Ranji Roundup: Chopra, Kalsi deny Bengal victory

Chopra, Kalsi ensure draw for Himachal against Bengal

Himachal players Prashant Chopra (109) and Ankit Kalsi (82) batted with gumption on the final day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match to deny hosts Bengal victory at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

The visitors, who faced an uphill task to save the match on day four, lost just three wickets as the game ended in a draw with Himachal scoring 348/4, denying the hosts a golden opportunity to take full points.

Chasing a target of 472, Himachal, who were 79/1 overnight with Chopra and Kalsi unbeaten on 44 and 17 respectively, started the tough journey to save the game with a positive mind-set.

Chopra, especially, was very cautious with his strokes, building his innings brick by brick as he inched closer to the century mark. Kalsi was the first to be dismissed but before that the partnership had virtually ensured the match could only progress in one direction -- a draw.

From 191/2, Chopra continued to consolidate the innings and when he was dismissed by Akash Deep after he had crossed the century mark, Himachal could only lose if they committed harakiri.

Then, Amit Kumar (38 retired hurt), Akash Vasisht (28 not out) and skipper Rishi Dhawan (31) played with caution to ensure a draw.

Bengal's Anustup Majumdar, centurion in the first innings, was adjudged 'Player of the Match'.

Brief Scores:

At Kolkata: Bengal 310 and 291 for 5 decl drew with Himachal Pradesh 130 and 348 for 4 in 93 overs (Prashant Chopra 109, Ankit Kalsi 82).

At Dehradun: Odisha 213 and 165 in 57.5 overs (Anurag Sarangi 93; Abhay Negi 5/33) lost to Uttarakhand 477 by an innings and 99 runs.

At Vadodara: Baroda 615 drew with Haryana 278 and (f/o) 404 for 9 in 137.3 overs (Yuvraj Singh 94, Ankit Kumar 55, Shivam Chauhan 60, Jayant Yadav 61, Anshul Kamboj 37 not out; Jyotsnil Singh 3/50).

Vidarbha beat Tripura, register 2nd win on the trot

Spinners Akshay Wakhare and Aditya Sarwate shared seven wickets between them to guide Vidarbha to a 220-run win over Tripura, their second consecutive in the Ranji Trophy Group D in Nagpur on Friday.

Vidarbha declared their second innings on 379 for 8 after resuming the day at 348 for 6, thereby setting Tripura an improbable target of 345 runs.

Ganesh Satish (151) top-scored for Vidarbha in their second innings while wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar made 88.

Chasing, Tripura were bowled out for 124 in 51.2 overs with off-spinner Wakhare (4/50) and left-arm tweaker Sarwate (3/45) shining with the ball for Vidarbha.

Medium pacer Rajneesh Gurbani (2/14) also chipped in with two wickets.

This was Vidarbha's second win on the trot in Group D after having defeated Railways by 194 runs in their opening match.

In another Group D match, Punjab and Railways played out a draw.

But Punjab took home three points from the contest by virtue of first-innings lead, while Railways had to be content with one point.

Brief Scores:

At Nagpur: Vidarbha 264 and 379 for 8 decl (Ganesh Satish 151, Akshay Wadkar 88; Parvez Sultan 3/96) vs Tripura 299 and 124 all out in 51.2 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 27; Akshay Wakhare 4/50). Vidarbha 6 points, Tripura 0.

At Delhi: Railways 102 and 49 for no loss in nine overs (Vivek Singh 30 not out, Rahul Rawat 19 not out) vs Punjab 152 for 6 decl in 38 overs (Naman Dhir 57; Sagar Jadhav 3/40). Punjab 3 points, Railways 1 point.

Shorey hits unbeaten ton but Delhi-Assam match ends in draw

Opener Dhruv Shorey continued from where he had left off in the first innings, scoring an unbeaten 150 on the last day to add to his unconquered 252 in the first innings as Delhi managed to secure a draw against Assam in a Ranji Trophy Group B match in Guwahati.

Shorey, thus, ended up scoring a total of 402 runs and would like to continue his rich form when the team takes on Tamil Nadu in its third Ranji fixture from December 27.

The 30-year-old flourished in the company of fellow opener Anuj Rawat (109), who after his first-innings disappointment, scored a century as Delhi lost just one wicket on way to 292 on the concluding day.

Earlier, Assam declared their first innings at 443 for 9 after being 435 for 8 overnight.

Rishav Das emerged as the highest scorer for his side, scoring 160, while Gokul Sharma (140) was the other centurion.

The duo gave Assam the psychological first-innings lead of four runs over Delhi.

The day belonged to Shorey and wicketkeeper-batter Rawat who stitched together a 226-run partnership for the opening wicket and made Assam bowlers toil all day long without success.

Both the openers scored at a brisk pace with Shorey's unbeaten 150 coming off just 188 deliveries at a strike rate of nearly 80 and was studded with 18 boundaries and two sixes.

Rawat, after being dismissed for 2 in the first innings, dug in his spikes to score at a brisk strike rate of 80.74, smashing 10 fours and four maximums.

Shorey was adjudged 'Player of the Match' for his massive effort in both innings. Maharashtra had defeated Delhi by nine wickets in the Ranji first-round match.

Brief scores:

At Guwahati: Delhi 439 and 292 for 1 in 61.1 overs (Dhruv Shorey 150 not out, Anuj Rawat 109) drew with Assam 443 for 9 decl in 129.3 overs (Rishav Das 160, Gokul Sharma 140; Harshit Rana 4/94).

At Coimbatore: Andhra 297 and 250 in 76.4 overs (Ricky Bhui 76; R. Sai Kishore 5/88) beat Tamil Nadu 345 and 194 in 56.2 overs (Washington Sundar 65, Baba Indrajith 43; KV Sasikanth 4/47, Shoaib Md Khan 6/69) by 8 runs.

At Rajkot: Maharashtra 493 drew with Saurashtra 497 for 7 in 130.3 overs (Harvik Desai 78, Sheldon Jackson 81, Arpit Vasavada 127 n.o., Samarth Vyas 93).

Chhattisgarh back on top after Mandal's all-round show

Ajay Mandal came up with a splendid all-round show to power Chhattisgarh to a comprehensive 10-wicket win over Services that took the winners three points clear at the top of Group C in the Ranji Trophy in New Delhi.

Resuming at the overnight score of 145 for 4 with an arrear of 31 runs, Services provided resistance through Rahul Singh (71) and skipper Rajat Paliwal (58).

But left-arm spinner Mandal, who cracked a century (114) in Chhattisgarh's first innings score of 389, made inroads on the final day morning session as he ended the duo's resistance en route to match-winning figures of 14-2-38-5. The 26-year-old ended with match-haul of eight wickets.

At the other end, Pankaj Rao claimed 3/48 to help Chhattisgarh bowl out Services for 221 in 61.2 overs, handing them an easy 46-run target.

Chhattisgarh cruised home in 12.1 overs without any loss of wicket to seal a bonus point win to return to the top spot, three points ahead of Karnataka who are at the second place on 10.

Brief Scores:

At Delhi: Services 213 & 221 in 61.2 overs (Rahul Singh 71, Rajat Paliwal 58; Ajay Mandal 5/38, Pankaj Kumar Rao 3/48) vs Chhattisgarh 389 & 46 for no loss in 12.1 overs. Chhattisgarh won by 10 wickets. Points: Chhattisgarh 7, Services 0.

At Jaipur: Rajasthan 337 & 363 for 8 declared in 88 overs (Deepak Hooda 155, Kunal Singh Rathore 75, Abhijeet Tomar 68; Jalaj Saxena 3/93) vs Kerala 306 & 299 for 8 in 68 overs (Sachin Baby 81 not out, Sanju Samson 69, Ponnan Rahul 64; Manav Suthar 3/103, Aniket Choudhary 2/39). Match drawn. Points: Rajasthan 3, Kerala 1.

At Jamshedpur: Jharkhand 386 & 212 for 3 declared in 55 overs (Virat Singh 100 not out, Kumar Deobrat 72; Mohit Redkar 2/64) vs Goa 362 & 61 for 3 in 23 overs (Snehal Kauthankar 34 not out; Utkarsh Singh 2/25). Match drawn. Points: Jharkhand 3, Goa 1.