Ranji Trophy: Saurashtra, Punjab, Jharkand and others confirm quarterfinal spots on final day

Saurashtra,
Andhra
and
Maharashtra
finished
level
on
26
points
after
the
seven
rounds
in
the
league
phase
but
Maharashtra
missed
out
by
the
virtue
of
bonus
points,
or
lack
of
it.

Defending
champions
Madhya
Pradesh
and
Punjab
also
qualified
for
the
knockout
stages
from
Group
D.
Uttarakhand
and
Jharkhand
also
sealed
their
berth
on
the
final
day.

Andhra,
which
was
on
19
points
before
the
final
round
match
against
Assam,
routed
their
opponent
by
an
innings
to
gain
a
bonus
point
which
helped
them
pip
Maharashtra.

Mumbai,
which
was
in
the
reckoning
but
needed
to
win
or
secure
a
first
innings
lead
to
grab
three
points
and
reach
26,
managed
only
one
after
a
tie
with
Maharashtra
on
the
first
innings
score
of
374
in
their
final
round
match.

In
Chennai,
left-arm
spinner
S
Ajith
Ram
came
up
with
a
six-wicket
haul
to
propel
Tamil
Nadu
to
a
59-run
win
over
Saurashtra.

Needing
266
for
victory,
the
visiting
team
was
bowled
out
for
206
in
68.2
overs
as
Harvik
Desai’s
marathon
knock
of
101
(205
balls,
10
fours,
3
sixes)
went
in
vain.

Resuming
at
the
overnight
4
for
1,
Saurashtra
slumped
to
18
for
4
in
the
12th
over
with
Ram
picking
up
the
scalps
of
night-watchman
Chetan
Sakariya
(1)
and
Sheldon
Jackson
(1).

M
Siddharth,
another
left-arm
spinner,
removed
Chirag
Jani
(13).

The
experienced
Arpit
Vasavada
(45)
forged
an
89-run
stand
for
the
fifth
wicket
with
Desai
to
frustrate
the
home
team’s
bowling
attack.

With
the
pitch
offering
turn
and
some
deliveries
keeping
low,
the
two
batters
—
Desai
and
Vasavada
chose
to
be
circumspect.
Desai
did
not
miss
out
on
the
opportunity
to
score
when
the
TN
bowlers
erred
in
line
and
length.

Siddharth
ended
the
partnership
by
bowling
Vasavada.

Comeback
man
Ravindra
Jadeja
walked
in
with
the
team’s
hopes
of
salvaging
the
game
resting
on
him.

After
making
just
15
in
the
first
innings,
the
left-handed
batter
would
have
been
looking
to
make
amends.
He
played
watchfully
and
was
involved
in
a
51-run
stand
with
Desai.

Having
started
with
a
reverse
sweep
for
four,
Jadeja
played
watchfully
for
some
time.
His
dismissal
by
Ajith
Ram
to
a
catch
by
B
Aparajith
handed
Tamil
Nadu
the
advantage.

Despite
Desai’s
stiff
resistance,
Ajith
Ram
ran
through
the
lower
order.
Desai’s
defiant
knock
ended
when
Sandeep
Warrier
(1/5)
castled
him,
signalling
the
end
of
the
match.

Ajith
Ram
finished
with
impressive
figures
of
6
for
54
as
he
ended
his
debut
season
with
a
bang.

It
was
TN’s
second
win
of
the
season
and
helped
them
finish
with
25
points
and
in
fifth
spot.

Ranji
Trophy:
Mumbai,
Maharashtra
bow
out;
Andhra
sneak
in

In
Mumbai,
the
match
between
the
home
team
and
Maharashtra
saw
a
topsy-turvy
final
day.
After
the
two
sides
scored
384
each
in
the
first
innings,
Maharashtra
were
bowled
out
for
252
in
the
second
innings.

Needing
253
in
28
overs
for
an
outright
win,
Mumbai
batters
went
on
the
offensive
from
the
start
but
the
dismissal
of
skipper
Ajinkya
Rahane
(35)
to
Pradeep
Dadhe
and
Divyaansh
(63)
to
Satyajit
Bachhav
pegged
them
back.

Mumbai
were
58
runs
short
when
the
game
ended.

The
drawn
match
enabled
Andhra
(26
points)
to
sneak
into
the
knockouts
ahead
of
Mumbai
and
Maharashtra
along
with
Saurashtra.

Hyderabad
succumbed
to
a
nine-wicket
defeat
to
Delhi
to
end
a
dismal
season
with
six
straight
defeats
after
a
draw
against
TN
in
the
opening
game.
Hyderabad
will
be
relegated
to
the
Plate
group
next
season.

Brief
scores:

In
Chennai:
Tamil
Nadu
324
and
133
beat
Saurashtra
192
and
206
all
out
in
68.2
overs
(Harvik
Desai
101
(205
balls,
10×4,
3×6),
Arpit
Vasavada
45,
S
Ajith
Ram
6/54,
M
Siddharth
3/71)
by
59
runs.

Tamil
Nadu
6
points,
Saurashtra
0.

In
Hyderabad:
Hyderabad
355
all
out
and
124
all
out
in
37.4
overs
(K
Rohit
Rayudu
32,
Harshit
Rana
7/45,
Divij
Mehra
3/34)
lost
to
Delhi
433
all
out
in
100.5
overs
(Ayush
Badoni
191)
and
47
for
1
in
8.4
overs
by
9
wickets.

Delhi
6
points,
Hyderabad
0.

In
Mumbai:
Maharashtra
384
all
out
and
252
all
out
in
83.5
overs
(Azim
Kazi
75,
SS
Nawale
47,
S
A
Veer
38,
Shams
Mulani
4/81)
vs
Mumbai
384
all
out
in
116
overs
(Prasad
Pawar
145,
Tanush
Kotian
93,
Pradeep
Dhade
3/80)
and
195
for
6
in
27.3
overs
(Divyaansh
62,
A
Rahane
35).
Mumbai
1
point,
Maharashtra
1.

Ranji
Trophy:
Roul
takes
six
wickets
as
Odisha
thrash
Bengal
by
seven
wickets

Odisha
created
a
huge
upset,
defeating
Bengal
by
seven
wickets
on
the
final
day
of
their
Ranji
Trophy
Group
A
match
on
Friday,
with
pace
bowler
Sunil
Roul
wrecking
the
hosts’ batting
line-up
by
taking
six
wickets.

Though
Bengal
secured
a
quarter-final
berth
in
the
previous
round
itself,
Friday’s
defeat
at
the
Eden
Gardens
ahead
of
the
knock-out
round
will
dampen
their
spirits
somewhat.

Uttarakhand
finished
second
behind
Bengal
(32
points)
and
moved
into
the
quarter-finals
after
their
match
against
Haryana
ended
in
a
draw.
Uttarakhand
earned
three
points,
owing
to
their
first-innings
lead
which
took
their
tally
to
29
points.

Bengal
will
take
on
Jharkhand
in
the
first
quarter-final,
while
Uttarakhand
will
play
Karnataka
on
January
31.

Odisha
first
dismissed
Bengal
for
276
in
79
overs,
thanks
to
24-year-old
Roul’s
six-wicket
haul.
The
visitors’
batters
then
returned
for
the
second
innings
to
quickly
overhaul
the
112-run
winning
target
in
the
23rd
over.

Much
of
Bengal’s
woes
in
the
match
were
on
account
of
their
paltry
first-innings
score
of
100
and
they
couldn’t
recover
from
that,
despite
their
opener
Abhimanyu
Easwaran
making
amends
and
scoring
a
century
in
the
second
innings.

Bengal’s
second
innings
folded
at
276,
with
Roul
playing
the
role
of
wrecker-in-chief
as
he
accounted
for
almost
the
entire
top
order,
including
the
well-set
Easwaran
for
101
runs.

Easwaran,
who
was
unbeaten
on
94
overnight,
added
just
five
runs
on
the
morning
of
the
final
day,
while
the
other
overnight
batter,
skipper
Manoj
Tiwary,
was
consumed
by
Basant
Mohanty
for
the
addition
of
just
two
runs
to
his
Thursday’s
score
of
50.

With
the
two
mainstays
departing,
Roul
kept
chipping
away,
dismissing
wicketkeeper
Abhishek
Porel
(38),
Pritam
Chakraborty
(1)
and
Geet
Puri
(0),
thus
bringing
an
end
to
Bengal’s
innings.

Odisha
seemed
in
a
hurry
to
complete
the
job
and
Sandeep
Pattnaik
(28
n.o.)
and
Rakesh
Pattnaik
(20
n.o.)
scoring
at
a
quick
rate
after
opener
Anurag
Sarangi
(37)
had
given
them
a
confident
start.

Brief
scores:

In
Kolkata:
Odisha
265
and
112
for
3
in
22.2
overs
(Anurag
Sarangi
37,
Sandeep
Pattnaik
28
n.o.)
beat
Bengal
100
and
276
in
79
overs
(Abhimanyu
Easwaran
101,
Sudip
Gharami
50,
Manoj
Tiwary
52;
Sunil
Roul
6/96)
by
seven
wickets.

In
Rohtak:
Haryana
233
and
168
for
7
decl
(Yuvraj
Singh
77
n.o.,
Mayank
Mishra
4/44)
drew
with
Uttarakhand
269
and
61
for
5
in
23
overs
(Jayant
Yadav
3/50).

In
Nadaun:
Himachal
Pradesh
92
for
2
in
26
overs
drew
with
Uttar
Pradesh.

Ranji
Trophy:
Holders
MP,
Punjab
make
it
to
quarters

Ahmedabad:
Defending
champions
Madhya
Pradesh
and
Punjab
qualified
for
the
quarter-finals
after
finishing
in
the
top
two
positions
in
Group
D
following
a
draw
in
their
respective
matches.

While
holders
MP
folded
for
331
to
concede
a
first-innings
lead
to
Tripura,
Punjab
did
not
get
to
bat,
as
Vidarbha
ended
their
first
innings
on
the
fourth
day
at
273
for
6
following
loss
of
play
time
due
to
bad
weather.

The
draw,
however,
couldn’t
hurt
MP
as
they
finished
on
top
of
Group
D
with
33
points
from
seven
matches.
Punjab
(27)
and
Railways
(22)
placed
second
and
third
respectively.

On
Day
4,
medium
pacer
Rana
Dutta
completed
a
five-wicket
haul
as
Tripura
dismissed
holders
Madhya
Pradesh
for
331
in
their
first
innings
to
grab
three
points
on
the
basis
of
the
first-innings
lead.

The
33-year-old
emerged
the
most
successful
bowler
as
MP
added
only
another
172
runs
to
their
overnight
score
of
159
for
2
to
hand
Tripura
a
crucial
31-run
first-innings
lead.

After
cleaning
up
Himanshu
Mantri
(16)
and
Shubham
Sharma
(55)
on
Day
3,
Dutta
returned
to
pick
up
the
wickets
of
Yash
Dubey
(64),
Harsh
Gawli
(47)
and
skipper
Adity
Shrivastava
(6).

He
also
ran
out
Mihir
Hirwani
(11)
and
was
named
‘Player
of
the
Match’.
Dutta
also
scored
a
crucial
33
in
the
first
innings
for
Tripura.

Manisankar
Murasingh
(1/102),
Abhijit
Sarkar
(1/810)
and
Rajat
Dey
(1/23)
also
accounted
for
one
wicket
each.

MP’s
innings
would
have
folded
up
much
earlier
had
it
not
been
for
number
10
batter
Kumar
kartikeya,
who
came
up
with
a
110-ball
61
laced
with
9
fours
and
2
sixes.

Brief
scores:

In
Indore:
Tripura
362
drew
with
Madhya
Pradesh
331
all
out
in
114.1
overs
(Yash
Dubey
64,
Kumar
Kartikeya
61;
Rana
Dutta
5/82).

Match
drawn.
Tripura
3
points,
Madhya
Pradesh
1.

In
Mohali:
Vidarbha
273/6
in
86
overs
drew
with
Punjab.

Vidarbha
1,
Punjab
1.

In
Chandigarh:
Chandigarh
18
for
no
loss
in
six
overs
drew
with
Jammu
and
Kashmir.

Chandigarh
1,
Jammu
&
Kashmir
1.

Ranji
Trophy:
Jharkhand
cruise
into
quarter-finals
from
Group
C

Puducherry:
Jharkhand
became
the
second
team
behind
Karnataka
to
sail
into
the
quarter-finals
from
Group
C
after
the
match
between
Kerala
and
Puducherry
ended
in
a
draw
and
Services
thrashed
Rajasthan
by
183
runs.

While
Karnataka
had
already
secured
a
last-eight
berth
following
the
penultimate
round
of
Ranji
matches,
Jharkhand
had
to
wait
till
the
last
day
of
the
seventh
and
final
round
of
group
matches,
which
concluded
on
Friday,
to
know
their
fate.

On
Thursday,
Jharkhand
had
lost
to
Karnataka
by
nine
wickets
and
their
players
would
have
been
edgy
all
day
long
on
Friday
as
their
fate
was
to
be
decided
by
the
Kerala-Puducherry
and
Services-Rajasthan
matches.

Luckily
for
Jharkhand,
both
results
went
in
their
favour
and
they
will
take
on
Bengal
in
the
quarter-finals,
while
Group
C
toppers
Karnataka
will
play
Uttarakhand
in
the
last-eight.

On
Friday,
Rajasthan
needed
to
score
an
outright
win
against
Services
to
enter
the
quarters,
but
suffered
a
huge
loss.

Rajasthan,
who
were
chasing
an
improbable
target
of
319
to
win,
were
bundled
out
for
135,
with
Services
pacer
Poonam
Poonia
and
off-spinner
Pulkit
Narang
taking
five
wickets
each.

Rajasthan
opener
Yash
Kothari
tried
to
keep
the
innings
intact
with
a
workman-like
72
but
his
departure
opened
the
floodgates
and
a
steady
procession
to
the
dressing
room
ensued.

Kerala’s
chances
of
making
the
quarters
hinged
on
either
the
team
taking
a
first-innings
lead
or
beating
Puducherry.
Both
didn’t
happen,
and
they
earned
just
one
point
from
the
draw,
making
Jharkhand’s
entry
into
the
quarter-final
easy.

Brief
scores:

In
Jodhpur:
Services
178
and
276
beat
Rajasthan
136
and
135
(Yash
Kothari
72;
Poonam
Poonia
5/36,
Pulkit
Narang
5/22)
by
183
runs.

In
Puducherry:
Puducherry
371
and
279
for
5
in
74.3
overs
(Jay
Pande
102,
Paras
Dogra
55,
Krishna
Pandey
94;
Suresh
Vishweshwar
3/58)
drew
with
Kerala
286.

In
Raipur:
Chhattisgarh
531
for
9
decl
and
52
for
2
beat
Goa
359
and
f/o
223
in
86
overs
(Ishaan
Gadekar
59,
Ravi
Kiran
3/12,
Ajay
Mandal
3/61)
by
eight
wickets.

With
inputs
from
PTI