Ranji: Jaffer's 110 helps Mumbai earn draw against Saurashtra

Skipper Wasim Jaffer's unbeaten century enabled Mumbai salvage a draw against Saurashtra, after scoring 276 for 4 in their second innings, on the fourth and final day of their Elite division Group A Ranji Trophy match in Rajkot on Friday.

Resuming on three for no loss in their second innings, Mumbai rode on a brilliant 193-ball 110 by Jaffer at the Khandheri Cricket Stadium.

Jaffer held the innings together, starring in three important partnerships with Abhishek Nayar (67), Suryakumar Yadav (67) and Hiken Shah (17 not out).

The Mumbai skipper added 60 runs for the third wicket, before forging 111 with Yadav, and another unbeaten 70-run fifth-wicket partnership with Shah.

Chasing Saurashtra's first-innings total of 580, Mumbai were dismissed for 360 and were asked to bat again on Thursday.

The visitors were trailing by 217 runs at the start of the final day's

play.

For Saurashtra, Jaydev Unadkat scalped two wickets, while Kamlesh Makvana and Sitanshu Kotak took one each.

The draw helped Mumbai register one point, while Saurashtra earned three by virtue of the first innings lead.

Brief Score:
Saurashtra 580-9 declared
Mumbai 360 & 276-4 (Wasim Jaffer 110; Jaydev Unadkat 2-10).

Stuart Binny bowls Karnataka to victory

Stuart Binny's five-wicket haul enabled Karnataka beat Orrisa by 139 runs in their Elite Division Group A match in Bhubaneswar, after the visitors declared their second innings at 277 for 7.

Resuming at the overnight total of 169 for 6, Karnataka rode on a solid 139-run partnership between Amit Verma and Sunil Raju for the seventh wicket to raise a decent target before Binny rattled the hosts and sealed the match.

Verma, who finished the match with an unbeaten 102, was ably supported by Raju (50), as the duo bailed their team from a precarious 136 for six.

Both the players batted with grit and determination to ensure a reasonable total on the board. While Verma mixed caution with aggression, hitting 17 fours and a six in his 244-ball stay at the crease, Raju was patient enough to compile a well-deserved half-century with six hits to the fence.

Orissa did not have an auspicious beginning to the chase, losing Paresh Patel to Santhebennur Akshay in the sixth over of their second innings with the score reading 25 for one.

Binny then dismissed Subharajit Sahoo for 22 to peg the hosts back further. With K P Appana accounting for Haldar Das in the 19th over the chase looked a distant possibility.

The spinner then removed Niranjan Behera to leave the hosts reeling at 74 for four.

With Binny also claiming the wickets of Abhilash Mallick and Govind Poddar, it was all but over for the hosts.

Basant Mohanty (22) and Alok Mangaraj (24 not out) tried to delay the inevitable with a gritty 47-run stand for the last wicket but it was never going to be enough as Binny wrapped up the tail in quick time.

Brief Scores:
Karnataka 278 & 277-7 decl in 102 overs (Amit Verma not out 102, Sunil Raju 50; Biplab Samantray 2/39).
Orissa 255 & 161 all out in 40.4 overs (Biplab Samantray 36; Stuart Binny 5-49).

Robin Bisht's 176 in vain

Robin Bisht's valiant 176-run knock went in vain, as pacer B Brainder Sran returned with a four-wicket haul to help Punjab wrest a vital 97-run first innings lead against Rajasthan in their Elite Group A match in Jaipur.

Resuming at 321-4, Rajasthan folded for 500, in reply to Punjab's first innings total of 597 for 8 declared.

The 97-run first innings lead helped the visitors register three points and take their tally to 12 in five matches.

Rajasthan bagged one point but are staring at relegation from the Elite group, as they have just five points from as many outings.

Bisht started from where he left on Thursday and forged a 221-run partnership with Rashmi Ranjan Parida (86) to keep Rajasthan in the hunt at Sawai Man Singh Stadium.

But left arm medium pacer Sran got the important breakthrough, uprooting the stumps of Parida to put an end to the fifth wicket partnership. Parida faced 221 balls and struck 12 boundaries in his patient innings.

Bisht carried on with the fight single-handedly and added 49 and 54 runs with Dishant Yagnik (29) and Vivek Yadav (18) respectively before succumbing to Sran. He faced 341 balls and blasted 20 boundaries and two sixes.

With his departure Rajasthan's fight fizzled out and the hosts folded at 500.

Bipul Sharma and Harmeet Singh took two wickets each and Manpreet Singh Goni, who could not take field on Friday due of his injury, scalped one.

The visitors were 94 for two when the play was called off. Pankaj Singh scalped Sarul Kanwar (17) and Karan Goel (00) but that was too late for the hosts.

Brief Scores:
Punjab 597-8 decl & 94-2 (Bipul Sharma 56; Pankaj Singh 2-13)
Rajasthan 500 (R Bisht 176; B Sran 4-174)
Punjab second innings: 94/2 (Bipul Sharma 56; Pankaj Singh 2-13).

Tamil Nadu beat Bengal by 10 wickets

Formidable Tamil Nadu showed a lot of professionalism as they wallopped Bengal by 10 wickets in an Elite Group B match at the Eden Gardens.

Tamil Nadu, with 14 points from four games, are atop Group B and likely to qualify for the knock-out stages without much fuss.

Bengal are languishing at the bottom of the table and will find it extremely difficult to beat the drop as they now take on Delhi at home and Baroda in an away match.

Resuming the final day at 163 for four, Bengal were all out for 246 in their second innings, leaving Tamil Nadu with a target of 32.

Abhinav Mukund (25 not out) and Murali Vijay (9 nout out) scored the runs without fuss as veteran seamer Ranadeb Bose was smashed for five boundaries in only 2.3 overs.

Having let off Tamil Nadu, who were reeling at 140 for five, to let them score 391 became the turning point of this match.

Much like the first innings in which they had collapsed for 176, Bengal, in their second innings, could not live up to the challenge lasting little more than 25 overs on Friday morning.

Bengal, laid out a greentop Eden to exploit the home advantage, but their batting line-up never had the technique or resolve to make a match on a wicket where there is a touch more bounce.

Former skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla (73) stood tall amidst the ruins with his second half-century in the match, that helped the hosts avoid an innings defeat, but was not enough to deny the visitors a bonus point victory.

Senior-most pro Ganguly was the first to go on the fourth morning; the left-hander could not fend off a rising Laxmipathy Balaji delivery and was caught in the slip cordon.

The former India captain added five runs to his overnight score of 28.

After Ganguly's 87-run fifth-wicket partnership with Shukla was broken, it was just a matter of time for the Bengal second innings to fold.

Readmitted to hospital, Rohan Banerjee, who was hit in the lower abdomen while fielding, could not bat, adding to Bengal's misery.

Yomahesh claimed thee for 67 in the second innings for a seven-wicket haul in the match, while the veteran Balaji gave fine support with a tidy two for 40.

Brief Scores:
Tamil Nadu 391 and 34 for no loss
Bengal 176 and 246 (Laxmi Ratan Shukla 73, Sourav Ganguly 33; Yomahesh 3/67)

MP hold their nerve to beat Delhi by 2 wickets

Youngster Udit Birla showed nerves of steel as he anchored Madhya Pradesh to a two-wicket victory over Delhi in an Elite Group B match at the Emerald Heights High School Ground in Indore.

On the final day, MP chasing a victory target of 299 needed 59 runs to win with five wickets in hand. They reached the target when No 10 batsman Ishwar Pandey (4 not out) dispatched Rajat Bhatia to the fence.

MP now have 13 points from four matches and are firmly in contention for a place in the quarter-finals.

Delhi, with 10 points, are certainly looking down the barrel, and will now have to depend on theoretical possibilities as well as a win against Bengal in their last group game may not be enough.

It was the eighth-wicket partnership of 22 runs between Birla (49) and Amit Sharma (14) that ensured that hosts will earn full points from this match after Parvinder Awana (5/93) sent back Harpreet Singh (8) and Taduri Sudhindra (0) quickly.

The 22-year-old Birla, showed lot of maturity as he didn't take any undue risks with the target round the corner. He found an able ally in Amit, who hit three boundaries in his 22-ball knock.

Delhi's bowlers were guilty of giving away 40 extras which had a telling impact on the final result of the match.

Left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan alone bowled all the 13 no-balls in MP's second innings. At no point did he look menacing. Sangwan's profligacy spelt doom for Awana as the pressure he created from one end wasn't complemented from the other end.

Brief Scores:
Delhi 158 & 296
Madhya Pradesh 156 & 300/8 (Naman Ojha 107, Devendra Bundela 68; Parvinder Awana 5/93).

Emphatic 241-run win for Baroda

A fine performance by left-arm seamer Gagandeep Singh helped Baroda register an emphatic 241-run win against Gujarat in an Elite Group B match at the Motibaug ground.

Medium-pacer Gagandeep took five for 29 as Gujarat were shot out for 123, chasing a stiff victory target of 365.

With this win, Baroda's tally has gone up to 13 points, while Gujarat stay on seven.

The other medium pacers, including Firdaus Bhaja (2-15), Sankalp Vohra (29-0) and Abhimanyu Chauhan (1-21), also played an important part in the team's victory.

It took only 47.3 overs for Gujarat to bundle out the opposition.

Mehul Patel (22), Priyank Panchal (18) and Jesal Karia (14) were the scorers. Parthiv Patel's absence was felt by Gujarat.

For Baroda, the victory took them a step closer to the knock-out rounds of the championship.

Despite Irfan Pathan's absence and injury to Yusuf Pathan, Baroda played well collectively.

Brief Scores:
Baroda 203 & 330
Gujarat 169 & 123 (Gagandeep Singh 5/29).