drawn on the fourth and final day at Holkar Cricket Stadium.
Left-arm orthodox bowler, Aushik Srinivas grabbed four wickets in the first innings before claiming one in the MP's second essay to become the pick of the Tamil Nadu bowlers.
Resuming on overnight total of 221 for seven, skipper Devendra Bundela, starting on 64, top-scored with 95 off 213 balls, laced with 13 fours and two sixes, to remain unbeaten till the end.
But he, unfortunately, ran out of partners at the other end and TN enforced a follow-on on the hosts.
When asked to follow on, MP still needed 263 runs to avoid an innings defeat.
MP were off to a miserable start as their opener Satyam Choudhary (1) departed with just 11 runs on the board.
But the other opener in Jalaj Saxena (42) and the middle order came up with some handy contributions to deny TN a win.
Mohnish Mishra top-scored for the hosts with a 102-ball unbeaten 66, which included four boundaries and three sixes.
Naman Ojha (46) and Rameez Khan (31 not out) were the other notable contributors for MP as they managed to grab a point from the match.
Brief Scores:
Tamil Nadu: 532 for eight declared
Madhya Pradesh: 269 all out in 100.4 overs (Devendra Bundela not out 95, Naman Ojha 41; Aushik Srinivas 4/40) & 196 for three in 57 overs (Mohnish Mishra not out 66, Naman Ojha 46; Aswin Crist 1/28).
Chauhan, Vasvada ensure draw for Saurashtra
New Delhi: Opener Bhushan Chauhan struck an unbeaten century to help Saurashtra draw their Group B Ranji Trophy match against Railways, who walked away with three points on the basis of their first innings lead.
The visitors began the day at 54 for two and declared their second innings at 217 for three. It was a remarkable improvement in their batting as they were all out for just 165 in their first essay.
Chauhan resumed his innings at 24 this morning and batted with determination for a well-made 106 and shared an unbeaten 150-run stand for the fourth wicket with Aarpit Vasvada, who scored 66.
Their splendid batting ensured that Saurashtra do not suffer one more collapse and at least they take one point from the contest.
While Chauhan faced 330 balls in his innings which had 10 fours and one shot over the fence, Vasvada's knock came off 204 balls with three boundaries.
Set a target of 208 runs, Railways scored nine for no loss in 18 overs.
Saurashtra lost one wicket as Shledon Jackson (13) added 10 runs to his overnight total before being caught behind off Anureet Singh.
Brief Scores:
Saurashtra 165 and 217/3 declared in 115 overs (Bhushan Chauhan 106 not out, Aarpit Vasvada 66 not out; Anureet Singh 2/36).
Railways 175 & 9 for no loss in 18 overs
Bengal get three points as Bist shines for Rajasthan
Jaipur: A handy first innings lead of 82 runs proved to be crucial as visitors Bengal walked away three points against Rajasthan in a Ranji Trophy Group B league encounter that concluded at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium.
It was a drab final day as Rajasthan declared after scoring 257 for five in 106 overs with Robin Bist contributing 75. Bengal were given a stiff target of 176 in 24 overs but the match was called off after the second mandatory over as visitors scored 25 for one.
Starting the day at 62 for one, it was day of survival for the Rajasthan team as they lost experienced opener Vineet Saxena (35) having added 66 runs with Bist for the second wicket. Saxena edged one to Subhomoy Das in the slips off Shiv Shankar Paul's bowling.
Ashok Menaria (17) nicked one from Laxmi Ratan Shukla to Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps while Rajesh Bishnoi (7) was trapped leg before by off-spinner Sourashis Lahiri.
At 130 for four, Rajasthan were just 48 runs ahead with only six wickets remaining. However Bist along with T20 specialist Dishant Yagnik (66 not out) added invaluable 60 runs for the fifth wicket but more importantly played out 23.3 overs which ended Bengal's hopes of an outright win.
Pace spearhead Ashoke Dinda's failure to get a single wicket was one of the primary reason for Bengal failing to enforce an outright result. Dinda either bowled too many short balls or too full as batsmen found him tad too predictable.
Bist's six hour vigil finally ended when he gave a bat pad catch to Rohan Banerjee off Lahiri's bowling. The former India A player hit seven boundaries in his 226-ball knock.
By the time, Bist was dismissed, Rajasthan has ensured that they will end up with a point from the match. Yagnik along with Mumbai veteran Ramesh Powar added 67 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket stand. Yagnik's innings contained five boundaries having faced 154 balls in the process.
For Bengal, Wriddhiman Saha and Rohan Banerjee's good form, Lahiri's useful all-round show were the positives before they take on Madhya Pradesh in a home game from November 14.
Brief Scores:
Rajasthan 244 & 257/5 decl (Robin Bist 75, Dishant Yagnik 66, Sourashis Lahiri 2/49)
Bengal 326 & 25/1.
Image: Yuvraj Singh
Photograph: Pal Pillai/Getty Images
