Ranji Trophy round-up: Punjab beat Odisha by innings and 48 runs

Punjab dismissed Odisha for 307 in their second innings to register an innings and 48-run victory and pick a bonus point from the Group A Ranji Trophy match, on the fourth and final day, in Mohali, on Wednesday.

After bundling out the visitors for 205 in the first innings, Punjab put up a mammoth 560 for six declared.

Resuming at 110 for 2 in their second innings, Odisha needed 245 more runs to make Punjab bat again but skipper Harbhajan Singh led a disciplined bowling attack, claiming three wickets, to scuttle the visitors' plans.

While Harbhajan returned figures of three for 83 in 25.4 overs, Siddarth Kaul and Manpreet Gony took two wickets each. Sandeep Sharma, who scalped the Odisha openers on Tuesday, added another wicket to his kitty.

Harbhajan's nine-wicket haul in the match should hold him in good stead when the selectors meet to pick the squad for the two-match Test series against the West Indies.

Overnight batsman Niranjan Behera was the first to be dismissed on Wednesday, Kaul cleaning up the one-down batsman. His 113-ball 56 was studded with eight boundaries.

Two overs later, Govind Podder, who started the day on 52, also was sent back to the pavilion by Gony, Uday Kaul taking the catch behind the stumps, as Odisha slipped to 147 for four in 43.2 overs.

Abhilash Mallick then steadied the innings and tried to anchor a fightback with a 116-ball 73, which included five fours and a six.

However, Abhilash could not find an able partner to lead the recovery, as apart from Basant Mohanty (41) and Halhadar Das (16), none of the batsmen could reach double figures before Odisha were dismissed in 91.4 overs.

Brief scores:

Odisha: 205 & 307 all out in 91. 4 overs (Abhilash Mallick 73; Harbhajan Singh 3-83).

Punjab: 560-6 decl.

Saurashtra beat Rajasthan by innings and 31 runs

A fighting century by Rajesh Bishnoi was in vain as Saurashtra thrashed Rajasthan by an innings and 31 runs to win with a bonus point, on the fourth and final day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match, in Rajkot, on Wednesday.

After declaring their first innings on 475 for 7, Saurashtra bundled out Rajasthan for a paltry 136.

In their second innings, Rajasthan were all out for 308.

Resuming the day on 147 for 4, the visitors' hopes of saving the match rested on the overnight pair of Hrishikesh Kanitkar and Rajesh Bishnoi.

The duo started on a positive note and raised hopes of Rajasthan saving the match as they added 91 runs for fifth wicket.

Bishnoi, who resumed on 2, went on to score 106.

However, the well-settled pair was separated when Kanitkar gave a simple catch to close-in fielder Cheteshwar Pujara off Vishal Joshi's bowling.

Kanitkar scored 42 off 86 balls, laced with four fours. His departure triggered a collapse as Rajasthan's lower order batsmen failed to provide support to Bishnoi, who fought a lone battle at the other end.

Bishnoi, who completed his century off 127 balls, was finally bowled by Abhishek Bhatt. He faced 139 balls during his 185-minute stay at the crease, hitting 12 boundaries and three sixes.

For Saurashtra, left arm leg-spinner Dharmendra Jadeja was the most successful bowler, taking four wickets in the second innings, conceding 18 runs, while debutant seamer Abhishek Bhatt got two wickets while giving away just nine runs from his six overs.

Saurashtra earned seven points including one bonus (6+1).

Brief scores:

Saurashtra: 475 for 7 declared

Rajasthan: 136 & 308 (Rajesh Bishnoi 106, Hrishikesh Kanitkar 42; Dharmendra Jadeja 4-108, Abhishek Bhatt 2-09). 

MP grab three points vs Railways

A strong batting performance by the middle-order, after being forced to follow-on, helped Railways avoid defeat, but Madhya Pradesh walked away with three points from their first innings lead in the drawn Ranji Trophy Group B match in Indore.

In reply to a mammoth 510, Railways were bowled out for 335 in their first innings and 235 for six in their second when stumps were drawn on the fourth and final day at Holkar Cricket Stadium.

Madhya Pradesh medium-pacer Ishwar Pandey was the pick of the bowlers; he grabbed seven wickets on Tuesday to take his tally to eight in the first innings before grabbing three in the Railways' second essay.

When they took the field for their second innings, Railways were trailing MP by 175 runs.

Forced to follow-on, Railways were off to a miserable start as both openers departed with just 11 runs on the board.

But the middle order came up with some handy contributions to deny MP victory.

Arindam Ghosh top-scored for the visitors with a 164-ball 72 which included seven fours and a six.

Ashish Yadav (37) and Mahesh Rawat (37) were the other notable contributors for the Railways as they managed to grab a point from the match despite their decision to bowl first backfiring spectacularly.

Pandey was once again the top wicket-taker for MP with a haul of 3-36 in miserly 18 overs, nine of them being maiden.

Brief scores:

Madhya Pradesh: 510 for 6 decl

Railways: 335 and 235-6 in 78 overs (Arindam Ghosh 72, Ishwar Pandey 3/36).

No play in Jharkhand-Delhi match

Hosts Jharkhand and Delhi took a point each after the four-day Group A Ranji Trophy match was abandoned without a ball being bowled on the concluding day at Keenan stadium.

The play was not possible in the last four days due to sluggish outfield even though there was no rain since Sunday. The umpires inspected the wicket at 12 noon and called off the match.

Meanwhile, a moderate crowd, which had turned up to have glimpses of the star cricketers such as Delhi captain and out-of-favour Indian opener Gautam Gambhir and Virendra Sehwag, got irritated and indulged in mild stone pelting, forcing the police to intervene, after the match was called off.

There was just a minor incident, which was brought under control and crowd was dispersed immediately after the match was called off, police said, denying any stone pelting incident.

Image: Harbhajan Singh

Photograph: Pal Pillai/Getty Images