Ranji Trophy round-up: Delhi close in on win; Jadeja stars for Saurashtra

A summary of all the Ranji Trophy matches played on Monday

Keen to make amends for missing out on an outright win in their lung opener against Assam, Delhi's spinners took the team towards a comprehensive innings victory against Railways at the end of the third day of the Ranji Trophy encounter in New Delhi.

Having scored 447 in their first innings, Delhi bundled out Railways for 136 in the first innings and the home team fared no better ending the day at 157 for 6 after being followed on.

With another 230 runs to get on the final day to avoid innings defeat, victory with bonus points looks imminent for Delhi.

Delhi's troika of spinners -- Manan Sharma (4/50 and 2/44 in 12 overs), Vikas Mishra (3/37 and 2/27 in 13 overs) and Pulkit Narang (2/45 in 18 overs) -- have so far accounted for 13 out of the 16 Railway wickets.

They are able to get some turn from the strip with the cracks widening and skipper Ishant Sharma only bowled 10 out of the 61 overs in the second innings despite a good show in the first innings.

After Railways were made to follow-on, Ishant gave the new ball to off-break bowler Narang as both Saurabh Wakaskar (17) and Shivakant Shukla (2) were left-handers.

But it was Mishra, making a comeback after four years, who sent back both openers, with close in fielders taking the catches.

Nitin Bhille hung around for an unbeaten 54 off 163 balls but there was not much stomach for fight from the other end.

Arindam Ghosh (19) tried a cut shot off Narang and was caught behind while Ashish Yadav was trapped leg before.             Railways skipper Mahesh Rawat (8) hit two boundaries but was out when he tried a wild heave of Manan.

Abhishek Yadav also thumped four boundaries before becoming Manan's sixth scalp of the match.        

Earlier, Railways could add just another 68 runs in the morning session before losing their final five wickets.

Brief Scores:

Delhi 1st Innings 447 vs Railways 136 (Manan Sharma 4/50, Vikas Mishra 3/37, Ishant Sharma 3/20) and (follow on) 157/6 (Nitin Bhille 54 batting, Vikas Mishra 2/27, Manan Sharma 2/44).

Other Scores

Hyderabad vs UP. No play possible

Karnataka in control as Assam need 155 runs to avoid innings defeat

Mysuru: Karnataka were staring at an outright win after they restricted Assam to 169 for six when the third day's play of the Group A Ranji Trophy match was stopped due to bad weather.

The visitors required 155 runs to avoid an innings defeat with the hosts declaring their innings at 469 for 7.

Karnataka added 42 runs to their overnight 427 for before losing centurion Krishnappa Gowtham in the first hour of the day.

The all-rounder, who was batting on 147, added only two more runs before he was caught and bowled by Arup Das.

He cracked ten boundaries and six sixes in his 149, which came off 170 deliveries. Shreyas Gopal made 50 after adding 12 runs to his overnight 38 while skipper Vinay Kumar hammered 27 from 29 balls. For Assam, Arup Das toiled for 41 overs for his four wickets while Swarupam Purkayasta scalped three wickets.

When Assam batted, Krishnappa Gowtham did the bulk of the damage. He has picked up seven wickets altogether in the match.

The forecast for tomorrow is quite grim with rains forecast.

For Assam, skipper Gokul Sharma cracked his second 50 of the match. The visiting captain is batting on 62, which came off 111 balls with six exquisite boundaries.

Abu Nechim (8) was giving him company.

Brief scores: Assam 145 in 59.1 overs and 169 for 6 (Gokul Sharma 62 n.o., Krishnappa Gowtham 3/39) vs Karnataka 469 for 7 decl in 115 overs (K Gowtham 149, Ravikumar Samarth 123).

All-round Jadeja fires Saurashtra to big win

Rajkot: Ravindra Jadeja bagged nine wickets after scoring a double hundred to guide Saurashtra to an innings and 212-run victory over Jammu and Kashmir on day three of the Group B Ranji Trophy match.

As many as 16 wickets fell on day three after Jammu and Kashmir started the day at 103 for four.

Jadeja, after completing a double hundred on day two, took four wickets in the first innings while the remaining were picked up by another left-arm spinner, Dharmendersinh Jadeja.

The visitors were all out for 156 in the first innings and were asked to follow on.

Jammu and Kashmir batted better in the second innings but they still looked nowhere near getting close to Saurashtra's mammoth first innings of 624/7 declared.

While the two Jadejas ran riot in the first innings, Saurashtra offie Vandit Jivrajani ran through the opposition batting in the second essay.

Eventually, Jammu and Kashmir were bowled for 256 in their second innings with Puneet Bisht and Ram Dayal scoring half centuries.

As expected, Ravindra Jadeja was named the man of the match and his performance is a reminder to the selectors.

Brief scores:

Saurashtra 624/7 decl vs J&K 156 all and 256 all out in 84.1 overs (Bisht 55, Dayal 56; Jivrajani 6/79).

At Jaipur: Rajasthan 423 vs Jharkhand 265 (Tiwary 83; Pankaj Singh 4/48) and 95/1.

At Nadiad: Kerala 208 and 203 (Piyush Chawla 3/66, Siddharth Desai 6/80) vs Gujarat 307 and (Target 105) 22/1.

Rain halts TN's progress; TN takes 99 run lead over Tripura

Chennai: Rain played spoilsport in the Ranji Trophy Group C match between Tamil Nadu and Tripura at the M A Chidambaram Stadium with only seven overs being possible on the third day today.

Resuming at the overnight score of 332 for 2, the home side lost two wickets, including that of centurion M S Washington Sundar, and finished the day at 357 for 4 in 88 overs, taking a lead of 99 runs over Tripura in the first innings.

The left-handed opener fell for the addition of just three runs to his overnight score of 156, caught by Yashpal Singh off Abhijit Sarkar.

Dinesh Karthik, who flew down from Hyderabad where he was part of the India team for the T20 series against Australia, to play this game, lasted just seven deliveries for his five.

He hit one four before becoming Sarkar's second wicket.

Test star Ravichandran Ashwin joined Baba Indrajith (89 batting) in the middle and a few deliveries later, the rains arrived and play had to be stopped.

A combination of persistent rain and bad light meant an early end to the day's play.

The truncated third day would affect Tamil Nadu's hopes of an outright victory.

The team had conceded the first innings lead in the drawn encounter against Andhra Pradesh in the opening round.

Brief scores:

Tripura 258 in 96.1 overs (Smit Patel 99, K Vignesh 4 for 41) vs Tamil Nadu 357 for 4 in 88 overs (M S Washington Sundar 159, B Indrajith 89 batting, Abhinav Mukund 76, Abhijit Sarkar 2 for 43).

At Vadodara: Baroda 373 all out in 128 overs (Swapnil Singh 88, A Sheth 70 not out, Vishnu Solanki 61, B Ayyappa 4 for 69) vs Andhra Pradesh 505 for 9 in 139.4 overs (G Hanuma

Vihari 150, Ricky Bhui 145, A Sheth 5 for 77).

At Indore: Madhya Pradesh 409 in 144.3 overs (Naman Ojha 180, Ankit Sharma 67, Akash Parkar 4 for 70) vs Mumbai 415 for 8 in 123 overs (Jay Bista 135, Surya Kumar Yadav 91, Siddesh Lad 82).

Shami's late burst takes Bengal closer to innings win

Raipur:  India speedster Mohammed Shami showed his class with a four wicket burst with a devastating spell of reverse swing as Bengal inched closer to an innings victory against Chattisgarh in a Ranji Trophy group D encounter.

Shami had figures of 4 for 45 in 17 overs as Chattisgarh finished the day at 229 for five after being enforced follow-on. The home team scored a paltry 110 in their first innings after Bengal's mammoth 529 for 7 declared.

Chattisgarh still need to score 190 runs on the final day with only five wickets in hand in order to save innings defeat.

If it was Ashoke Dinda, who made it a memorable 100th first class game, decimating Chattisgarh with a devastating 7 for 24 in the first innings, Shami took over in the second innings to show his repertoire of skills.

Chattisgarh opener Abhimanyu Chauhan (115) and No 3 Ashutosh Singh (71) had added 172 runs for the second wicket stand after being made to follow-on by Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary.

Comfortably placed at 206 for 1 with the ball being more than 58 overs old, Shami got one to jag back in as Ashutosh saw his stumps shattered.

In his next over, former India player and current Chattisgarh captain Mohammd Kaif also got one that reversed, trapping him plumb in-front. Kaif's tendency to shuffle and not being able to get the bat down on time caused his downfall.

Within two deliveries, Amandeep Khare (0) was also trapped leg before. Centurion Chauhan was then out in the next over caught by Shreevats Goswami.

Brief Scores:

Bengal 529/7 decl vs Chattisgarh 110 (Ashoke Dinda 7/24, Mohammed Shami 2/44) and 229/5 (Abhimanyu Chauhan 115, Ashutosh Singh 71, Mohammed Shami 4/45)

Punjab 161 and 227 (Manan Vohra 51, Abhishek Sharma 49, Akshay Karnewar 6/47, Akshay Wakhare 4/83) vs Vidarbha 5-5. Vidarbha won by an innings and 117 runs

Goa 255 and 131/0 (Sumiran Amonkar 67, Swapnil Asnodkar 51) vs Himachal 625/7 decl (Priyanshu Khanduri 117, Ankush Bains 143, Nikhil Gangta 127, Amit Kumar 97).