Ranji Trophy: Tamil Nadu beat Goa; Delhi's hopes dashed

Suresh Lokeshwar (52) and Pradosh Ranjan Paul (65) struck half-centuries to help Tamil Nadu complete the formalities and win their Ranji Trophy Group C match against Goa by seven wickets, in Porvorim on Monday.

TN needed to score just 76 runs for the win after ending Day 3 on 61 for 1 from 26 overs.

Overnight batters Lokeshwar and Paul completed their fifties but left the task of taking the team home to Baba Indrajith (7 not out) and Vijay Shankar (13 not out), as TN reached 142 for 3 in 49.5 overs chasing 137.

Lokeshwar added 18 runs to his overnight score of 34 and he struck six fours during his 129-ball knock.

Paul, on the other hand, was able to add 43 runs on the final day after resuming on 22. He decorated his 125-ball innings with six fours.

For Goa, Darshan Misal took two wickets while Suyash Prabhudessai got one.

Arjun Tendulkar returned wicketless in the match, returning 2-0-5-0 in the Tamil Nadu's second innings after 10-0-52-0 in the first. He had made 1 and 8 with the bat.

TN collected six points from the win to take the top spot in Group C while Goa got none.

In Chandigarh, the match between the home side and Punjab ended in a draw as there was no play possible on the fourth and final day, which also was the case on the third day.

Punjab had made 477 for 2 from 107 overs in the first two days with Anmolpreet Singh remaining not out of 205 while Prabhsimran Singh was also unbeaten on 171. Naman Dhir made 85.

Both Punjab and Chandigarh got one point each from the match. 

On Sunday, Karnataka eked out a nervy one-wicket win over Railways in Surat while Tripura beat Gujarat by 156 runs in Ahmedabad.

Brief Scores:

At Porvorim: Goa: 241 & 168 lost to Tamil Nadu: 273 & 142 for 3 in 49.5 overs (Suresh Lokeshwar 52, Pradosh Ranjan Paul 65; Darshan Misal 2/51) by 7 wickets.

At Mohali: Punjab 477 for 2 in 107 overs drew with Chandigarh (No play on 4th day).

Delhi stay second from last after another poor batting show

Delhi produced yet another inept batting performance on Monday to end up with a single point against Baroda in a Group D match, thereby dashing hopes of a knock-out qualifications in this year's Ranji Trophy.

After Baroda declared their first innings at 435 for 9, Delhi starting the day at 113 for 4, and they were all-out for 177. Adding insult to injury, Baroda skipper Vishnu Solanki enforced the follow-on and Delhi crawled to 68 for 1 in 34 overs when the two captains decided to shake hands.

Delhi are now placed seventh in Group D with eight points from five games and two left -- one away against Himachal Pradesh and one at home against Odisha. Baroda are through to knock-outs with 23 points from five games.

Delhi need to ensure that they get the first innings lead against HP in the Dharamsala match in order to avoid relegation, which would be a first in their history.

In a weather-affected match, Delhi could have easily prevented Baroda from getting a first innings lead on a docile track which would have at least given them psychological advantage.

However, there was distinct lack of application from Delhi's young batting line-up as six wickets fell for 64 runs in little under 21 overs.

Atit Seth (3/39 in 14 overs), a medium pacer, who till last year had played for India, got three wickets while left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt (3/18) quickly wrapped up the tail.

Once Ayush Badoni (44) nicked one to Shivalik Sharma in the slips off Seth, there was no resistance from other batters.

From their body language, one could gauge that despite there being nothing on offer for bowlers on the flat Airforce Stadium track, the young Delhi batters were jittery because of overcast weather and their inability to counter swing bowling.

Former India U-19 captain Yash Dhull, whom many considered as the next big batting talent from Delhi, came in at No. 9 as he had scratched his knee and lower abdomen while fielding.

He however came out to open in the second innings when the match as a contest was all but over.

Brief Scores:

In Delhi: Baroda 435/9 dec. Delhi 177 in 56.2 overs (Ayush Badoni 44, Jonty Sidhu 40, Atit Seth 3/39, Bhargav Bhatt 3/18) & (f/o) 68/1 in 34 overs (Yash Dhull 39 not out).

Points: Baroda 3; Delhi 1

In Cuttack: Odisha 322 and 201 (Govinda Poddar 46, Gourav Yadav 3/48, Sagar Udeshi 4/45). Puducherry 284 and (Target 240) 175/8 (Paras Ratnaparkhe 72, Biplab Samantray 2/28). Odisha 3. Puducherry 1.

In Jammu: J&K 168/2 vs Uttarakhand. J&K 1. Uttarakhand 1.  

In Dharamsala: Himachal Pradesh 169 and 42/5 (Anubhav Agarwal 4/6). Madhya Pradesh 217 (Venkatesh Iyer 72).

Points: MP 3. HP 1. 

Jharkhand pulverise Manipur by innings and 102 runs

Jharkhand completed a comprehensive victory by an innings and 102 runs on Monday to clinch seven points in their Elite Group A match of the Ranji Trophy on Monday.

Jharkhand dominated the game through the course of play on all four days as they dismissed Manipur for a paltry 170 in the first innings and took a massive 334-run lead as they piled up 504/5 declared.

There was no change in fortunes with the bat for Manipur in the second essay despite skipper K Langlonyamba Meitan's 88, as they folded for 232 to hand Jharkhand a victory with a bonus point here at the Keenan Stadium.

Keishangbam faced 157 balls and hit 12 fours and a six to delay the inevitable but no other Manipur batter could resist for long, with Jharkhand's Pankaj Raunak returning 4/22 from his 14.3 overs.

In another match, Rajasthan earned three points by virtue of first-innings lead of a mere 41 runs as they played out a draw against Vidarbha at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

In reply to the hosts Rajasthan's total of 432 for which they consumed more than 130 overs, Vidarbha kept them on the field for about similar time duration, facing 125.3 overs to make 391.

Karun Nair struck a 258-ball 112 with 12 fours to top score for Vidarbha while skipper and wicketkeeper-batter Akshay Wadkar made 59 and Yash Rathod scored 81.

For Rajasthan, left-arm spinner Manav Suthar was the pick among the bowlers with 5/133 in almost 40 overs.

Brief scores:

At Jamshedpur: Manipur 170 and 232 in 93.3 overs (Langlonyamba Meitan Keishangbam 88; Pankaj Raunak 4/22) lost to Jharkhand 504/5d by an innings and 102 runs.

Points: Jharkhand 7, Manipur 0.

At Jaipur: Rajasthan 432 drew with Vidarbha 391 in 125.3 overs (Yash Rathod 81, Karun Nair 112, Akshay Wadkar 59; Manav Suthar 5/133).

Points: Rajasthan 3, Vidarbha 1.