Group A
RANJI TROPHY 2016-17
Ranji Wrap: MP, UP, Kerala on the brink of victories
Tiwary's fine hundred helped Bengal launch a solid fightback against Mumbai © Cricbuzz
Centuries by Manoj Tiwary and Sudip Chatterjee turned the course of the match and put Bengal in some control of the Ranji Trophy Round 8 clash in Nagpur. The duo combined to put on a mammoth 271-run stand for the fourth wicket and rescue Bengal from doldrums and help them reach 433 for 8 at the end of third day's play, extending the lead to 303 runs.
Resuming the day on 198 for 3, overnight bastmen Chatterjee and Tiwary batted for nearly two sessions, before the former was trapped leg before by Abhishek Nayar for 130. Eight over later, a double blow broke Bengal's flow as Nayar had Agniv Pan trapped in front of the stumps, while Tiwary was run out by Shardul Thakur.
Sreevats Goswami and Ashok Dinda did a bit of consolidation, but both were removed by Dhawal Kulkarni who returned to the attack. At 390 for 8, it seemed Bengal's end was near given that they don't possess the deepest of batting line-ups. However, Pragyan Ojha and Amit Kuila added some quick runs and remained unbeaten with a 43-run stand when Stumps were taken.
Brief Scores: Bengal 99 (Sudip Chatterjee 35, Abhishek Raman 21; Shardul Thakur 6-31, Dhawal Kulkarni 3-22) & 433/8 (Manoj Tiwary 169, Sudip Chatterjee 130; Dhawal Kulkarni 4-108, Abhishek Nayar 2-70) lead Mumbai 229 (Kaustubh Pawar 78, Shreyas Iyer 28; Ashok Dinda 5-88, Mukesh Kumar 3-56) by 303 runs
Chandrakant Sakure's four-wicket haul has put Madhya Pradesh on the brink of a massive win against Baroda. In reply to the target of 347 runs, Baroda were reduced to 114 for 9 at Stumps on Day 3 in Dharamsala.
Starting the day on 126 for 5, Madhya Pradesh's lower order made significant contributions to help them reach 293 in the second innings. While Harpreet Singh Bhatia, who walked out to bat at No 6, scored 73, the likes of Ankit Kushwah (29), Puneet Datey (41) and Ishwar Pandey (36) too made significant contributions. Atit Sheth and Sagar Mangalgaokar combined to snare seven wickets between them.
However, in reply, they failed to stand up to the challenge and none of the batsmen managed to go past the 20-run mark. Pinal Shah's 17 has been the highest score in the second innings so far, with Sakure being the destroyer in chief.
Brief Scores: Madya Pradesh 217 (Devendra Bundela 86, Puneet Datey 34; Babashafi Pathan 5-48, Irfan Pathan 2-51) & 293 (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 73, Naman Ojha 57; Atit Sheth 4-51, Sagar Mangalgaonkar 3-70) lead Baroda 167 (Deepak Hooda 61, Irfan Pathan 31; Ishwar Pandey 5-29, Puneet Datey 3-40) & 114/9 (Chandrakant Sakure 4-17) by 233 runs.
After Priyank Panchal and other Gujarat batsman dominated the proceedings in the first two days of the encounter against Punjab, it was the time of the pacers to join in the fun. Rush Kalaria, RP Singh, Harshal Patel and Jasprit Bumrah ran through Punjab's batting line up and deflated their challenge.
Having started the day on 20 for 1, Punjab lost nightwatchman Sandeep Sharma early. However Manan Vohra and Uday Kaul put on a 53-run stand to steady Punjab's innings. But once Kaul was dismissed by Kalaria, Punjab's innings fell apart. Key batsmen, Mandeep Singh, Gurkeerat Mann and Vohra fell in quick succession to leave the side reeling at 134 for 6.
It took a 68-run stand from wicketkeeper-batsman Gitansh Khera and Mayank Siddana to briefly halt Gujarat's momentum. Manpreet Singh Grewal struck three sixes and two boundaries in his brief cameo, but couldn't contribute significantly as Punjab folded for 247 in their first innings.
Punjab were asked to follow on and lost Khera early in the second innings. Vohra and Jiwanjot Singh were at the crease when Stumps were taken, with the scoreboard reading 36 for 1.
Brief Scores: Gujarat 624/6 (Priyank Panchal 314*, Bhargav Merai 65, Axar Patel 65; Sandeep Sharma 3-120) lead Punjab 247 (Manan Vohra 68, Mayank Siddana 39; Rush Kalaria 4-41) and 36/1 by 341 runs
Railways top-order faltered in the second innings and were reduced to 35 for 5 against Uttar Pradesh at Stumps on Day 3 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.
A contest that was closely contested for the first two days lost hold and Uttar Pradesh took the driver's seat. While Railways need 340 runs to win, Uttar Pradesh need only five wickets.
Resuming the day on 60 for 2, opener Shivam Chaudhary led the way with a well-paced 134. He was well supported by his skipper Suresh Raina, who got out on 91 for the second time in the match. Together, they put on a 150-run stand for the fifth wicket which helped Uttar Pradesh push themselves ahead in the contest.
Saurabh Kumar's unbeaten 30 lower down the order too helped Uttar Pradesh's case as they went on to put 330 runs before getting bowled out in the second innings.
If the target wasn't imposing enough, Praveen Kumar's twin strike early on in the fourth innings dented all hopes that were alive. He dismissed Saurabh and AG Sehrawat (both for ducks) to initiate a top-order collapse. Barring Shivakant Shukla (13), none of the batsmen went past the two-figure mark.
Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 259 (Suresh Raina 91, Saurabh Kumar 53; Karn Sharma 4-48, Anureet Singh 4-67) & 330 (Shivam Chaudhary 134, Suresh Raina 91; Karn Sharma 5-71, Karan Thakur 3-82) lead Railways 213 (Saurabh 74, Arindam Ghosh 58; Imtiaz Ahmed 5-34, Praveen Kumar 2-20) & 35/5 (Praveen Kumar 2-8) by 340 runs
Group B
Saurashtra took control of their contest against Karnataka in Patiala by getting rid of five important wickets in the second innings on the third day. Resuming at 297 for 6, Saurashtra added another 62 runs to get bowled out for 359. Prerak Mankad, who had scored a century on the second day, was dismissed for 126. Abrar Kazi and Vinay Kumar ended up with four wickets apiece for Karnataka.
After getting bowled out for just 200 in the first innings, the group toppers were expected to put up a better fight in the second. But Saurashtra got rid of R Samarth and Robin Uthappa cheaply to dent them early. Kaunain Abbas and Manish Pandey rescued their side with patient half-centuries but Kamlesh Makwana struck twice in quick succession as Karnataka lost three wickets in the space of 29 deliveries. At the close of play, they were able to fetch a lead of only 9 as Kaunain and Shreyas Gopal are now faced with a huge task on the final day to avoid defeat.
Brief scores: Karnataka 200 & 168/5 (Kaunain Abbas 62*, Manish Pandey 58; Kamlesh Makwana 3-46, Jay Chauhan 2-54) lead Saurashtra 359 (Prerak Mankad 126, Snell Patel 87; Vinay Kumar 4-54, Abrar Kazi 4-83) by 9 runs.
No play was possible in Chennai between Vidarbha and Delhi on the third day due to rain. The washout has almost ruled out a result for the contest with Delhi leading by just 67 runs with two wickets in hand.
Brief scores: Delhi 250/8 (Manan Sharma 82*, Milind 37; Rajneesh Gurbani 4-76, Lalit 3-79) lead Vidarbha 183 by 67 runs.
Assam put up an improved performance with the bat in the second innings in Vizianagaram against second-placed Jharkhand but they will need more support from their lower order on the final day in order to avoid a defeat as the lead is still only 79 with five wickets remaining. They will also count on Sibsankar Roy, who is batting on 80.
They could have been in a much stronger position had their middle order not collapsed before stumps. At one stage, Assam were cruising at 225 for 1 before centurion Rishav Das was stumped for 113. His dismissal triggered a collapse as Ajay went on to pick two quick wickets which was then followed by a needless run out.
Brief scores: Assam 126 & 269/5 (Rishav Das 113, Sibsankar Roy 80*; Ajay 2-37, Shahbaz Nadeem 1-39) lead Jharkhand 316 by 79 runs.
In a frenetic day, Maharashtra were bowled out twice to hand Odisha a crucial bonus point win in their Group B encounter in Wayanad. Odisha lost their last wicket early in the morning session on Wednesday (November 30) to get bowled out for 319 but came back with the ball to stun their opponents. On a pitch that assisted the seamers early in the morning, Odisha's pace trio of Basant Mohanty, Suryakant Pradhan and Deepak Behera reduced Maharashtra to 45 for 7.They were eventually bowled out for 94 and were asked to follow-on. Even though the pitch eased out in the afternoon session, the uneven bounce accounted for the batsmen as wickets kept tumbling again. To add to their woes, a few batsmen also played some poor strokes to throw their wickets away.Biplab Samantray, who starred with the bat for Odisha, contributed with the ball as well in the second innings with four wickets. In the end, Maharashtra were bowled out for 107 to hand Odisha a victory by an innings and 118 runs. The win now takes them to the third spot in their group below Karnataka and Jharkhand.Brief scores: Odisha 319 (Biplab Samantray 89; Anupam Sanklecha 5-75, Mohsin Sayyed 3-65) beat Maharashtra 94 (Suryakant Pradhan 4-34, Deepak Behera 3-16) & 107 (Vishant More 29; Biplab Samantray 4-34, Suryakant Pradhan 3-36) by an innings and 118 runs.
Group C
Ricky Bhui's fighting 71 went in vain as Goa secured a 34-run victory against Andhra in the Group C encounter at the Railway Stadium in Dhanbad. Despite the loss, Andhra retained the top spot on the Group C table while Goa moved up three places to fifth.
Needing 233 for victory, Andhra, who started the day at 99 for 3, appeared to be on track as overnight batsmen DB Ravi Teja and Bhui extended their partnership to 87. However, Ravi Teja (49) and AG Pradeep departed in quick succession as Goa forced their way back into the game.
Following a 39-run stand between Bhui and Bhargav Bhatt, Andhra kept losing wickets at regular intervals to be eventually bowled out for 198. Shadab Jakati, who picked up three wickets in the second innings, finished with a match haul of 11.
Brief scores: Goa 115 (Sumiran Amonkar 29; Bhargav Bhatt 6-36) & 276 (Saurabh Bandekar 75, Snehal Kauthankar 61; Hanuma Vihari 3-17) beat Andhra 159 (Srikar Bharat 68; Shadab Jakati 8-53) & 198 (Ricky Bhui 71, DB Ravi Teja 49; Rituraj Singh 4-24, Shadab Jakati 3-70) by 34 runs.
Akshay Chandran and Iqbal Abdulla did well with the ball while the Kerala batsmen also showed better application in the second innings to be on course for an outright victory against Tripura at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.
Having conceded a 20-run lead, Kerala did well with the ball as they picked up wickets at regular intervals to derail Tripura. Smit Patel scored a 124-ball 54, but he received little support from the rest of the batsmen as Tripura folded for 162 in their second innings. Chandran bagged four wickets while Abdulla got three.
Needing 183 for victory, Mohammed Azharuddeen (80) and Bhavin Thakkar (37) were involved in an unbeaten 117-run stand as Kerala ended the day 66 away from the target.
Brief scores: Tripura 213 & 162 (Smit Patel 54; Akshay Chandran 4-16, Iqbal Abdulla 3-32) lead Kerala 193 & 117/0 (Mohammed Azharuddeen 80*, Bhavin Thakkar 37*) by 65 runs.
Nakul Verma's unbeaten 156 and Rahul Singh's knock of 99 helped Services set a challenging target for Chhattisgarh on Day 3 of the Group C encounter at the Bandra Kurla Complex.
Having conceded a 56-run lead, Services batted better in their second essay with Verma and Rahul playing the protagonists, bringing their side back in the game with a positive brand of cricket. They were reduced to 19 for 3 at one stage before Verma and Shamsher Yadav steadied the innings with a 106-run stand for the fourth wicket. Following the dismissal of Yadav, Rahul joined Verma as they added 175 runs for the fifth wicket to take Services to 300. They eventually declared at 336 for 7, having scored at a rate of 4.09.
Needing 281 for victory, openers Sahil Gupta and Abhimanyu Chauhan saw off a tricky three-over period to take Chhattisgarh to 6 for 0 at stumps.
Brief scores: Services 225 & 336/7 decl. (Nakul Verma 156*, Rahul Singh 99; Pankaj Rao 3-64, Kant Singh 3-79) lead Chhattisgarh 281 & 6/0 by 274 runs.
Jammu & Kashmir are staring at their third loss of the season after being reduced to 42 for 4 in a chase of 404 against Hyderabad at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara.
Starting the day at 156 for 7 in their first innings, J&K could add only 13 runs to their overnight total before being bowled out. Having taken a 159-run lead, Hyderabad rode on Tanmay Agarwal's second ton of the game as well as half-centuries from Akshath Reddy and S Badrinath to post 244 for 2 before declaring their essay.
Chasing a mammoth target in the fourth innings, things did not go well for J&K as they suffered another top-order collapse to be staring down the barrel.
Brief scores: Hyderabad 328 & 244/2 decl. (Tanmay Agarwal 103*, S Badrinath 66, Akshath Reddy 53) lead Jammu & Kashmir 169 (Parvez Rasool 70; Ravi Kiran 4-32, Mohammed Siraj 3-51) & 42/4 (Ahmed Bandy 16; Ravi Kiran 2-14) by 361 runs.
Sanjay Pahal picked up a five-wicket haul while Mohit Sharma bagged three as they put Haryana in a strong position in their match against Himachal Pradesh at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Valsad.
Starting the day at 101 for 3, in reply to Haryana's total of 402, Himachal lost Robin Bist and Ankush Bains early in the day. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually bowled out for 233 with Sumeet Verma becoming the last to depart after a fighting 66.
Asked to follow on, Himachal have managed to bat well in the second innings. The openers added 140 runs before RI Thakur fell five short of a fifty. The onus will be on Prashant Chopra, who is unbeaten on 89, to guide Himachal to safety on the final day. They are still 30 runs away from wiping off the deficit.
Brief scores: Haryana 402 lead Himachal Pradesh 233 (Sumeet Verma 66; Sanjay Pahal 5-71, Mohit Sharma 3-25) & 142/1 f/o (Prashant Chopra 89*) by 30 runs.
Karnataka have a tough task on their hands if they're to fight their way back into the game ©Reuters
Mohd Kaif will have to lead from the front if his side is to chase down a tricky total on the final day ©Reuters
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