Ranji roundup: Delhi thrash Mumbai for first win of season

Vaibhav Rawal scored a fine century before pacer Divij Mehra's dismantled Mumbai with a five-wicket haul to power Delhi to an emphatic eight-wicket victory in the Ranji Trophy Group B match in New Delhi on Friday.

It was Delhi's first outright win over heavyweights Mumbai since the 1979-80 Ranji Trophy final, when Bishan Singh Bedi's side got the better of Sunil Gavaskar's team by 240 runs.

Bowling out Mumbai for 293 in the first innings, Delhi took a 76-run lead owing to Vaibhav Rawal's 114 and skipper Himmat Singh's 85.

The 20-year-old Mehra, playing only his second first-class game, then gave a masterclass in seam bowling at the Arun Jaitley Stadium as he ran through the much-vaunted Mumbai top-order.

His scalps included Prithvi Shaw, Musheer Khan, Armaan Jaffer, first innings centurion Sarfaraz Khan, and Mohit Avasthi as he paved the way for Delhi's maiden win of the season.

Resuming at 168/9 on the final day, Mumbai's Tanush Kotian (50 not out) managed to get his half-century before spinner Hrithik Shokeen snared the last wicket with Mumbai managing to score 170 in their second essay.

With less than 100 runs required for the win, Delhi, who have so far endured a tumultuous season and are out of the quarterfinal contention, looked eager to bag the victory.

Opener Anuj Rawat (14) slammed two boundaries and a six in his four-ball innings. Vaibahv Sharma (36 ) and Hrithik Shokeen (36 not out) then put up a 69-run stand, hitting nine fours and two sixes between them.

With Sharma getting out in the 16th over, former skipper and IPL specialist Nitish Rana, who was added to the squad on the eve of the match, walked to the middle and sent the very first delivery he faced for a six, to seal Delhi's win.

The loss has affected the Ajinkya Rahane-led Mumbai's chances for a place in the quarter-finals.

In the other matches in the group, spinner Lalith Mohan, who had taken a five-wicket hal in the first innings, grabbed a six-wicket haul (6/58) in the second essay as Andhra beat Saurasthra by 150 runs, while Tamil Nadu thrashed Assam by an innings and 70 runs.

Brief Scores:

At Delhi: Mumbai 293 and 170 in 60.5 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 51, Tanush Kotian 50 not out; Divij Mehra 5/30) vs Delhi 369 and 97 for 2 (Vaibhav Sharma 36, Hrithik Shokeen 36)

At Rajkot: Andhra 415 and 164/7 dec in 45 overs (Abhishek Reddy 33, Hanuma Vihari 37, Karan Shinde 50 not out) vs Saurashtra 237 and 192 in 56.2 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 91; Lalith Mohan 6/58).

At Chennai: Tamil Nadu 540 vs Assam 266 and 204 in 88.1 overs (Rishav Das 58; Ajith Ram 5/70)

Karnataka-Kerala match ends in draw

Karnataka gained three points after its Ranji Trophy Group C match against Kerala petered out to a draw on the fourth and final day in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.

Karnataka extended its lead to 143 runs adding 75 more runs before they declared their innings on 485/9 declared courtesy of a superb double ton by India Test discard Mayank Agarwal (208).

The Kerala batters made 96/4 in 51 overs to deny Karnataka any opening as the game ended in a draw.

Earlier in the day, Karnataka batters B R Sharath (53) and Shubhang Hegde (50 not out) helped themselves to half-centuries as the team sought to extend the lead. Hegde, who batted cautiously, added 53 runs for the ninth wicket with V Vyshak (17) before the latter was bowled by Sijomon Joseph (1/90).

Off-spinner Vaishakh Chandran was the best bowler for the home team, finishing with 3/117 while M D Nidheesh and Jalaj Saxena picked up two wickets each.

Meanwhile in Jodhpur, Rajasthan trounced Chhattisgarh by 167 runs and Goa registered an impressive innings win over Services in New Delhi.

Services, who were 139/2 overnight, saw opener Ravi Chauhan score a valiant ton but that could not prevent the team from going down by an innings as they were dismissed for 304.

 In Puducherry, Jharkhand eased to a 10-wicket win over the host team, knocking off the target of 70 in the 27th over.

Brief scores:

At Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala 342 all out in 130.1 overs (Sachin Baby 141, Jalaj Saxena 57, V Koushik 6/54) and 96/4 in 51 overs drew against Karnataka 485/9 dec in 163.1 overs (Mayank Agarwal 208, S J Nikin Jose 54, B R Sharath 53, Shubhang Hegde 50 not out).

At Puducherry: Pondicherry 231 all out in 91.4 overs (K B Arun Karthick 68, Paras K Dogra 68) and 250 all out in 84.5 overs (Arun Karthick 82) lost to Jharkhand 412 all out in 133.2 overs (Virat Singh 124, Saurabh Tiwary 116, Sagar P Udeshi 8/118) and 73 for no loss in 26.2 overs (Kumar Deobrat 38 not out) by 10 wickets.

At New Delhi: Services 175 all out in 59.2 overs and 304 all out in 91 overs (Ravi Chauhan 139 S G Rohila 52, Darshan Misal 5/70, Vijesh Prabhudesai 4/57) lost to Goa 483/9 dec in 155.2 overs (KD Eknath 156 not out, Manthan Khutkar 82) by an innings and four runs.

At Jodhpur: Rajasthan 360 all out in 93 overs (Samarpit Joshi 123) and 268/3 dec in 48 overs (Mahipal Lomror 130) beat Chhattisgarh 199 all out in 77.3 overs (Aniket Choudhary 4/25, MJ Suthar 4/46) and 262 all out in 83.4 overs (AG Tiwary 51, Shanshank Singh 51, Sumit Ruikar 47, MJ Suthar 6/116) by 167 runs.

Bengal thrash Haryana, storm into quarters

Rohtak: Bengal pacer Akash Deep returned with a career-best 10-wicket match haul as Bengal stormed into quarterfinals with a thumping innings and 50-run victory over Haryana in their Group A Ranji Trophy match here on Friday.

Resuming the final day on a precarious 177/7 following on, Haryana managed to last only 10 overs and folded for 206 with Akash wrapping up the issue, dismissing Ajit Chahal and Amit Rana en route to a second successive five-wicket haul (5/51).

Akash's 5/61 in the first innings had brought the home team's downfall for a paltry 153 as he returned with his maiden 10-wicket match haul (10/112).

Mukesh Kumar (3/62) and Ishan Porel (2/42) also impressed as the the Bengal pace troika unleashed their fury on a challenging Lahli track.

Bengal posted a massive 419 in their first innings, thanks to Anustup Majumdar's gritty 145.

The victory helped the Manoj Tiwary-led side remain on top of Group A with 32 points from six games having won four and drawn two to sail into the quarters with a match in hand.

They next face Odisha at the Eden Gardens from Tuesday.

“Good win yes but we have a long way to go. There is no place for complacency. There is no place for celebration. We need to work hard and fight together as a team,” Bengal coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla said.

Brief Scores:

At Rohtak: Bengal 419. Haryana 163 and following on 206; 79 overs (Yuvraj Singh 78, Chaitanya Bishnoi 55; Akash Deep 5/51, Mukesh Kumar 3/62, Ishan Porel 2/42). Bengal won by an innings and 50 runs. Points: Bengal 7, Haryana 0.

At Meerut: Odisha 226 and 335/4; 96 overs (Subhranshu Senapati 145, Anurag Sarangi 91, Govinda Poddar 53 not out). Uttar Pradesh 362. Match drawn. Points: UP 3, Odisha 1.

At Nadaun: Himachal Pradesh 346 and 263/3 declared. Nagaland 233 and 31/4. Match drawn. Points: Himachal Pradesh 3, Nagaland 1.

At Dehradun: Baroda 86 and 336/7. Uttarakhand 199. Match drawn. Points: Uttarakhand 3, Baroda 1.

Chandigarh pick up 3 points vs Railways in drawn game

 Chandigarh: Chandigarh secured three points by virtue of fist innings lead from a drawn Ranji Trophy Group D game against Railways after a truncated final day here on Friday.

Resuming the fourth day trailing the opponents by 99 runs, Railways made 71 for 1 in 17 overs.

Opener Shivam Chaudhary remained not out on 33 while Pratham Singh was unbeaten on 26 when play ended.

Another match in the group between Jammu & Kashmir and Tripura in Jammu ended with the first innings remaining unfinished.

Earlier on Thursday, Punjab and Vidarbha posted wins over defending champion Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat respectively.

Brief scores:

At Chandigarh: Railways 386 all out in 108.1 overs  (Vivek Singh 108, Upendra Yadav 113; Sandeep Sharma 6/116) and 71 for 1 in 17 overs (Shivam Chaudhary 33 not out) drew with Chandigarh 485 for 8 declared in 149 overs (Manan Vohra 126, Gaurav Puri 102 not out, Kunal Mahajan 83; Himanshu Sangwan 3/64). Chandigarh: 3 points, Railways: 1.

At Jammu: Jammu & Kashmir 241 for 3 in 103 overs (Abhinav Puri 121, Shubham Khajuria 53, Vivrant Sharma 55) vs Tripura 76 for 4 in 37 overs (Bikram Kumar Das 37 not out). Match drawn, first innings unfinished. J&K: 1 point, Tripura: 1 point.