Ranji Trophy: MP trounce Maharashtra, enter quarters

Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya produced a stellar performance as Madhya Pradesh stormed into the knockout stage of the Ranji Trophy after notching up a 133-run win over Maharashtra on Day 3 of their final Group B match, in Indore, on Saturday.

Saurashtra also registered an innings and 56-run win over Chandigarh to be currently placed second in the standings, almost securing their qualification. The only way they can miss out is if Karnataka manage an outright win against Punjab in Mohali on Sunday.

Starting the day at 166 for 4, MP posted 258 all out in 76.1 overs to set Maharashtra a victory target of 267.

Overnight batter Shubham Sharma made 90, while Saransh Jain (23) and Kartikeya (20) chipped in with useful contributions after Sagar Solanki added just four more runs to his overnight score of 10. Venkatesh Iyer had scored 60 on Friday.

In reply, Maharashtra, who had folded for 179 in the first innings, once again collapsed, with their batters registering four ducks, which included birthday boy Ruturaj Gaikwad.

A total of eight batters got single-digit scores as Maharashtra were all out for 133 in just 36 overs.

Kartikeya (4/49), who had taken six wickets in the first innings, once again troubled the opposition with four wickets to complete a 10-wicket match haul. Medium pacer Aryan Pandey (4/17) also snared four wickets, while Jain (2/39) took two.

Saurashtra tame Chandigarh

Left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (4/53) and medium pacer Chirag Jani (4/78) snapped four wickets each as Saurashtra dismissed Chandigarh for 261 to secure an innings and 56-run win.
The game was set up by Harvik Desai's unbeaten 200, which lifted them to 453 for 3 declared in their first innings.

Chandigarh, who folded for 136 in the first innings, needed a valiant effort in their second essay after starting the day at 31 for no loss, but it proved too much in the end as they were dismissed in 64 overs.

Raj Bawa (55) scored a fifty, while Shivam Bhambri (48), Vaibhav Narang (47) and Arjun Azad (32) got starts but couldn't stay longer to make a match of it.

Karnataka hoping for miracle vs Punjab

In need of an outright win to qualify for the knockouts, Karnataka were left playing catch-up as Punjab reached 119 for 3 in 45 overs, riding on a fine 63 not out by skipper Uday Saharan on the third day.

Resuming their first innings at 255 for 6, Karnataka folded for 316 in 110.2 overs, taking a slender lead.

Shreyas Gopal, who was on 42 on day two, made 77, but fellow overnight batter Vidyadhar Patil (34) fell in the 97th over.

Harpreet Brar (4/125), Sukhdeep Singh Bajwa (3/42) and Anmoljeet Singh (2/62) shared nine wickets.

In response, Punjab posted 119 for 3 at stumps with opener Abhijeet Garg (33) and Saharan (63) doing the bulk of the scoring.

With just one day left, it would take a miracle for Karnataka to force a result on Sunday.

Brief scores:

Madhya Pradesh 187 & 258 all out (Shubham Sharma 90, Venkatesh Iyer 60; Ramakrishna Ghosh 5/72) beat Maharashtra 179 and 133 all out in 36 overs (Niraj Joshi 42; Kumar Kartikeya 4/49, Aryan Pandey 4/17, Saransh Jain 2/39) by 133 runs.

Saurashtra 453 for 3 decl. beat Chandigarh 136 and 261 (Raj Bawa 55; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 4/53, Chirag Jani 4/78) by an innings and 56 runs.

Karnataka 316 all out (Shreyas Gopal 77; Harpreet Brar 4/125, Sukhdeep Singh Bajwa 3/42, Anmoljeet Singh 2/62) vs Punjab 309 & 119 for 3 (Uday Saharan 63 not out, Abhijeet Garg 33; Shikhar Shetty 1/43). 

Mokhade keeps Vidarbha in knock-out contention

Defending champions Vidarbha will depend on their batting mainstay Aman Mokhade to steer them into the knock-outs as they need another 110 runs with six wickets in hand against Uttar Pradesh going into the final day of their Group A game.

Chasing a target of 201, Vidarbha were not in a very comfortable position, having reached 91 for 4 after UP managed only 200 in their second innings.

Incidentally, both teams scored an identical 237 in their respective first essays.

For Vidarbha, their Vijay Hazare Trophy hero Mokhade (50 not out) is at the crease having already struck six boundaries. But UP will have their tails up having removed the experienced Ravikumar Samarth (11) off the last delivery of the third day's play.

With left-arm spinner Shivam Sharma having already picked three wickets and the strip showing signs of wear and tear, the 110 runs needed on the final day may not be very easy to score.

Earlier, UP began at 75 for 2 but were bowled out for 200 with none of their top order batters reaching even half-century. Aryan Juyal (36), Aditya Sharma (44), Dhruv Jurel (40) and Shivam (32) all got starts but failed to convert into a big score.

Left-arm spinner Parth Rekhade took 3/19 while pacers Yash Thakur and Nachiket Bhute took two wickets apiece.

While a win would be a consolation prize for UP who will only reach 23 points after seven rounds, Vidarbha could make it to the next round with 31 points.

Andhra all set to top group

Current group toppers Andhra kept one foot on the quarterfinal door after taking a huge 170-run first innings lead and are looking good to even get bonus points against Nagaland in their final group match at Sovima.

After Nagaland scored 366 in their first innings, Andhra, resuming third day's play at 267 for 5, declared their first innings at 536 for 9.

Chengalpet Rajan Gnaneshwar (227 not out) was the main architect of Andhra innings and had two big partnerships -- 142 for the sixth wicket with KV Sasikanth (60) and 119 for the eighth wicket with player Tripurana Vijay (54).

Trying to avoid innings defeat, Nagaland were tottering at 85 for 4, needing another 85 runs to avert an innings defeat.

If the match is drawn, Andhra will end on 31 points but with a positive Net Run Rate of (+1.716) which will improve at the end of the current game, and the team led by Ricky Bhui will certainly make it to last eight. If they win outright, they will then surely top the group with 34 points.

Jharkhand need to win outright 

Jharkhand will have an uphill task of beating Odisha outright on the final day to give themselves a chance for qualification into the knock-outs after conceding a 19-run first innings lead in another group A game in Jamshedpur.

At stumps on third day, Odisha were 202 for 8 with an overall lead of 221. Jharkhand will have to first get the two Odisha wickets and then chase down the target in quick time to have a better run-rate compared to Vidarbha in case the latter also wins against UP.

After Odisha scored 282 in their first innings, Jharkhand resumed at 244 for 6 on day three with former MI batter Robin Minz (52), who duly completed his half-century.

Needing only 39 runs to ensure at least three points, Jharkhand were all-out for 263 with all-rounder Govinda Poddar picking three wickets and left-arm spinner Sayed Tufayl Ahmed getting four scalps.

TN take first innings lead vs Baroda

In Salem, Tamil Nadu, courtesy opener R Vimal Khumar's 182, took first innings lead against Baroda in an inconsequential final group A encounter. Both teams are no longer in knock-out contention.

Tamil Nadu ended third day's play at 411 for 7 in reply to Baroda's first innings score of 375. Former India A batter Pradosh Ranjan Paul contributed 80.

Brief scores:

UP 237 and 200 all out (Dhruv Jurel 40, Parth Rekhade 3/19) vs Vidarbha 237 and 91/4 (Aman Mokhade 50 not out).

Nagaland 366 & 85/4 vs Andhra 536/9 decl. (Chengalpat Rajan Gnaneshwar 227 not out).

Odisha 282 and 202/8 (Subhranshu Senapati 73, Anukul Roy 4/56) vs Jharkhand 263 all out (Shikhar Mohan 80, Robin Minz 52, ST Ahmed 4/78).

Baroda 375 all out vs Tamil Nadu 411/7 (Vimal Khumar 182, Mahesh Pithiya 4/110).

Shahbaz shines as Bengal enter quarters unbeaten

Left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed produced the best match figures of his first-class career to power his adopted home state Bengal to a commanding 188-run victory over Haryana inside three days and storm into the quarterfinals unbeaten.

On a difficult surface in Rohtak that assisted the bowlers throughout, Shahbaz returned excellent figures of 6/38 after claiming 5/42 in the first innings, finishing with a match haul of 11/80 as Haryana, chasing a challenging 294, folded for 105 in 26.1 overs in a must-win game.

The Mewat-born spinner ripped through the top order, accounting for the first six wickets to virtually close the contest.

Group C toppers Bengal, who had already secured their quarterfinal berth after beating Services in the previous round, thus completed their group campaign unbeaten with 36 points, including five outright wins.

It was the end of the road for Haryana with Uttarakhand holding the advantage against Assam in Dehradun in the race for the second knockout spot.

Earlier, Bengal resumed the day on 155/3 but suffered a collapse, losing their remaining seven wickets for just 45 runs in less than 16 overs to be bowled out for 200 in 56.5 overs.

Skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran top-scored with a fighting 83 off 157 balls, extending his overnight 61 before being trapped by spinner Tanmay Baloda (2/51) as the eighth wicket fell at 197.

The modest total still stretched Bengal's overall lead to 293, setting Haryana a stiff 294-run target to seal their quarterfinal berth.

Haryana began positively with Yuvraj Singh and skipper Ankit Kumar adding 44 runs in eight overs, but the innings unravelled once Shahbaz came into the attack.

He struck with the very first ball of the ninth over, dismissing Yuvraj (22), and then removed Ashish Siwach (0) off the next ball.

In the fourth ball of the same over, he had Himanshu Rana (0), triggering a dramatic collapse.

Though Ankit and Dheeru Singh tried to steady the innings with a brief 24-run stand, Shahbaz broke through again as Haryana slipped to 69/6.

Pacers Mukesh Kumar (2/40) and Akash Deep (1/21) cleaned up the tail, while debutant left-arm spinner Vikas Singh claimed his maiden first-class wicket in Aman Kumar.

Uttarakhand in strong position

In Dehradun, Assam were forced to follow on after being bundled out for 140 in reply to Uttarakhand's imposing 460/7 declared.

Seamer Aditya Rawat (3/24) and spinners Mayank Mishra (3/36) and Jagadeesha Suchith (2/25) did most of the damage as Assam collapsed from 91/4 overnight to 140 all out in 69.1 overs, with Rituraj Biswas top-scoring with 62.

At stumps on day three, Assam were 224/6 in their second innings, still 96 runs away from making Uttarakhand bat again.

Uttarakhand, currently on 22 points, remain firmly in contention for a knockout berth after Bengal.

Brief scores:

Bengal 193 and 200 all out (Abhimanyu Easwaran 83, Sudip Gharami 61; Anshul Kamboj 4/51) beat Haryana 100 and 105 all out (Ankit Kumar 25; Shahbaz Ahmed 6/38) by 188 runs.

Uttarakhand 460/7 decl. vs Assam 140 all out (Rituraj Biswas 62; Aditya Rawat 3/24, Mayank Mishra 3/36, J Suchith 2/25) and 224/6 (Nihar Deka 52, Swarupam Purkayastha 51; Mayank Mishra 4/74).

Gujarat 352 and 53/2 vs Tripura 427 all out (Vijay Shankar 151 not out, Hanuma Vihari 90, Sridam Paul 69; Vishal Jayswal 4/62, Chintan Gaja 3/82, Siddharth Desai 3/116).

Services 343 and 166/8 decl. (Devender Lohchab 61, Arjun Sharma 45; Raj Choudhary 5/39) vs Railways 212 all out (Zubair Ali 59, Ravi Singh 55; Arjun Sharma 6/79) and 69/1 (Pratham Singh 48 batting).

Delhi fight back to take lead vs Mumbai

Delhi rode on half-centuries from Vaibhav Kandpal (61) and Ayush Doseja (62 not out) after Divij Mehra's five-for to stage a fightback and take an overall lead of 110 runs against hosts Mumbai, on Day 3 of their Group D clash.

Kandpal and Doseja kept Mumbai at bay with a 106-run stand but Himanshu Singh (2/23) struck late in the day to break the stubborn stand, with Delhi finishing at 206 for four when play was called off.

Onkar Tarmale took a sharp one-handed grab diving to his right at backward square leg when Kandpal mishit one high in the air.

Earlier, the 23-year-old Mehra secured his second five-wicket haul against Mumbai in Ranji Trophy, returning 31-8-64-5 to help his side make a strong comeback.

At Nadaun, visitors Jammu and Kashmir piled a mammoth lead of 603 runs in the first innings as they kept on batting till the last wicket to post 771 against hosts Himachal Pradesh.

J&K piled up further misery on the hosts when Auqib Nabi struck early to remove Ankit Kalsi (2) and skipper Ankush Bains (5), with HP reeling at 26/2 and staring at a heavy defeat since they trail by another 577 runs.

Chhattisgarh reached 100 for two, behind by another 248 runs in the second innings against Hyderabad who had piled up 631.

Puducherry need another 121 runs to win after they reached 51 for two, chasing 172 against Rajasthan who were bowled out for 352 in the second innings.

Brief scores:

Delhi 221 & 206/4 (Vaibhav Kandpal 61, Ayush Doseja 62 not out; Himanshu Singh 2/23) vs Mumbai 317 all out (Musheer Khan 57, Siddhesh Lad 103, Suved Parkar 58; Divij Mehra 5/64, Money Grewal 3/74).

Himachal Pradesh 168 & 26/2 (Pukhraj Mann 10 not out; Auqib Nabi 2/6) vs Jammu and Kashmir 771 all out (Shubham Pundir 165, Paras Dogra 52, Abdul Samad 61, Kanhaiya Wadhawan 110, Abid Mushtaq 177; Rohit Kumar 4/131).

Chhattisgarh 283 & 100/2 (Anuj Tiwary 47 not out; Mohammed Siraj 1/13) vs Hyderabad 631.

Rajasthan 168 & 352 all out (Mahipal Lomror 131; Karan Kannan 6/139, Sagar Udeshi 4/88) vs Puducherry 349 & 51/2 in 15 overs (R Shreeram 29 not out; Mohit Changra 2/15).