Left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt grabbed six wickets in a stunning bowling show as Baroda defeated defending champions Mumbai by 84 runs on the final day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match in Vadodara on Monday.
In a match that saw fortunes fluctuating in each of the four days, the 34-year-old Bhatt (6/55 from 19.4 overs) ripped through the Mumbai line up in the second innings to help his side notch a memorable win.
Chasing 262 for a win, Mumbai were shot out for 177 in 48.2 overs.
The 42-time champions Mumbai had resumed the day at 42 for 2, needing 220 runs to win the match on the final day.
Except for a 41-run stand between top-scorer Siddhesh Lad (59) and Shreyas Iyer (30), there was no real fight from the Mumbai batters, who lost eight wickets for 135 runs in 38.5 overs bowled on the day.
Overnight batter and captain Ajinkya Rahane was the first Mumbai batter to get out on Monday for 12. Soon after, the other overnight batter Ayush Mhatre (22) followed suit, both becoming victims of Bhatt.
Iyer and Lad -- the last man out for Mumbai -- were also accounted for by Bhatt.
Baroda had taken an upper hand on the second day on Saturday by taking a 76-run first innings lead, courtesy a relentless effort from their bowlers.
But the next day, right-arm off-spinner Tanush Kotian led a brilliant bowling show for Mumbai with a five-wicket haul to help the defending champions skittle Baroda out for 185 in the home side's second innings.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai 214 and 177 all out (Siddhesh Lad 59, Bhargav Bhatt 6/55) vs Baroda 290 and 185 all out in 60.3 overs (Krunal Pandya 55, Mahesh Pithiya; Tanush Kotian 5/61).
In Delhi: Services 402 beat Meghalaya 233 and 104 all out in 57.5 overs (Ajay Duhan 16; Jayant Goyat 3/10, Arjun Sharma 3/14).
In Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir 519 for 9 decl and 38 for no loss from 10 overs draw with Maharashtra 428 all out in 130.3 overs (Siddhesh Veer 127, Ruturaj Gaikwad 86, Arshin Kulkarni 87; Auqib Nabi 5/100).
Saini takes 3 as Delhi start campaign with 3 points
Navdeep Saini bowled a sharp opening spell to keep Delhi interested in a possibility of an outright win but finally managed three points against Chattisgarh in their opening group D Ranji Trophy match in Raipur, on Monday.
Seasoned Jonty Sidhu's second career first-class hundred had ensured a slender first innings lead for Delhi, who had scored 357 in their first essay on the third evening itself. This was after Chattisgarh scored 343 batting first.
Starting the final day at 33 for no loss, Chattisgarh reached 179 for 6 in 60 overs when the two captains Amandeep Khare and Himmat Singh decided to shake hands with no outright result possible in a session's play that was left.
This result, under new head coach Sarandeep Singh, can be termed a decent for Delhi, considering their fortunes in the last two seasons.
On the fourth morning, it was a five-over spell by Saini (3/36 in 12 overs) that had rocked Chattisgarh with Aayush Pandey (33) and Eknath Kerkar (13) being dismissed in quick succession. By lunch, Chattisgarh had lost five wickets with less than 100-run lead.
But skipper Khare (18 off 80 balls) and Ajay Mandal (57 not out off 94 balls) batted for 17.4 overs adding only 38 runs for the sixth wicket but more importantly consumed enough overs to ensure a solitary point for their team.
Once Saini got Khare trapped leg before with the old ball, Delhi did raise slender vision of victory but Mandal and former Mumbai batter Bhupen Lalwani (3 not out) played out another 9.2 overs as the match petered out towards a draw.
Brief Scores:
In Raipur: Chattisgarh 343 and 179/6 (Ajay Mandal 57 not out, Navdeep Saini 3/36). Points: Delhi 3 Chattisgarh 1.
In Coimbatore: Saurashtra 203 and 94 all out in 40.4 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 0, Gurjapneet Singh 6/22). vs Tamil Nadu 367. TN won by an innings and 70 runs. Points: TN 7 Saurashtra 0.
In Guwahati: Jharkhand 361 and 74/3 (Ishan Kishan 16, Mukhtar Hussain 2/28) vs Assam 180 (Parvez Musaraf 35, SS Roy 42, Utkarsh Singh 3/41) and (f/o) 355 (Akash Sengupta 92, Manishi 3/61). Points: Jharkhand 3; Assam 1.
