Ranji Trophy: Mumbai collapse to concede first innings lead as first round matches draw to a close

Medium-pacer Bandaru Ayyappa wreaked havoc with the ball to hand Andhra a vital seven runs first innings lead and ensure three crucial points for his side after their opening Group B Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai ended in a draw in Vizinagaram on Sunday.

In reply to Andhra’s 244, Mumbai were bowled out for 237 in 91.5 overs in their first innings.

Ayyappa (6/71) turned out to be the tormentor-in–chief for Andhra as he decimated Mumbai’s lower-middle order with four wickets today, including the all-important wicket of Siddhesh Lad (86), to add to his yesterday’s tally two scalps.

Resuming their first innings at the overnight score of 158 for five, Mumbai’s lower middle-order crumbled like of a pack of cards in front of a fiery spell from Ayyappa.

Mumbai could add just 79 runs to their overnight score before being bundled out to hand Andhra the edge.

For Mumbai, the onus was on Lad and Abhishek Nayar to take Mumbai to safety but it was not to be as Nayar was run out for 23.

Lad added 23 runs to his last night’s score before he became Ayyappa’s first victim of the day. Lad faced 163 balls and struck 12 fours and six during his knock.

Thereafter, Ayyappa ran through the Mumbai lower order, picking up the wickets of Dhawal Kulkarni, Shardul Thakur (25) and Balwinder Sandhu to skittle out Mumbai in 91.5 overs.

At stumps on the fourth and final day of the match, Andhra made 176 for three in 65 overs with opener Prasanth Kumar (59) hitting a half-century.

Besides, K S Bharath made 43 and skipper Mohammad Kaif remained unbeaten on 49 when the umpires decided to call off the proceedings.

Vishal Dabholkar (2/26) scalped two wickets for Mumbai in Andhra’s second innings.

While Andhra took away three points, Mumbai had to be content with one point.

Veteran opener Vineet Saxena and middle-order batsman Puneet Yadav added 150-runs for the unbroken fourth wicket stand as Rajasthan managed three points against Delhi by virtue of their 102-run first innings lead in Jaipur.

Rajasthan never went for the chase of 336 and instead wanted to focus on getting the three points that were ensured as they scored 186 for three after being down to 36 for three within the first hour.

Dogged right-hander Saxena, known for stonewalling in domestic cricket, brought on all his experience of saving domestic games scoring an unbeaten 80 in six hours having faced 274 balls. There were eight boundaries though.

His younger partner Puneet scored comparatively quickly as his 75 with eight fours and a six came off 175 balls.

Expecting the pitch to offer appreciable turn and bounce, Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir introduced Manan early into attack. Although he gave away only 58 runs in 34 overs, there was nothing in his bowling that would have troubled the batsmen.

Pacer Parvinder Awana, who has been Delhi’s best bet for taking wickets on placid pitches was given only 11 overs in the innings. Pawan Suyal (2/23) bowled well in his 18 overs but the rest of the attack didn’t have the required sting to trouble the batsmen.

Varun Khanna registered his best first-class bowling figures to guide Punjab to an emphatic innings victory over Railways in their opening Group B Ranji Trophy cricket match in Mohali.

Following on, Railways’ second innings folded for 282 runs in 68 overs with Varun (8/97) scalping as many as eight wickets of the visitors. Being enforced follow-on, Railways ended at 125 for five last evening with 283 runs still needed to save the innings defeat.

But Railways failed to make Punjab bat again as they fell one run short with Varun, who took all five wickets in the visitors’ second innings yesterday, doing bulk of the damage.

Arindam Ghosh waged a lone battle for Railways with an unbeaten 98 as wickets kept tumbling from the other end.

Besides Varun, Maninder Singh (1/69) and Yuvraj Singh (1/17) were the other wicket takers for Punjab today.

By virtue of this win, Punjab pocketed seven points, including two bonus points from the match while Raiways returned empty-handed.

In Guwahati, K B Arun Karthick struck a vital unbeaten 115 to help Assam garner three crucial points against defending champions Karnataka after their Group A Ranji Trophy match ended in a tame draw.

Chasing a huge 388 for an outright win, Assam were 30 for one in their second innings.

The hosts rode on former Tamil Nadu cricketer Arun Karthick’s patient century to eke out a draw and ensure three points for the side by virtue of first innings lead over the title holders.

Resuming from the overnight score, Assam lost Pallav Kumar Das (26) and Amit Verma early before skipper Gokul Sharma and Arun Karthick joined hands to steady the innings.

The duo shared 132 runs for the fourth wicket to stabilise Assam as they finally ended their second innings on 259 for five in 102 overs.

Arun Karthick played out 258 balls and struck 15 boundaries and three sixes during his century knock. Sharma also made vital 55 off 154 balls while left-arm spinner Jamaluddin Syed Mohammad (21 off 96) also came up with a gritty knock to deny any inroads to the Karnataka bowlers.

For Karnataka, skipper R Vinay Kumar (2/41) and left-arm spinner Jagadeesha Suchith (2/60) picked up two wickets apiece.

While Assam pocketed three points by virtue of the slender seven runs first innings lead, Karnataka garnered one point from the match.

Goa gained three points by virtue of their first-innings lead as the Ranji Trophy cricket match against Hyderabad ended in a draw after the umpires called off play due to rain in Provorim on Sunday.

The field umpires called off play after tea on the final day of the Group C match, at GCA ground.

Resuming at overnight 349/5, Goa made 425/7 when the heavens opened up.

Strokeful centuries from Ankit Bawne and Chiragh Khurana helped Maharashtra post a mammoth 570 for six at close of the fourth and final day’s play to earn three points on the basis of first innings lead in the drawn Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match against Haryana in Pune.

Responding to Haryana’s 335 in the first innings, the Rohit Motwani-led Maharashtra saw a mammoth 246-run sixth-wicket partnership between Bawne (172) and Khurana (136 not out) to enable a 235-run lead at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

In a match dominated by the bat, Haryana captain Virender Sehwag (92) started the run-scoring followed by a patient 157 from Himanshu Rana. Maharashtra pacers Samad Fallah (3-78) and Nikit Dhumal (3-55) bagged three wickets apiece amidst the run feast.

But come the Maharashtra innings and the batsmen once again dominated proceedings as opener Swapnil Gugale struck a fluent 91 to give the hosts a solid start. Harshad Khadiwale (44) stood with Gugale to enable a 115-run opening stand.

Kedar Jadav also contributed with a quick 46 runs before Bawne and Khurana took centerstage.

Medium-pacer Ashish Hooda and off-spinner Jayant Yadav bagged two wickets apiece.

Vidarbha got three points for taking the first innings lead against Odisha in a Group A match that ended in a draw in Nagpur.

Following on, Odisha reached 230 for six on day four of the match with opposition bowler Akshay Wakhare taking five wickets. The visitors folded up for 274 in their first innings in response to Vidarbha’s 467.

Odisha, resuming the day at 15 for no loss, went on the bat for 105 overs before play was called off. Anurag Sarangi top scored for the away team with 92 while Pratik Das remained unbeaten on 39.

The match will be remembered for Umesh Yadav scoring his maiden First Class century. The India pacer however failed to pick a wicket in either innings.

Madhya Pradesh came up with a fighting reply to Uttar Pradesh’s mammoth first innings score to share a point with the hosts in the Ranji Trophy Group B match in Moradabad.

MP, starting the day at 234 for 3, ended day four at 528 for 7 in response to UP’s 686 for seven.

Aditya Shrivastava, who was batting on 99 overnight, went on to score 169 runs off 401 balls.

The other major contributions came from Naman Ojha (88), Devendra Bundela (80) and Harpeet Singh (88*).

Ankit Rajpoot ended up as the highest wicket-taker for UP with four for 87.

Brief Scores:

Punjab 604/5 decl in 171.1 overs Railways: 196 & (f/o) 282 all out in 68 overs (Arindam Ghosh 98 not out; Varun Khanna 8/97). Punjab: 7 points, Railways: 0.

Karnataka: 187 & 394 for eight decl. (Ravikumar Samarth 131, Mayank Agarwal 47; Swarupam Purkayastha 3/78). Assam: 194 & 259 for five in 102 overs (K B Arun Karthick 115 not out, Gokul Sharma 55; R Vinay Kumar 2/41). Result: Match drawn Points: Assam 3, Karnataka 1.

Haryana 1st innings: 335 all out Maharashtra 1st innings: 570/6 in 150 overs (Ankit Bawne 172, Chiragh Khurana 136 not out; Ashish Hooda 2-75, Jayant Yadav 2-175). Points - Maharashtra 3, Haryana 1.

Vidarbha 467 all out. Odisha 274 all out and 230/6 in 105 overs (Anurag Sarangi 92; Akshay Wakhare 5/77). Result: Match Drawn. Points: Vidarbha 3, Odisha 1.

Delhi 138 & 437/9 decl. Rajasthan 240 & (target 336) 186/3 (Vineet Saxena 80 not out, Puneet Yadav 75 no). Result: match drawn. Pts: Delhi 3; Rajasthan 1.

Andhra: 244 & 176 for three in 65 overs (Prasanth Kumar 59, Mohammad Kaif 49 not out, K S Bharath 43; Vishal Dabholkar 2/26). Mumbai 1st innings: 237 all out in 91.5 overs (Siddhesh Lad 86; Bandaru Ayyappa 6/71). Result: Match drawn Points: Andhra 3, Mumbai 1

UP 686/7 DECL. MP 528/7 in 172 overs (Aditya Shrivastava 169; Ankit Rajpoot 4/87). Result: Match Drawn. Points: UP 1, MP 1.

PTI