Ranji Trophy roundup: Baroda beat Bengal in two days, Rishabh Pant shines again for Delhi

Wayanad: Young Rishabh Pant’s dream season continued as he snatched the limelight from India internationals Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan with a breathtaking 75 off 59 balls that had nine boundaries and three sixes in a Ranji Trophy encounter against Rajasthan. In reply to Rajasthan’s 238, Delhi ended their first innings at 307 taking a 69-run lead.

In the second innings, Rajasthan were 19 for 1 and with two days left, the Gautam Gambhir led side will be aiming for full points to stay in contention for the knock-out stage. In the morning, Gambhir (10) was cleaned by left-arm seamer Aniket Chaudhary. Dhawan started the day on 29 and hit two more boundaries as both openers fell at the identical score of 52. The stocky Pant came in at the fall of Nitish Rana’s (24) wicket and started carting the bowlers with utter disdain. He did tonk slow medium pacer Puneet Yadav for three maximums as well driving the faster bowlers with ease. Pant batted for just an hour and half but he looked cut above the rest. He has now scored 874 runs during this season. The left-hander was bowled by seamer Tanvir ul Haq as Delhi were reduced to 196 for 5. Suddenly they slumped to 204 for 7 before Sumit Narwal (34) hit 4 sixes off left-arm spinner Mahipal Lomror to ensure that Delhi are assured of three points from the game. Brief Scores:

Rajasthan 1st Innings 237 and 19/1. Bengal 1st Innings 307.

40 wickets fall inside 2 days as Baroda beat Bengal by 21 runs Lahli: It was another Ranji Trophy match at Bansi Lal Stadium that turned out to be farcical contest as Baroda beat Bengal by 21 runs with 40 wickets falling well inside two days. Baroda went home happy defending a target of 155 as Bengal were all out for 133 in their second innings. This was after Baroda also scored an identical 133 in their second essay. Ironically, the difference of 21 runs in the first innings turned out to be the turning point for Baroda. In the end, Manoj Tiwary’s words turned out to be prophetic as he had clearly stated that any target above 120 will not be practically chaseable on a track where the contest is heavily loaded in favour of bowlers. Young seamer Atit Seth (10/94) would remember this match for his performance but will certainly not be an indicator of his capabilities in conditions loaded in favour of bowlers. With six inch grass at three quarter length and damp patches made the life hell for the batsmen. The highest score in the entire match was Tiwary’s 39 in the second innings. In fact, he hit six fours in 48 balls before an incutter from Sagar Manglorkar did him in. He had added 54 runs for 5th wicket with Pankaj Shaw (16) but once Tiwary was gone, hopes of victory evaporated as the pitch also proved that Bengal’s batting is yet to get ready for challenges in adverse circumstances. The defeat dented Bengal’s chances of qualification for knock outs as they are placed fifth now with 16 points. The 6 points helped Baroda climb to seventh position as of now with other matches still on. Brief Scores:

Baroda 97 and 133 (Mukesh Kumar 5/45)

Bengal 76 and 133 (Manoj Tiwary 39)

Points: Bengal 0; Baroda 6.

Panchal’s double ton takes Gujarat to 437, Mumbai 58/3 Hubballi: Opener Priyank Kirit Panchal notched up a double century before Gujarat were all out for 437 in their Group A Ranji Trophy match against fancied Mumbai. At close of play on the second day, Mumbai were struggling at 58 for three with Shreyas Iyer batting on 27. Night-watchman Dhawal Kulkarni was yet to open his account when the stumps were drawn. Mumbai skipper Aditya Tare was dismissed for 26 after the openers, Akhil Herwadkar and Jay Bista, perished with just five runs on the board. Seamer Jasprit Bumrah was the wrecker in chief, sending back the Mumbai openers to return figures of 2/11 in five overs, while there was one wicket for Karan Patel. Resuming on 246/3, Mumbai rode on Panchal’s knock to put up a strong total at the KSCA Rajnagar Stadium. Manpreet Juneja got out after scoring 48 but the other overnight batsman, Panchal, almost played through the innings and was the ninth man out. Overnight on 122, Panchal’s innings consumed 434 deliveries. He struck 28 boundaries and two sixes, frustrating the Mumbai bowlers throughout. Mumbai trailed by 379 runs with seven wickets remaining in the first innings. Among Mumbai bowlers, left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar was the most successful, returning figures of 6/118 in 43.1 overs.

Rawat, Samantray hand Odisha 1st innings lead over Karnataka New Delhi: Wicket-keeper Saurabh Rawat made a career-best 85 while Biplab Samantray hit 58 to help Odisha take the all-important first innings lead over fancied Karnataka in a Group B Ranji Trophy cricket match on Tuesday. Resuming at the overnight score of 42 for two in reply to Karnataka’s paltry first innings total of 179, Odisha finished at 318 for nine in 111 overs at stumps on the second day of the four-day match at the Palam ground. Odisha, thus, lead Karnataka by 139 runs with just a wicket in hand. In fact, at one stage Odisha were in a spot of bother at 79 for five before Samantray and Abhishek Yadav (33) stabilised the innings with a crucial 61-run partnership for the sixth wicket. After Abhishek’s dismissal, Samantray stitched another vital partnership of 106 runs with Rawat to ensure the first innings lead for Odisha before both fell to leg-break bowler Shreyas Gopal. Rawat’s runs came off 124 balls with the help of 12 boundaries and one six. Besides, skipper Govind Podder also played a good hand up the order with a fine 44. Gopal turned out to be the pick of the bowlers for Karnataka with figures of five for 73 from 24 overs. Brief Scores: Karnataka: 179 all out Odisha: 318 for nine in 111 overs (Saurabh Rawat 85, Biplab Samantray 58; Shreyas Gopal 5/73).

Vidarbha openers set up strong reply against Saurashtra New Delhi: Openers Faiz Fazal (94) and Sanjay Ramaswamy (77) shared a gritty-171 run stand to take Vidarbha closer to Saurashtra’s 301 on day two of the Ranji Trophy Group B match. The openers, starting at an overnight four for no loss, batted for better part of the day to guide Vidarbha to 242 for three at stumps with the team needing another 60 runs for the first innings lead. Saurashtra had scored 301 on the opening day at the back of Sheldon Jackson’s century. Both Ramaswamy and Fazal were at the crease together for 59.3 overs and both played with patience, consuming 190 and 204 balls respectively. Shalabh Shrivastava and Jitesh Sharma were batting on 31 and six at close of play. Brief scores:

Saurashtra 301.

Vidarbha 242/3 in 91 overs (Ramaswamy 77, Fazal 94).

Khurana helps Maharashtra amass 542 Chennai: Chirag Khurana scored an unbeaten 112 as Maharashtra posted a mammoth 542 on day two of their Ranji Trophy Group B against Assam. Maharashtra, resuming their first innings from 352 for five, ended up with a formidable total thanks to Khurana a day after Kedar Jadhav had smashed a quickfire 115. Assam were 132 for three at stumps with opener Rishav Das and Kunal Saikia batting on 53 and 38 respectively. Anupam Sanklecha too all three wickets for Maharashtra, who have firm control on the proceedings going into day three. Brief scores:

Maharashtra 542 in 144 overs (Jadhav 115, Khurana 112 not out).

Assam 132/3 in 35 overs (Das 53 batting; Sanklecha 3/45).

Tamil Nadu 218/4 after bowling out Punjab for 284 Nagpur: Tamil Nadu closed in on Punjab’s first-innings total of 284 all out in their Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match. At stumps on the second day, Tamil Nadu were 218/4 in 75 overs, trailing by 66 runs at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground. Resuming on 241/6, Punjab added 43 runs for the loss of four wickets, with overnight batsman Gitansh Khera remaining unbeaten on 40. Medium pacers Krishnamoorthy Vignesh (4/104) and A Aswin Crist (3/73). In reply, Tamil Nadu lost skipper Abhinav Mukund and Laxmesha Suryaprakash with 44 runs on the board. But an 85-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Kaushik Gandhi (75 not out) and the experienced Dinesh Karthik (54) steadied the TN innings. After Karthik’s departure made it 156/4, Gandhi put on 62 runs for the fifth wicket with Vijay Shankar, who was batting 32 at close of play. Gandhi struck nine boundaries in his 206-ball unbeaten knock.

MP 71/3 in reply to Railways 371 all out New Delhi: Left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma returned with an impressive six-wicket haul to help Madhya Pradesh bowl out Railways for 371 in a Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match. In reply, Madhya Pradesh were 71 for three in 40 overs at stumps on the second day of the four-day encounter at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground. Naman Ojha was batting on 9 while giving him company was skipper Devendra Bundela on 13 with Madhya Pradesh still trailing Railways by 300 runs with seven wickets in hand and two full days play remaining. Earlier, Ankit picked up six wickets giving away 108 runs as Railways’ remaining eight wickets could add just 122 runs after resuming at the overnight score of 249 for two. Overnight batsmen Nitin Bhille (102) and Arindam Ghosh (62) failed to make any impact today departing early on. While Bhille failed to add to his overnight score, Ghosh could muster just one run today. Skipper Karn Sharma (44) and tailender Anureet Singh (40 not out) made significant scores to prolong Railways innings. Brief Scores: Railways: 371 all out in 139.3 overs (Nitin Bhille 102, Arindam Ghosh 62; Ankit Sharma 6/108) Madhya Pradesh: 71 for three in 40 overs (Rameez Khan 24; Avinash Yadav 2/23).