Kulkarni bowls Mumbai to
innings victory

Left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni [4 for 42] bowled former champions Mumbai to an innings and 72 runs victory over Andhra Pradesh, on the fourth and final day, in the Elite Group 'A' Ranji Trophy match, at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, on Saturday.

Andhra, who were struggling at 133 for seven overnight, were bowled out for 184, in 83.3 overs and 342 minutes.

The match lasted a little less than two hours on Saturday morning.

The victory gave Mumbai three points, including a bonus one. In the process, they swelled their tally to seven from three outings.

Andhra have just a single point, from the previous game, to their credit.

Overnight not out batsman Hemal Vatekar remained unbeaten on 75, off 145 balls, with eight boundaries and a six. He was also involved in a fighting eighth-wicket partnership of 105 runs, off 41.4 overs, with Mohammed Faiq (32 off 147 balls, with four fours) but did not get any assistance from the last two batsmen, who fell cheaply.

First to go today was Faiq, who was caught by substitute Rajesh Pawar in the deep, off leg-spinner Sariaj Bahutule. The visitors lost their last two batsmen for the addition of just five runs, leaving Vatekar stranded at the other end.

Kulkarni picked the last two wickets to fall -- that of G Shankar Rao and D Kalyan Krishna (3) -- while Bahutule finished with two for 51.

First innings hero Avishkar Salvi, skipper Paras Mhambrey, Robbin Morris and offie Ramesh Powar all bagged a wicket each.

Shukla propels Bengal to victory over Railways

Test discard Laxmi Ratan Shukla's fine knock propelled hosts Bengal to victory over defending champions Railways in an Elite group Ranji Trophy match in Siliguri on Saturday.

Though Bengal earned two points from the match, their batsmen had to overcome Railways spinner Kulamani Parida, who nearly almost snatched the match from the hosts on the fourth and last day today.

After all the established batsmen fell to Parida, who had taken three wickets in the first innings, Shukla resolutely resisted Parida on a spinner-friendly track, on which Bengal veteran Utpal Chatterjee scalped 10 wickets, five in each innings.

Shukla (41 not out), who was out for a duck in the first innings, scored the winning run with a boundary, two-and-half hours before the scheduled close. His knock was studded with five fours and a six.

Though Bengal's victory looked assured at stumps yesterday, with a target of only 112 runs and nine wickets in hand, tension mounted after lunch today as the home side lost seven batsmen within a span of 49 runs.

Shukla and Chatterjee scored the required 33 runs after Parida send back Deep Dasgupta, Debang Gandhi, S Das, S Ganguly and S Sanyal in 29 overs, conceding 55 runs.

S Saxena and Khanolkar, who claimed three wickets in the first innings, shared the other two wickets left.

Punjab beat Assam by 89 runs

A superb five-wicket haul by spinner Navdip Singh gave Punjab an 89-run victory over Assam in an Elite group Ranji Trophy match in Guwahati on Saturday.

Chasing 286 for an outright win, hosts Assam were all out for 196 on the fourth and final day on Saturday.

It was a brilliant comeback by Punjab after conceding a first innings lead of 53 runs.

Except for two stubborn knocks by Kiron Pawar (55) and Manoj Joglekar (49) none of the other Assam batsmen could handle the sustained pressure applied by Punjab.

The outright win gave Punjab two valuable points.

Rajasthan snatch thrilling win over Hyderabad

A five-wicket haul by off-spinner Rahul Kanwat (5-37) and a solid 51 by opener Gagan Khoda helped Rajasthan snatch a thrilling four-wicket win over Hyderabad in an Elite Group 'B' Ranji Trophy match in Jaipur on Saturday.

Chasing a target of 192, after Kanwat restricted Hyderabad to 350 in second innings, the hosts romped home in 61.5 overs with useful contributions from Khoda, Kanwat (41), Nikhil Doru (33) and P Krishnakumar (43).

Rajashthan had a shaky start to their chase, losing opener Vineet Saxena for two. But a 65-run partnership for the second wicket between Khoda and Kanwat set the stage for an emphatic win for the hosts.

Rajasthan reached the target with 4.1 overs to spare.

Former Indian player Venkatapathy Raju exploited the conditions well on the final day of the match to return with impressive figures of 4 for 47.

Rajasthan earned two pints for their win while Hyderabad got nothing.

Earlier, resuming at overnight score of 226 for four, the visitors reached 350 in their second essay with Daniel Manohar hitting a superb century (101).

Rajasthan now have two points three matches while Hyderabad, who did not get any from this match, are with one point from three matches.

Sandeep Sharma's heroics save Himachal

A superb 170 by opener Sandeep Sharma and his 90-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Virender Sharma helped Himachal Pradesh deny Delhi an outright victory on the fourth and final day of an Elite Group 'A' Ranji Trophy match in Delhi on Saturday.

Himachal, who needed to bat through the final day to salvage at least a draw after Delhi took a huge 262-run first innings lead, finished on 331 for eight to force the draw.

Resuming at the overnight score of 50 for no loss, Himachal found themselves in a spot of bother, losing four quick wickets for 136 runs soon after lunch.

But Sandeep Sharma stood tall among the ruins and crafted a fine knock, which was studded with 24 boundaries and two towering sixes.

First, he added 57 invaluable runs with Amit Sharma (27) for the fifth wicket and then put on 90 runs for the sixth wicket with Virender Sharma (48).

Sandeep Sharma's dismissal in the last mandatory over -- caught by Siddhrath Verma at deep mid-wicket off part-time bowler Mithun Manhas -- pulled down the curtains on the proceedings.

For Delhi, medium pacer Amit Bhandari was the most successful bowler, claiming two wickets for 100 runs.

TN saved by last-wicket pair

Tamil Nadu's last-wicket pair saved them from defeat against Uttar Pradesh as the Elite Group 'B' Ranji Trophy match ended in a draw in Chennai on Saturday.

Chasing 298, the hosts were never in the hunt, and at one stage were tottering at 153 for eight before holding on to make 194 for nine in 60 overs at the end of the match, with M R Srinivas (14) and Balaji (4) at the crease.

Uttar Pradesh, who collected a point for obtaining the first innings lead were all out for 253 after resuming at 158 for 6, thus setting Tamil Nadu a target of 298 runs for victory in 60 overs.

The visitors, who dominated from the first day of the match, played 27.5 overs this morning and added 95 runs, losing four wickets in the process.

Nikhil Chopra, who made a superb 86 in the first innings, continued his attacking game and was unbeaten on 67 in the second innings.

The highlight of the match was a superb bowling effort by Balaji, who claimed six wickets in the first innings and five in the second, for a match haul of 11 for 129.

With an asking rate of 4.96 runs an over, the hosts started off badly, losing captain Suresh (4) with the total on 29. Vidyuth, who opened the innings with Suresh, made a quick 59 (4x4, 3x6) before he was out to a good catch at point by Jyoti Yadav off Pandey. The other top scorer was S Ramesh, who scored a fine 44 before being eighth out after coming in at number three.

Nikhil Chopra was the most successful bowler for the visitors, claiming five for 65.

Kerala inflict innings defeat on Tripura

Spinners K N Ananthapadmanabhan and M Sureshkumar shared six wickets as Kerala trounced Tripura by an innings and 148 runs on the final day of the Ranji Trophy Plate Group 'B' match in Kochi on Saturday.

Resuming at the overnight score of 62 for 3, after following-on yesterday, Tripura were all out for 139 runs 14 minutes before lunch.

Kerala had made 457 in their first innings.

Leggie Ananthapadmanabhan, who was instrumental in bundling out Tripura for 170 in their first innings, was again in lethal form today, claiming 3 for 15 to return match figures of 10 for 54.

Left-arm spinner Sureshkumar gave Ananthan good support from the other end, capturing three wickets for 36.

The highlight of Tripura's innings was a fighting 58 off 105 balls by opener Ritesh Jaiswal, which included six well-executed hits to the ropes.

Sujit Roy made 22 with the help of two sixes and a boundary.

With this victory, the third consecutive from as many matches in the group, Kerala are in a strong position to reach the semi-finals. They have two more matches, against Services and Vidharba.

Saurashtra, Services match ends in a draw

The Plate 'B' Ranji Trophy match between Saurashtra and Services ended in a draw in Rajkot on Saturday, with the hosts earning a point by virtue of their first innings lead.

Services, in their second innings, were 185 for two in 65 overs when the umpires called off play.

The visitors lost opener Sanjeev Mishra for six after he was trapped leg before by offie Niraj Odedara but a 99-run second wicket stand between Jasbir Singh and Yashpal Singh put Services back on track.

Services lost their second wicket when Yashpal Singh was clean bowled by Jolly Jobanputra for 40. However, Jasbir Singh remained unbeaten on 106.

For Saurashtra, Jobanputra and Odedara claimed a wicket each, giving away 36 and 27 runs respectively.

Earlier, resuming at their overnight total of 391 for 8, Saurashtra were all out for 415.

For Services, Arun Sharma did most of the damage, claiming four wickets for 87 runs while Sanjay Dhull claimed three wickets.

Vidarbha score outright win over Goa

Hosts Vidarbha routed Goa by 203 runs in the Ranji Trophy Plate 'B' tie at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground in Nagpur on Saturday.

Set to make 369 runs off 98 overs, Goa resumed at the overnight score of 10 for 1, but crashed to 165 all out off 53.3 overs.

Veteran off-spinner Pritam Gandhe wrecked the visitors, claiming 5 for 33, to give the home side its biggest ever victory in first class cricket.

He was ably assisted by left-arm spinner Madhusudan Achraya (3 for 65), who also had a match haul of seven wickets for 137 runs.

Goa middle order left-hander Jakati top scored with 37 in an otherwise dismal performance by the batsmen. He remained undefeated on 80 in Goa's first innings.

Vidarbha collected two points from the match and have a total of three points from three matches. Goa have a point from three outings.

Vidarbha will play Tripura next and then take on Kerala in the second half of December.

Mail Cricket Editor