Ranji round-up: Patient Lad helps Mumbai eke out draw against Baroda

A round-up of results of Ranji matches played on Sunday

Crisis man Siddhesh Lad batted stubbornly and made a patient, unconquered 71 to bail out oft-crowned champions Mumbai against Baroda in their landmark 500th Ranji Trophy Group C game that was drawn in Mumbai on Sunday.

The short-statured batsman remained unbeaten after staying at the crease for two minutes over five hours and facing 238 balls in the Mumbai second innings score of 260 for 7 at the Wankhede Stadium.

The 25-year-old batsman, known for his obdurate measures, stitched together a partnership of 79 runs with Suryakumar Yadav (44) for the sixth wicket to help Mumbai to a tea-time score of 237 for 6 after the 41-time champions commenced at 102 for 4.

Lad, on 57 in a score of 236 was caught off Swapnil Singh but was fortunate to escape as it was found to be a no-ball through a referral to the third umpire.

Lad, who struck 7 fours, was later involved in another half century stand, for the seventh wicket, with the stonewalling Abhishek Nayar (8) to take Mumbai closer to safety after they commenced the last day facing an innings defeat, having conceded a huge first innings lead of 404 to the visitors yesterday.

Nayar concentrated only in blocking with a string of fielders around the bat for 141 minutes as he faced 108 balls during his 50-run partnership with Lad.

The left handed batsman departed with eleven overs still remaining in the game, edging a ball that spun away from debutant off spinner Kartik Kakade that took the edge and was caught at the wicket.

But Lad, who had scored 117 in the previous away game against Odisha, and Dhawal Kulkarni (8 not out) held on in determined fashion to force a draw after being together for 46 minutes.

The hosts lost overnight not out batsman and Test stalwart Ajinkya Rahane in the morning soon after the first drinks break for 45, the batsman losing his concentration and getting out to an attempted cut shot to left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh.

Yadav too was out in a similar fashion off rival captain Deepak Hooda after batting diligently for 203 minutes in the company of Lad.

Baroda took the new ball before tea after 83 overs, but the pace bowlers could not do the trick as in the first innings and it was left to the spinners to get breakthroughs on a track where the ball had started to turn appreciably.

They tried their best with a host of fielders around the bat but Mumbai escaped the noose, in large measure due to Lad’s highly responsible knock.

Spinners Swapnil (2 for 55), who had scored 164 in the Baroda innings, and Kakade (2 for 50) were the main wicket takers in the Mumbai second innings.

With one point from the drawn game, Mumbai took their tally to 11 with two games in hand while Baroda took theirs to 7, with the same number of matches left to play.

Brief scores: Mumbai 171 and 260 for 7 (Prithvi Shaw 56, Ajinkya Rahane 45, Suryakumar Yadav 44, Siddhesh Lad not out 71, Dhawal Kulkarni not out 8, Swapnil Singh 2 for 55, Kartik Kakade 2 for 50). Baroda 575 for 9 decl. Match drawn.

Points: Baroda 3 points. Mumbai 1.

Resolute Odisha batsmen give team vital lead and 3 points against TN      

Cuttack: Odisha dented Tamil Nadu's hopes by making 533 for 9 to secure the first innings lead on the final day of the crucial Ranji Trophy Group C match, riding on a determined performance by its batsmen led by Rajesh Dhupar, who scored 97.

On a tense final day, the host team's middle and lower order held firm as Tamil Nadu attempted to take the lead and gain three points.

Having to settle for one point meant the Abhinav Mukund-led side fell behind in the group with nine points from five matches.

Andhra Pradesh tops Group C with 18 points after gaining three from a drawn game against Tripura in Agartala.

Tamil Nadu has eight points and lies fourth in Group C standings with games against Madhya Pradesh and Baroda to go.

After the top-order had done enough to frustrate Tamil Nadu bowlers, the rest rose to the occasion and enabled Odisha get past the visitors' massive score of 530 for 8 declared.

On a placid wicket, Tamil Nadu bowlers did their best but Rajesh Dhupar refused to buckle and his 223-ball knock of 97 (12 fours and two sixers) was the cornerstone of Odisha's determined reply.

He fell to M S Washington Sundar, three short of a century, with the team six runs away from the lead.

Odisha was 418 for seven at tea needing a further 113 runs with 30 overs remaining to go past the rival's first innings total.

Apart from Dhuper, Alok Sahoo, who was not afraid to attack the spinners, made a useful contribution with a few sixes in his 36.

Dhupar played with a lot of common sense, essaying some attractive strokes and was rather unlucky to miss out on the hundred.

A lapse of concentration saw him go for a big shot off Sundar, which ended in a mishit and into the hands of B Indrajith.

No.10 batsman Basant Mohanty (18 not out) got the runs to send Odisha into the lead amid cheers from his teammates and the small crowd.

Odisha had to contend with a testing opening spell by Tamil Nadu bowlers.

There were a few edges that went through the slips.

A moment of brilliance from 'keeper N Jagadeesan enabled the team prise out the well-set Biplab Samataray for 50 as he stumped him standing behind the wicket off Vijay Shankar's bowling.

Despite none of its batsmen managing to score a century - there were five half-centuries, Odisha managed to overhaul Tamil Nadu's imposing score.

All the batsmen showed resilience to defy the visiting side's bowlers, who struggled on a docile pitch.

Washington Sundar was the best bowler for Tamil Nadu with 4 for 95 while V Yomahesh took three wickets as Mukund used seven bowlers in a bid to get wickets and snatch the lead.

Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 530 for 8 declared in 165 overs (M Vijay 140, B Aparajith 109 not out) drew Odisha 533 for 9 in 187.1 overs (Rajesh Dhupar 97, Natraj Behera 91, Shantanu Mishra 71, Biplab Samantaray 50, Sandeep Pattanaik66, Washington Sundar 4 for 95, V Yomahesh 3 for 60).

Points: Odisha: 3, TN: 1.

At Agartala: Andhra Pradesh 402 and 234 for 4 declared in

46 overs (K S Bharat 50) drew Tripura 315 all out in 99.4

overs and 272 for 5 in 56 overs (Smit Patel 107 not out).

Points: Andhra: 3, Tripura: 1.

Rahul misses out on hundred, Karnataka get 3 points

Bengaluru: Opener KL Rahul (92) missed out on a century after Abhimanyu Mithun orchestrated Delhi's fall with a five-wicket haul as Karnataka earned three points on the basis of their first innings in the Group A Ranji Trophy match, which ended in a draw.

Karnataka strengthened their top position in the table by taking their tally to 23 while Delhi are second on 17.

Batting first, Karnataka had amassed a mammoth total of 649 all out in the first innings with Mayank Agarwal's 176 and Stuart Binny's 118.

In reply, Delhi were bowled out for 301, conceding 348 runs lead to Karnataka after Mithun ripped through the batting lineup by bagging five wickets for 70 runs.

Resuming at their overnight 277 for four, a formidable Delhi batting line-up collapsed like a pack of cards, just adding 24 runs, with Mithun being the chief wrecker.

Gautam Gambhir and Dhruv Shorey, who scored 144 and 64, respectively, lent some respectability to the Delhi score.

Rest of the batsmen except Rishabh Pant (41) failed to present any resistance against  the Karnataka bowlers.

Mithun picked up four wickets including the prized wicket of Gambhir. Yesterday he had claimed wicket of Shorey.

Vinay Kumar picked up Navdeep Saini's wicket who scored 4. Stuart Binny and Krishnappa Gowtham bagged two and a wicket, respectively.

In their second innings, Karnataka put on a total of 235 for three before the stumps were drawn for the final time.

Rahul and Ravikumar Samarth (47) gave the hosts a solid start, putting on a 121 partnership for first wicket.

Samarth lost his wicket to Manan Sharma after he was caught by Nitish Rana.

Rahul was fast cruising to his century but fell short after being run out when he was carelessly ambling across the wicket.

Rahul hammered 92 runs in 109 balls, hitting nine boundaries and two sixes.

First innings centurion Agarwal scored 23 runs. Karun Nair (33) and Manish Pandey (34) were unbeaten at the crease when the match ended.

Vidarbha climb up to top of table as Bengal suffer first loss

Kalyani (West Bengal): Despite Wriddhiman Saha and Sudeep Chatterjee scoring half-centuries, Bengal's batting crumbled and they suffered a 10-wicket humiliating loss at home against Vidarbha in a Ranji Trophy Group D fixture.

Resuming the day on 86 for three in their second innings after being asked to follow-on, Bengal rode on 148-run partnership by Saha (97) and Chatterjee (82), but none of the others could chip in and they folded for 306 in 101.4 overs, setting a 15-run target.

Sanjay Ramaswamy struck four boundaries to hit off the winning runs as Vidarbha (21 points) climbed up to the top of Group D table with six points from this match.

They are currently six points clear of second placed Punjab.

After their first defeat of the season, Bengal slipped to fourth place with 13 points from four matches.

Earlier, medium pacer Siddhesh Neral gave the first breakthrough of the day, claiming the prized scalp of overnight batsman Manoj Tiwary, who got out after edging one behind the stumps, adding just seven runs to his overnight total of 36.

Chatterjee, who resumed on 40, stayed firm to complete his 14th first-class half-century from 109 balls.

While Chatterjee played defensively, Saha looked fluent as he notched up his 32nd first-class fifty in 60 balls and Bengal progressed to 197 for 4 at lunch.

Nine overs after lunch, Saha was at the non-striking end and a confusion with Chatterjee led to his unfortunate run out. Aditya Sarwate then trapped Chatterjee to end the Bengal's resistance.

For Vidarbha, Lalit Yadav finished with four for 54.

Brief scores:

Bengal: 207 & 306 all out in 101.4 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 97, Sudip Chatterjee 82, Manoj Tiwary 43; Lalit Yadav 4/54, Aditya Sarwate 3/59).

Vidarbha: 499 & 18 for no loss in 1.3 overs.

Points: Vidarbha 6, Bengal 0.

Brief scores of other Group D matches:

In Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh vs Chhattisgarh Himachal Pradesh: 175 & 167 all out in 49.5 overs (Nikhil Gangta 41; Shahnawaz Hussain 6/53) vs Chhattisgarh: 456 in 135.2 overs (Rishabh Tiwari 131, Amandeep Khare 78, Manoj Singh 67, Ashutosh Singh 54; Rishi Dhawan 3/127, Sidharth Sharma 3/100).

Chhattisgarh won by an innings and 114 runs.

Points: Chhattisgarh 7, Himachal 0.

In Delhi, Services vs Goa Services: 263 & 190 all out in 55.4 overs (Ravi Chauhan 55; Darshan Misal 7/68) vs Goa: 270 & 128 for 4 in 50 overs (Sagun Kamat 57 not out, Diwesh Pathania 3/37).

Match drawn.

Points:Goa 3, Services 1.