In the third round of the Ranji Trophy 2014-15 season, defending champions Karnataka beat Railways to maintain their position at the top of the Group A table, Mumbai posted their first victory of the season with a win over Uttar Pradesh in Kanpur, Delhi defeated Rajasthan while Punjab scampered to nerve-wracking win over hosts Maharashtra. Here are the highlights for the day:
Baroda vs J&K: After posting 497, J&K bowled Baroda out for 426 to claim a first innings lead. The visitors wrapped-up the hosts first innings earlier on the fourth day. Ram Dayal claimed four wickets while Samiullah Beigh and Umar Nazir picked two apiece and Parvez Rasool took one. When play was called off J&K were 147/9. The Rasool-led side received three points on the basis of their first innings lead while Baroda got one point.
Railways vs Karnataka: A thumping 136-run victory against Railways granted Karnataka six points. The visitors declared their second innings for 174/5 earlier on the fourth day and set Railways a 251-run target. Abhimanyu Mithun then led the Karnataka bowling attack in bowling the home team out for 114. He claimed 5/31 while skipper Vinay Kumar picked two wickets.
Tamil Nadu vs Madhya Pradesh: Madhya Pradesh claimed three points on the basis of their first innings lead while Tamil Nadu were granted one in the drawn match at Chepauk. Dinesh Karthik’s 129 helped the hosts to 369 after being asked to follow-on. Bowled out earlier in the day, the home team set MP a 181-run target. When the match was called off, MP were 112/4.
Uttar Pradesh vs Mumbai: Mumbai registered their first win of the season with a thrilling eight-wicket win over UP in Kanpur in the last session of the day. The visitors skittled the hosts out for 161 in the second innings earlier in the day. Barring the valiant effort by Umang Sharma (60) and Praveen Kumar (47) late onslaught the rest of the line-up caved in to the Mumbai attack. Wilkin Mota claimed four while Shardul Thakur picked three and Khsemal Waingankar took two wickets. The home team set the visitors a 98-run target which was chased down in 15.4 overs. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav made 47 not out while Abhishek Nayar remained unbeaten on 20.
Delhi vs Rajasthan: Delhi coasted to an innings and seven-run win against Rajasthan to claim seven points from the game. The hosts had declared their first innings on 380/6 with a 239-run lead against the visitors at the Feroz Shah Kotla. The Navdeep Saini-led attack then bowled Rajasthan out for 232 on the last day of the match. Saini picked 4/48 while Shivam Sharma took 3/40, Varun Sood picked 2/39 and Sumit Narwal chipped in with 1/23 to bowl Delhi to a comprehensive victory.
Haryana vs Vidarbha: Haryana had scrapped through to a marginal two-run first innings lead which gained them three points while Vidarbha received one in the drawn match at Lahli. When play was called off on the fourth day, the visitors were 23/2 in the second innings.
Maharashtra vs Punjab: Gurkeerat Singh Mann helped Punjab chase down 204 in a close finish in Pune. The visitors claimed six points for their thrilling victory over Maharashtra. Earlier, bowled out for 384 after resuming on 259/3, Maharashtra set Punjab a 204-run target on the last day. Kedar Jadhav returned to the dressing room without adding to his overnight score of 109 while Rahul Tripathi was sent back later by Sandeep Sharma for 103.
The rest of the line-up succumbed without any resistance as Sharma and S Kaul picked four wickets each to wrap-up the hosts’ second innings on the fourth day. Samad Fallah and Shrikant Mundhe then struck at regular intervals to send back the Punjab batsmen and Maharashtra in the fray. Fallah wrecked the top-order and with Mundhe ran through the rest of the line-up even as Mann fought to hold up one end. Harbhajan Singh too posted a crucial 50 while the rest of the batsmen caved in. However, Mann held his nerve to take the team across the finish line with an unbeaten 73.
Saurashtra vs Gujarat: Gujarat gained three points on the basis of their first innings lead against hosts Saurashtra in Rajkot. Earlier in the day, the home team declared their second innings on 364/5. Powered by Sheldon Jackson’s 156, Saurashtra set the visitors a 324-run target. When play was called off Gujarat were 130/2.
Goa vs Himachal Pradesh: HP gained three points on the basis of their first innings lead against hosts. The match was called off after Goa was bowled out for 184 in the second innings on the last day. HP’s GK Singh and KJ Singh claimed three wickets apiece while B Sharma picked two wickets while A Kalsi took one in Goa’s second innings.
Jharkhand vs Tripura: Having amassed 362 in the first innings after bowling Jharkhand out for 142, Tripura gained a good first innings lead. The lead gave them three points while Jharkhand received one in the drawn game. Ishank Jaggi’s unbeaten 201 took Jharkhand to 409/8 before declaring their second innings on the last day. When play was called off, Tripura were 12 for no loss.
Kerala vs Hyderabad: Kerala claimed three points on the basis of a first innings lead while Hyderabad received one for their effort in the drawn game. The 235-run opening stand in the second innings between openers Tanmay Agarwal and Akshath Reddy helped Hyderabad put up a improved performance in the second innings. Both openers posted centuries on the last day. The team was 249/1 in the second innings when the match was called off on the fourth afternoon.
Services vs Andhra: Services collected three points on the basis of their first innings lead while Andhra Pradesh received one for the effort in the drawn encounter. The home team posted 286 on the last day in reply to AP’s 234. When play was called off Andhra were 19/1.
