Ranji Trophy: TN, Karnataka, Vidarbha enter quarters

A round-up of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday.

IMAGE: Tamil Nadu's players celebrate winning their Ranji Trophy match against Punjab in Salem on Monday. Photograph: BCCI

Sarwate powers Vidarbha into quarters

Spin bowling all-rounder Aditya Sarwate produced another impressive show as Vidarbha registered a comfortable 115-run win over Haryana on the fourth and final day to qualify for the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals from group A, in Nagpur, on Monday.

Vidarbha (33) grabbed six points from what was their fifth win in the tournament to finish on top of Group A and were followed by Saurashtra (29).

Sarwate, who had scored 99 in the first innings, made a valuable 42 in the second essay to help Vidarbha add 92 runs to their overnight total of 113/4.

They set the visitors a victory target of 296 after being dismissed for 205 in 71.4 overs.

Vidarbha then dished out a superlative bowling effort with left-arm spinner Sarwate also starring with the ball, taking two wickets for 38 runs to go with his first-innings figures of 3/59.

Off-spinner Akshay Wakhare (3/30) snapped three as the hosts bundled out Haryana for 180 in 34.3 overs. Pacer Umesh Yadav (2/37), Aditya Thakare (1/47) and Yash Thakur (1/21) were the other wicket-takers.

Chasing the total, Haryana failed to capitalise on the starts and lost wickets at regular intervals to be reduced to 113/5 in the 25th over.

No 9 batter Anshul Kamboj, in fact, emerged as their top-scorer with an entertaining 25-ball 46, studded with five fours and three sixes. Vidarbha had scored 423 in their first innings and in response, Haryana had posted 333.

Jharkhand beat Rajasthan by 89 runs

Left-arm spinner Anukul Roy bagged his fifth five-wicket haul as Jharkhand thrashed Rajasthan by 89 runs in their Group A match on Monday.

Jharkhand, defending 248, had left Rajasthan gasping for breath at 120 for six in their second innings on day 3. The hosts returned to complete the task with the 25-year-old Roy claiming two more wickets to complete a fine five-wicket haul at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur.

Varun Aaron (1/22) provided the first breakthrough in the morning when he removed overnight batter Samarpit Joshi (23), who was caught by Nazim Siddiqui in the 54th over.

Mahipal Lomror too could just another 18 runs to his overnight score of 30 before being a victim of Roy, who cleaned up Aniket Choudhary (0) for his fifth victim.

In between, Utkarsh Singh got rid of Manav Suthar (14) as Rajasthan cut a sorry figure with the bat.

With the win, Jharkhand finished their campaign on a high, signing off at the sixth position in group A.

Brief Scores:

In Nagpur: Vidarbha 423 and 205 all out (Atharva Taide 49; Nishant Sindhu 4/56) beat Haryana 333 and 180 all out (Anshul Kamboj 46; Akshay Wakhare 3/30) by 115 runs.

In Jamshedpur: Jharkhand 188 and 269 beat Rajasthan 210 and 158 all out in 68.1 overs (Mahipal Lomror 48; Anukul Roy 5/36) by 89 runs.

In Delhi: Maharashtra 225 and 157/6 (Arshin Kulkarni 58) draw against Services 432 all out (Shubham Rohilla 72, Rajat Paliwal 51, Nakul Sharma 87; Taranjitsingh Dhillon 5/131).

Tamil Nadu, Karnataka qualify for quarters

Tamil Nadu needed just seven overs to chase down an easy target and beat Punjab by nine wickets on the final day to top Group C and qualify for the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals in Salem on Monday.

With six points from the easy win, TN topped the group with 28 points from seven matches.

Karnataka, who drew with Chandigarh in Hubballi on Monday, also qualified for the quarters as they finished second in the group with 27 points.

Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner Sai Kishore (4/80) shone with the ball on Monday as he took four wickets to help his side bowl Punjab out for 231 in 64.2 overs.

Punjab wre made to follow-on after managing just 274 in their first innings in reply to Tamil Nadu's 435.

Ajith Ram (3/52) and Pradosh Ranjan Paul (3/23) added one wicket each to their two on Sunday as Punjab added just 51 runs from 24.2 overs for the loss of six wickets in their second innings.

Needing just 71 runs for an outright win, Tamil Nadu reached the target in just seven overs for the loss of one wicket.

Narayan Jagadeesan and Pradosh Ranjan Paul remained unbeaten on 26 and 22 respectively while Suresh Lokeshwar made 19 as Tamil Nadu powered 71/1 for an emphatic victory.

In Hubbali, Chandigarh ended the final day on 236/5 in their second innings after Karnataka had piled up a massive 563/5 declared in their first innings on Sunday to draw the match.

Karnataka secured three points from the match on the basis of first innings lead. Chandigarh got one point from the drawn match and ended at seventh spot in the eight-team group with six points.

Gujarat, who had beaten Goa by seven wickets in Porvorim on Sunday, missed the bus as they finished third in the group with 25 points -- two less than that of Karnataka -- from seven matches.

Railways, who beat Tripura by five wickets on Monday in Agartala, finished fourth with 24 points from seven matches.

Brief Scores:

In Salem: Tamil Nadu 435 and 71/1 in 7 overs beat Punjab 274 and 231 all out in 64.2 overs (Nehal Wadhera 109; Sai Kishore 4/80) by 9 wickets.

In Agartala: Tripura: 149 and 333 lost to Railways 105 and 378/5 in 103 overs (Pratham Singh 169 not out, Mohammad Saif 106; Manisankar Murasingh 3/81) by 5 wickets.

In Hubballi: Chandigarh 267 and 236/5 in 80 overs (Arslan Khan 63, Mayank Sidhu 56 not out; Vasuki Koushik 2/26) drew with Karnataka 563/5 declared.

Andhra join Mumbai in quarters

Andhra Pradesh will join 41-time champions Mumbai in the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy after escaping with a draw against Kerala on the fourth day of their final group match in Vizianagaram.

Andhra finished with 26 points from seven games, while Mumbai topped the Group with 37 points from as many matches.

Despite conceding three points to Kerala on the basis of first innings lead, the draw was enough for Andhra to make the knockout stage.

But Andhra, who conceded a massive 242-run first innings lead, had to survive some anxious moments to earn the draw as Basil Thampi (3/36) and Nedumankuzhy Basil (3/43) produced a fiery spell to reduce their opponents to 185/9 in 91.5 overs.

But Shoaib Md Khan (11 not out) and last man Satyanarayana Raju negotiated the last few overs to secure the draw for Andhra.

Earlier resuming their second innings at 19/1, Ashwin Hebbar hit 72 off 165 balls on the fourth and final day of the match at Vizianagaram.

Garg shines for Uttar Pradesh

Middle-order batter Priyam Garg smashed an unbeaten century to lead hosts Uttar Pradesh to a draw against Chhattisgarh in Lucknow.

Garg smashed 114 off 113 balls with the help of 13 boundaries and four maximums to guide Uttar Pradesh to 201/3 in 42 overs after being set 376 for victory.

Chhattisgarh had earlier declared their second innings at 199/8.

Chasing a target of 376 for an outright win, Garg went for the kill. He was ably supported by Shivam Sharma, who remained unbeaten on 43 but the asking was too tall for Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier, Chhattisgarh posted 414 in their first innings and then bowled out Uttar Pradesh for 238. By virtue of first innings lead, Chhattisgarh pocketed three points, while Uttar Pradesh had to be content with one point.

Both Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh failed to make it to the quarters, finishing fifth and sixth respectively in Group B.

Brief Scores:

At Lucknow: Chhattisgarh 414 & 199/8 decl (Ajay Mandal 51; Shivam Sharma 3/34) vs Uttar Pradesh 238 & 201/3 in 42 overs (Priyam Garg 114 not out).

At Vizianagaram: 272 & 189/9 in 97 overs (Ashwin Hebbar 72; Basil Thampi 3/36, Nedumankuzhy Basil 3/43) vs Kerala 514/7 decl.

Delhi end season on a high!

Left-arm spinner Sumit Mathur took a five-wicket haul on debut as Delhi defeated Odisha by seven wickets on a dramatic day four to end their Ranji Trophy campaign on a high.

Sumit, who took four wickets in the first innings, ended with a match haul of nine as Delhi recorded their third win of the season.

Delhi finished third in the standings behind Madhya Pradesh and Baroda. Had not been for the unexpected loss to Puducherry in the tournament opener, Delhi could have qualified from Group D. Odisha on the other hand finished seventh in an eight team group.

With both teams not in the race to advance in the competition, the game was headed for a dull draw on day three but the events on the final day made the game more than interesting.

Having taking a slender 11-run first innings, Delhi came out to bowl on day four with a lot of purpose and bowled out Odisha for 133 to enforce a result.

After Odisha's top three perished without scoring, Sumit ran through the visitors' batting line up. Rookie pacer Himanshu Chauhan and Pranshu Vijayran collected two wickets each to play their part in the game.

Set a target of 123, Delhi got home in 20.3 overs with Ayush Badoni and Yash Dhull remaining unbeaten on 40 and 16 respectively.

Delhi had made 451 in their first innings in response to Odisha's 440. Dhull and Jonty Sidhu were the centurions for the hosts in the first innings.

Brief Scores:

Odisha 1st Innings 440 and 133 all out in 46 overs (Sumit Mathur 5/26) vs Delhi 1st Innings 451 and 123/3 in 20.3 overs (Ayush Badoni 40 not out).