Ranji Roundup: Gurkeerat shines as Punjab thrash Andhra

Off-spinner Gurkeerat Singh Mann registered his career best bowling figures as Punjab defeated a sorry-looking Andhra by seven wickets on the second day of a Group ‘B’ Ranji Trophy match, in Patiala, on Saturday.

After the fall of 17 wickets on the opening day, it was no different on Saturday as well as 16 more tumbled on a rank turner at the Dhruve Pandove stadium.

Resuming their first innings at 127 for seven in reply to Andhra 80 all out, Punjab added 20 more runs to finish on 147 to take a first innings lead of 67 runs.

But the first innings lead hardly mattered as Punjab rode on Gurkeerat's innings-best five for 38 to bundle out Andhra for a meagre 133 in their second innings, thereby setting a paltry target of 67 runs to chase for an outright win with more than two days play remaining in the match.

Gurkeerat finished with career-best match figures of nine for 52, which includes his first innings bowling figures of four for 14.

Gurkeerat was ably supported by pacer Rajwinder Singh (3/33) who picked up three wickets in the second innings, while Sarabjit Ladda (2/40) accounted for two.

The 67-run target was a mere formality for Punjab to complete which they achieved in 19.3 overs but not without losing three top-order batsmen.

By virtue of this win, Punjab pocketed six points from the match while Andhra returned empty-handed.

Brief Scores:

Punjab: 147 & 67 for three in 19.3 overs (Mandeep Singh 22 not out; Hanumappa Shivraj 1/10).

Andhra: 80 & 133 all out in 41.4 overs (KS Bharat 39; Gurkeerat Singh 5/38).

Praveen, Saurabh give UP upper hand against Gujarat at end of Day 2

Praveen Kumar (5/16) and Saurabh Kumar (5/37) shared 10 wickets between them to bundle out Gajarat for 100 and give Uttar Pradesh 173-run first innings lead on the second day of their Group ‘B’ match in Valsad.

At the close of play, UP were 163 for seven in their second innings, with an overall lead of 336 runs and three wickets remaining.

Earlier, resuming at 272 for nine in their first innings, UP could add just one more run to their overnight score to finish at 273.

In reply, Gujarat kept losing wickets at regular interval even as Praveen and Saurabh wrecked havoc. Only three home team batsmen could reach the double digit mark as they fell for a meagre 100 in 31.4 overs.

At stumps, Piyush Chawla was unbeaten on 17 and Praveen Kumar was batting on five.

For Gujarat, Axar Patel was the pick of the wickets with figures of four for 54.

Brief scores:

Uttar Pradesh: 273 & 163 for 7 (Umang Sharma 66, Axar Patel 4/54).

Gujarat: 100 all out (Parthiv Patel 39; Praveen Kumar 5/16, Saurabh Kumar 5/37).

Rajasthan reach 219/7 in reply to Karnataka's 281 in 1st inngs

Rajat Bhatia missed out on a century by just one run as Rajasthan reached 219 for seven, still trailing Karnataka's first innings total by 62 runs, on the second day of a Group ‘A’ match in Jaipur.

At stumps, Deepak Chahar was batting on 13 and K Ajay Singh was on six.

Earlier, resuming on 270 for eight in their first essay, Karnataka could add just another 11 runs to their overnight total, getting all out for 281.

Aniket Choudhary finished with best figures of five for 77 for Rajasthan.

In reply, Rajasthan were struggling at 48 for four before Bhatia came to the team's rescue.

He played a responsible knock of 99 that came off 171 deliveries and included 14 hits to the fence. Bhatia also put on a crucial 76-run stand with Puneet Yadav (28) for the fifth wicket, followed by another fruitful partnership of 60 runs with Dishant Yagnik (21) for the sixth wicket.

But at the end, Bhatia got out, falling just one short of a well deserved hundred.

R Vinay Kumar (2/39) and David Mathias (2/41) picked up two wickets each.

Brief scores:

Karnataka 1st innings: 281 (Mayank Agarwal 66, Ravikumar Samarth 65; Aniket Choudhary 5/77).

Rajasthan 1st innings: 219 for seven (Rajat Bhatia 99; R

Vinay Kumar 2/39, David Mathias 2/41).

Maharashtra trail Vidarbha by 144 runs

Vidarbha had the edge as they restricted Maharashtra to 144 for six after being bowled out for 332 in their Group ‘B’ Ranji match in Nagpur.

At stumps on day two, Maharashtra were trailing by 188 runs with four wickets in hand at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground.

Vidarbha's overnight batsman Faiz Fazal top-scored for the hosts with a 273-ball 120, while Shalabh Srivastava and the other overnight batsman Ravi Jangid made 63 and 40 respectively. Fazal struck 16 boundaries during his stay at the crease.

For Maharashtra, Shrikant Mundhe and Anupam Sanklecha picked up three wickets each, while Chirag Khurana had two.

Opener Swapnil Gugale was Mahrashtra's top-scorer with 42 off 80 balls.

Saurashtra lead Services by 10 runs

Good bowling display from Services' Muzzaffaruddin Khalid and DG Pathania, who took five and four wickets respectively, helped the team bowl out Saurashtra for 264 on day two of their Group ‘C’ match in New Delhi.

At the close of play, Saurashtra led Services by 10 runs in the first innings. A Barot top-scored for Saurashtra with 66 runs. C S Jani was bowled by Muzzaffaruddin Khalid for 47. Saurashtra captain J N Shah managed to make 23.

Khalid (5-74) and Pathania (4-72) were the pick among the bowlers sharing nine wickets between them.

Brief Scores:

Services: 254 all out in 69.1 overs (Rajat Paliwal 121, Yashpal Singh 55 not out; Jaydev Unadkat 6-80, Shaurya Sanandia 3-62)

Saurashtra: 264 all out in 92.4 overs (AA Barot 66, CS Jani 47; Muzzaffaruddin Khalid 5-74, DG Pathania 4-72).

Delhi reduced to 245/7 against Odisha

Suryakant Pradhan's four-wicket haul did the most damage as Delhi's batting squandered a good start to be left tottering at 245 for 7 in their first innings on the second day of their Group ‘A’ match against Odisha in Bhubaneswar.

Overnight 99 for one, Delhi's batsmen failed to convert their starts into big scores, allowing the home side to have the upper-hand.

Middle-order batsman Milind Kumar top-scored for the visitors with a 138-ball 59, which was laced with eight fours. There were other decent contributions up the order as well but the absence of that one big sheet-anchor effort hurt Delhi.

The opening pair of Dhruv Shourey (42) and skipper Gautam

Gambhir (41) and Nitish Rana (37) were the other notable contributors to the total.

The medium-pacer's day's figures read an impressive 4 for 83 in 32.5 overs. Basant Mohanty notched up a couple of wickets.

Brief Scores:

Delhi 1st Innings: 245/7 in 115 overs (Milind Kumar 59, Dhruv Shorey 42, Gautam Gambhir 41, S Pradhan 4/83).

Railways in deep trouble against TN

Railways were in a spot of bother at 129 for seven in their first innings in reply to Tamil Nadu's 328 at the close of play on the second day of a Group ‘B’ match in New Delhi.

Opener V Cheluvaraj was a fighting a lonely battle at 63 not out while Arindam Ghosh (48) gave him good support at the middle as the duo shared 104 runs for the fourth wicket.

Pace duo of A Aswin Crist (4/42) and J Kousik (3/7) wrecked the Railways innings with their incisive bowling.

Earlier resuming the overnight score of 288 for six, the last four Tamil Nadu batsmen could add just 40 runs.

From here on, it will be a Herculean task for Railways to take the vital first innings lead as they still trail Tamil Nadu by 199 runs with just three wickets in hand.

Brief Scores:

Tamil Nadu 1st innings: 328 all out in 111.2 overs (Baba Indrajith 151; Anureet Singh 5/104).

Railways 1st innings: 129 for seven in 59 overs (V Cheluvaraj 63 not out; A Aswin Crist 4/42).

Baroda 188/4 in reply to MP's 269

Baroda were 188 for four in reply to Madhya Pradesh's 269 at the end of second day's play in a Group ‘B’ match in Vadodara.

Baroda rode on Aditya Waghmode's unbeaten 64 and Deepak Hooda's 51 to pile up the runs.

At stumps, dangerous Yusuf Pathan (27 not out) was at the crease along side Waghmode with Baroda playing out 66 overs in the day.

Left-arm orthodox Ankit Sharma was the most successful bowler for Madhya Pradesh picking up two wickets for 58 runs.

Baroda still trail Madhya Pradesh by 81 runs with six wickets in hand.

Earlier, Madhya Pradesh's last three wickets did a good job and added vital 71 runs to take their team past the 260-run mark in 111.2 overs, which at one stage looked improbable.

Brief Scores:

Madhya Pradesh 1st innings: 269 all out in 111.2 overs (Rajat Patidar 60, Harpreet Singh 51; Swapnil Singh 4/61).

Baroda 1st innings: 188 for four in 66 overs (Aditya

Waghmode 64 not out, Deepak Hooda 51; Ankit Sharma 2/58).

Bengal have edge against Haryana

Mukesh Kumar led Bengal's impressive bowling show as they restricted the Virender Sehwag-led Haryana to 186 for eight to take control of their Group ‘A’ match in Lahli.

Bengal were all out for 329 in their first innings with Sachin Rana returning figures of five for 46 at the CH Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium.

The match's biggest attraction and Haryana captain Virender Sehwag (28) was bowled by Mukesh Kumar (4/49) after getting a start. The just-retired India player hit three boundaries while facing 46 balls.

Earlier, a ninth-wicket partnership of 78 runs between Pragyan Ojha (51) and Ashok Dinda (45) frustrated the hosts after they had Bengal at 250 for eight at one stage on the first day yesterday evening.

HP openers score tons to give team upper hand

Riding on centuries by openers -- Ankush Bains (114) and Prashant Chopra (101) – Himachal Pradesh reached 259 for three in reply to Tripura first innings total of 285, at the end of second day's play of their Group ‘C’ match in Dharamsala.

Himachal now trail Tripura by just 26 runs with seven wickets remaining.

Resuming on 223 for seven, Tripura's overnight batsman Udiyan Bose, who was unbeaten on 95, failed to add any more run to his last night's score, thus missing out on his maiden first-class century.

Tripura added 62 runs to their overnight total to finish their first innings at 285.

Himachal then got off to an excellent start with Bains and Chopra putting on 210 runs for the opening wicket.

Rana Dutta (3 for 26) was the pick of Tripura bowlers, claiming all three wickets that fell on the day.

Brief Scores:

Tripura 1st Innings: 285 all out in 107.4 overs (Udiyan Bose 95, Manisankar Murasingh 44; Akshay Chauhan 3/55)

Himachal Pradesh 1st Innings: 259 for 3 in 70 overs (Ankush Bains 114, Prashant Chopra 101; Rana Dutta 3/26).

J&K put on 460 against Hyderabad

Riding on a splendid show by their batsmen, Jammu and Kashmir posted a mammoth first-innings total of 460 against Hyderabad on the second day of their Group ‘C’ match in Hyderabad.

After skipper Mithun Manhas's 150 on Friday, the visiting side rode on Parveez Rasool's 120-ball 75 and Ram Dayal's 48 to get over the 400-run mark and grab the edge.

For Hyderabad, Anwar Ahmed was the best bowler with a haul of 5/92.

In reply, Hyderabad were 113/2 in 41 overs with opener Tanmay Aggarwal's 57 being their best individual score so far. Rohit Sharma picked up both the wickets that fell on Saturday ending the day with figures of 2/33.

Brief Scores:

Jammu and Kashmir 1st Innings: 460 all out in 131.2 overs (Mithun Manhas 150, Parveez Rasool 75, Anwar Ahmed 5/92).

Hyderabad 1st Innings: 113/2 in 41 overs (Tanmay Aggarwal 57, Rohit Sharma 2/33).

Goa 141/2 against Jharkhand on 2nd day

An unbeaten knock of 67 by opener Swapnil Asnodkar steered Goa to 141 for two in their first innings against hosts Jharkhand on the second day of their Group ‘C’ match at Keenan stadium, in Jamshedpur.

Elected to bat first after winning the toss, Goa openers Amogh Desai (26, 2x4) and Asnodkar started on a confident note, stiching together 84 runs before off-spinner Samar Quadri struck the first blow in the 31st over.

The visitors suffered the first blow when Quadri had Desai caught off Sunny Gupta at the score of 84.

Desai faced 107 deliveries to notch up 26 studded with two boundaries.

Following Desai's dismissal, Sagun Kamat stepped in to partner Asnodka, who kept the scoreboard ticking with some brilliant strokes around the field, but could not last long as Quadri struck again to have him caught off Kumar Deobrat in the 45th over.

At close, Asnodkar was batting at 67 while Dheeraj Jadhav, who joined him after Kamat's departure, was on 8.

The first day's play was washed out due to heavy downpour.