A summary of Thursday's action in the Ranji Trophy group stage matches.
A dominant Saurashtra thrashed Delhi by an innings and 214 runs inside three days to grab a bonus point in the Ranji Trophy Group B match in Rajkot on Thursday.
With Saurashtra, led by seam bowler Jaydev Unadkat, finally declaring the innings at 574/8, the visitors need 441 to avoid the innings defeat.
Delhi's spineless batting, which managed just 133 runs in the first innings, did come up with a slightly better display in the second innings but it was not enough given the enormity of the task.
Yash Dhull's side delayed the inevitable for a while before they were done in by the guile of Yuvrajsinh Dodiya. That they managed to score 227 on Thursday was largely due to the efforts of top-order batters Ayush Badoni and Hrithik Shokeen, who had contributions of 40 and 51 runs respectively.
Dodiya emerged the unlikely hero for Saurashtra as the 22-year-old off-spinner grabbed his first five-wicket haul in only his second first-class game to spell the demise of Delhi's batting.
Delhi are staring at Ranji relegation, having so far earned just two points from four games. With three more rounds to go -- and given the sorry state of the team -- avoiding relegation would be a tall order for Dhull's side.
Earlier on Day 3, Saurashtra continued to pile on the runs with Unadkat, following his best first-class bowling figures of 8/39 in the first innings, setting his sights on a century as well.
The skipper continued from his overnight score of 24, playing an entertaining innings before he was dismissed on 70 off just 68 balls.
Delhi came in to bat in their second innings already deflated by the enormity of task. Dhruv Shorey and Ayush Badoni gave a steady start to the visitors -- a workmanlike 67-run partnership. But Delhi suffered a double blow on 67 when both the openers departed, and they found themselves in familiar territory again.
The visitors kept losing wickets at regular with Dodiya chipping away and finally ending Delhi's resistance in the 64th over of their innings.
Brief scores:
At Rajkot: Delhi 133 & 227 in 63.5 overs (H Shokeen 51; Yuvrajsinh Dodiya 5/91) lost to Saurashtra 574/8 decl in 147.2 overs (Harvik Desai 107, Arpit Vasavada 152 not out, Jaydev Unadkat 70).
At Vizianagaram: Andhra 135 & 462 in 107.3 overs (Ricky Bhui 116, Karan Shinde 105 not out) vs Hyderabad 195 and 75/2.
At Ambi: Assam 275 & 65/0 in 35 overs vs Maharashtra 594/9 decl (Siddhesh Veer 106, Kedar Jadhav 283; Riyan Parag 4/165).
At Mumbai (Brabourne): Tamil Nadu 144 & 380/4 in 105 overs (Sai Sudharsan 68, Baba Indrajith 103, Pradosh Ranjan Paul 107 not out) vs Mumbai 481 in 106.4 overs.
Nikin Jose's half-century earns Karnataka first innings lead
Bengaluru: S J Nikin Jose's 67-run knock played a huge role in Karnataka securing the first innings lead on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Group C match against Chhattisgarh.
Resuming at the overnight score of 202 for 1, Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal fell to Sumit Ruikar for 117, adding only 15 runs to his total.
There was a period when the visiting team bounced back strongly and kept the scoring in check. The Chhattisgarh bowlers hit back with wickets at regular intervals to reduce the home team to 287 for 6 and a sniff of the first innings lead.
The highly-rated 22-year-old Jose (134 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) then got together with K Gowtham (18) for a 33-run stand for the seventh wicket to take Karnataka past the opponent's first innings score of 311.
Jose added 26 runs with last-man Vidwath Kaverappa, who did not make a single run, and ensured that the team went ahead by 55 runs.
In the second innings, Chhattisgarh lost their openers without a run on the board as Kaverappa and V Koushik removed Avnish Singh and A G Tiwary.
Ashutosh Singh (8 batting) and Amandeep Khare (23 batting) ensured that no further damage was done as they closed the day at 35 for 2, still 20 runs behind.
Brief scores:
At Bengaluru: Chhattisgarh 311 all out in 121.4 overs and 35 for 2 in 20 overs vs Karnataka 366 all out in 109.3 overs (Mayank Agarwal 117, R Samarth 81, S J Nikin Jose 67, Ajay Mandal 4/93, Sumit Ruikar 2/73).
At Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala 265 all out in 95.3 overs (Rohan Prem 112, Lakshay Garg 4/44) and 172 for 6 in 55 overs (Rohan Prem 68 batting, Mohit Redkar 3/56) vs Goa 311 all out in 110.2 overs (Ishan Gadekar 105 (200 balls, 7x4, 1x6), Darshan Misal 43, Siddhesh Lad 35. Jalaj Saxena 5/103, Sijomon Joseph 3/52).
At Delhi: Pondicherry 216 all out in 62.4 overs (K B Arun Karthick 58) and 128 for 6 in 41 overs (K B Arun Karthick 36 batting) vs Services 466 for 7 declared in 129 overs (Rahul Singh Gahlaut 137 (191 balls, 14x4, 3x6), Rajat Paliwal 101 (183 balls, 9x4), L S Kumar 83 not out, Pulkit Narang 45, Ankit Sharma 3/80).
At Jaipur: Jharkhand 92 all out in 47 overs (Aryaman Sen 39, Aniket Choudhary 4/16, Tanveer Ul-Haq 4/42) and 330 for 6 in 110 overs (Aryaman Sen 119, Saurabh Tiwary 78, Kumar Deobrat 48, RR Singh 3/73) vs Rajasthan 287 all out in 81.2 overs (Karan Lamba 122 (184 balls, 14x4, 3x6), Ashish Kumar 5/75, Supriyo Chakraborty 3/51).
MP set Vidarbha huge target; big wins for Punjab, Railways
Indore: Wicketkeeper-batter Himanshu Mantri hit a fine century (126, 194 balls, 16 fours, 2 sixes) in the second innings to help defending champions Madhya Pradesh post 257 for 5 declared and set Vidarbha a target of 407 in their Ranji Trophy Group D match.
Earlier in the day, the MP bowlers polished off the Vidarbha tail for the addition of just 13 more runs to their overnight score of 147.
Pace bowler Avesh Khan added the scalps of Nachiket Bhute (12) and Lalit Yadav (4) to finish with a seven-wicket haul. On Wednesday he rocked the Vidarbha top-order.
Opener S R Ramaswamy (58, 189 balls, 5 fours) fought a single-handed battle before being the last man to be dismissed. He was caught by Puneet Datey off Kumar Kartikeya Singh's bowling.
In the second innings, Mantri batted well to power the MP charge. His 120-run stand for the second wicket with Shubam Sharma (55) gave the impetus. Later, he was involved in a half-century partnership with Rajat Patidar (38) to enable the team get a move-on.
Vidarbha ended the third day at 13 for 1 with Avesh Khan accounting for S R Ramaswamy (6), having him trapped LBW.
Meanwhile, in Valsad, Punjab thrashed Gujarat by 380 runs. The host team's batting faltered for a second time, folding for 138 in pursuit of 519 for a win with only Manan Hingrajia (74 not out), Priyesh Patel (37) and Karan Patel (25) making double figures.
At Surat, Railways crushed Jammu and Kashmir by an innings and 73 runs to pick up seven points.
Brief scores:
At Valsad: Punjab 286 all out and 329 for 9 declared in 72 overs (Naman Dhir 134, Mayank Markande 62 not out; Chintan Gaja 3/104) beat Gujarat 97 all out in 34.2 overs (Baltej Singh 7/28) and 138 all out in 35.4 overs (Manan Hingrajia 74 not out, Priyesh Patel 37; Baltej Singh 4/38, M Markande 3/16) by 380 runs.
Punjab: 6 points, Gujarat: 0.
At Indore: Madhya Pradesh 309 all out in 108.2 overs (Rajat Patidar 121) and 257 for 5 declared in 68 overs (Himanshu Mantri 126, Shubham Sharma 55, R Patidar 38) vs Vidarbha 160 all out in 71 overs and 13 for 1 in 5 overs).
At Surat: Railways 427 all out in 105.1 overs (Mohammad Saif 233 not out) beat Jammu & Kashmir 161 all out in 60.3 overs (Suryash Raina 48; Akash Pandey 6/49) and 193 all out in 62.4 overs (Fazil Rashid 53, Auqib Nabi 31; Akash Pandey 4/58) by an innings and 73 runs.
Railways: 7 points, J&K: 0.
At Agartala: Chandigarh 455 for 3 in 114.4 overs (Manan Vohra 200, Kunal Mahajan 162 batting) vs Tripura.
Kunal Chandela shines as Uttarakhand frustrate Bengal
Dehradun: Former Delhi player Kunal Chandela's dogged 136 and late resistance from the lower order could possibly help Uttarakhand retain its pole position after the hosts finished their first innings on 272 against a dominant Bengal on third day of the Ranji Trophy Group A match.
Bengal had scored 387 in their first innings and at stumps on the penultimate day, they were 48 for 1 in the second essay with Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sudip Gharami batting on 24 each.
Their lead is now 163 but having ensured three points by virtue of first innings lead, Bengal might not go for the kill and settle for a draw.
That will take them to 19 points but Uttarakhand will stay on top with 20.
However, Bengal’s bowlers are to be blamed as they failed to enforce the follow-on despite having Uttarakhand on the mat at 48 for 6 on the second day.
Chandela first added 70 for the seventh wicket with Akhil Rawat (40) and another 128 for the eighth wicket between him and Abhay Negi (50) gave Uttarkhand some hope of saving the match.
Chandela frustrated the Bengal attack with his defensive approach as he played 304 balls in all and hit 13 fours and two sixes.
He was the last man to be dismissed as left-arm spinner Pradipta Pramanik (4/58 in 32.3 overs) was the most successful bowler. Pacer Akash Deep and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed also got three wickets each.
Brief scores:
In Dehradun: Bengal 387 and 48/1 (Abhimanyu Easwaran 24 batting) vs Uttarakhand 272 (Kunal Chandela 136, Pradipta Pramanik 4/58).
In Lucknow: Haryana 365 (Ankit Kumar 174, Sumit Kumar 95, Aaqib Khan 4/73) vs UP 35/3.
In Vadodara: Baroda 355 vs Himachal Pradesh 556/8 (Prashant Chopra 159, Ankit Kalsi 145, Ninad rathva 4/124).
In Cuttack: Nagaland 433 vs Odisha 392/6 (Shantanu Misra 134, Anurag Sarangi 84).
