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Opener Unmukt Chand failed to stick around for 16 runs as Delhi missed out on well-deserved bonus point despite a convincing nine-wicket win over Saurashtra in the opening group league encounter of the Ranji Trophy tournament in New Delhi on Wednesday.
The win got Delhi six points, which easily could have been seven points had Delhi attained the target of 16 runs without losing a wicket.
But Unmukt, who is going through a terrible patch at the moment, played wrong line to an Abhishek Bhatt delivery which saw his off stump go for a walk.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir could only watch in disgust as Delhi blew the easiest chance to get a bonus point having
dismissed Saurashtra for 240 in the second innings.
Young Navdeep Saini (3/27) had the best figures but Sumit Narwal was the bowler who made maximum impact with his deliveries that were pitched on perfect length with just adequate movement.
Starting the day at 163 for six, Saurashtra added another 77 runs before losing the remaining six wickets in only 31.3
overs. With Narwal breaching through the defences of Sheldon Jackson (51, 6×4) and Divyaraj Chauhan (21), it was a matter of time before young Navdeep took the stuffing out of the tail to polish off the tail.
Narwal was certainly best player of the match with a haul of six wickets and a half century.
Delhi’s Varun Sood played an off drive to finish it off in style but Delhi will certainly rue the missed opportunities.
Brief Scores: Delhi 442 & 16/1 Saurashtra 217 & (f/o) 240 in 90.3 overs (Sheldon Jackson 51, Navdeep Saini 3/27, Sumit Narwal 3/41).
Result: Delhi won by 9 wickets.
Points: Delhi 6 Saurashtra 0.
Punjab thrash Haryana by 120 runs
Riding on a brilliant batting show by Indian discard Yuvraj Singh, Punjab on Wednesday thrashed Haryana by 120 runs in the Group B Ranji Trophy match.
Man-of-the-match Yuvraj made it count for the Mandeep Singh-led Punjab by scoring 59 and a brilliant 130 in the
first and second innings respectively.
Looking to pick up the final seven wickets on the fourth and final day of the encounter, Punjab bowlers completed the formalities by packing Haryana for 200 runs early in the third session.
Brief Scores: Punjab 273 and 330/6 d (Yuvraj Singh 130, Amitoze Singh 65, Amit Mishra 2-58) Haryana 283 and 200 all out in 60.5 overs (Sachin Rana 86; Sandeep Sharma 3-30, Rajwinder Singh 3-54, Sarabjit Ladda 3-76).
Points: Punjab 6 Haryana 0.
Robin Bist comes to Rajasthan’s rescue
An unbeaten 124 by middle order batsman Robin Bist helped Rajasthan salvage a draw against Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy Group ‘B’ match at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium.
Chasing a victory target of 412 runs, Rajasthan resumed the day at a precarious 34 for three.
Rajasthan despite a cracking 41 from southpaw Ashok Menaria, were tottering at 117 for four but Bist and Rajesh
Bishnoi (35) put on a fighting 115 run partnership for the fifth wicket.
With dismissal of the latter, the hosts again lost Arjit Gupta (0), Dishant Yagnik (16) and Deepak Chahar (4) in quick
succession but Bist stood solid at the other end. He played out the remaining time with skipper Pankaj Singh (5 n.o.) to help Rajasthan reach 271 for 8 when umpires took off the bails for a draw.
For Gujarat Ishwar Choudhary was the highest wicket taker scalping 4 for 71.
Gujarat earned three points on the basis of first innings lead while the hosts could get only one point.
Brief Scores: Gujarat 346 and 266/7 decl, Rajasthan 195 and 271/8 (Robin Bist 124 not out; Ishwar Chaudhary 4/71).
MP take 3 points in draw against Odhisa
Hosts Maharashtra collected three points on the basis of taking the crucial first-innings lead in their Group B Ranji Trophy match against Odisha.
In their second innings, Odisha scored 178 for five before the final day’s play ended at the Maharashtra Cricket
Association Stadium.
Maharashtra had responded with 371 all out after Odisha were bowled out for 311 in their first innings.
Brief scores: Odisha: 311 and 178 for five in 77 overs (Natraj Behera 74; Akshay Darekar 3/32).
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