A summary of all the action from day four of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Friday.
Veteran left-hander Vaibhav Rawal frustrated Tamil Nadu bowlers for close to four hours as his unbeaten 95 off 142 balls saved Delhi from an outright defeat in a Ranji Trophy Group B match that concluded in New Delhi, on Friday.
Tamil Nadu got three points from the game by virtue of a first-innings lead of 124 runs.
Delhi on the fourth and final day batted for more than 70 overs (71.5 overs to be precise with 8 on day 3) as they were all out for 262 in their second innings.
Tamil Nadu required 139 in a maximum possible 18 overs but the fading December light in a cold Delhi winter allowed only 6 overs to be bowled in which the visitors scored 54 losing three wickets.
Sai Sudharshan (24 off 19 balls), in another short stay, hit a couple of sixes to show why he is rated so highly.
But the chase was an improbable one in the final session as Delhi skipper Yash Dhull cleverly spread all his nine fielders (save bowler and keeper) to cut down on boundaries and make life difficult for Tamil Nadu batters.
In an act of gamesmanship, pacers, right-arm quick Harshit Rana (1/27 in 3 overs) and left-arm seamer Kuldip Yadav (2/27 in 3 overs) also wasted time, either faking cramps or tying shoelaces or not delivering the ball even after completing the action.
They changed field after every delivery increasing the frustration of the visiting team batters, who all perished trying to hit sixes.
But no credit will be enough for Rawal, who was playing only his 20th first-class match in 10 years since his debut in 2012.
He hit 13 boundaries and used all his experiences of being in and around the Delhi team since the time of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir to bail Delhi out.
Rawal hit 13 boundaries while in-form Dhruv Shorey (70, 115 balls) completed 500 runs for the season in the third match itself.
Right-handed Shorey and southpaw Rawal also added 70 runs between them for the fourth wicket as Washington Sundar emerged the best bowler for Tamil Nadu with figures of 4/43.
Rawal was unlucky as tail-ender Kuldip had to face only two deliveries and Washington coming from round the wicket fired one in with the angle and the batter shouldered arms to get bowled.
Rawal wasn't amused on missing out on a third first-class hundred and he did let his younger partner know what he felt.
In the end, the nearly 60 overs (59.1 overs) lost during the first three days of play due to bad light cost Tamil Nadu full points.
Brief Scores:
In Delhi: Delhi 303 and 262 in 79.5 overs (Vaibhav Rawal 95, Dhruv Shorey 70; Washington Sundar 4/43) vs Tamil Nadu 427 and (target 139) 54/3 in 6 overs. Points: Delhi 1 TN 3
In Mumbai: Saurashtra 289 and 220 vs Mumbai 230 and (Target 280) 231 in 74 overs (Prithvi Shaw 68; Parth Bhut 4/56, Yuvraj Dodiya 4/86). Point: Mumbai 0; Saurashtra 6.
In Hyderabad: Assam 205 and 252 vs Hyderabad 208 and (Target 250) 231 in 61.5 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 123; Riyan Parag 4/93). Points: Hyderabad 0; Assam 6
In Vizianagaram: Maharashtra 200 and 250 vs Andhra 211 and (target 240) 108 all out (Hanuma Vihari 36; Pradeep Dadhe 6/20).
Uttarakhand wind up victory one day late.
Seamer Abhay Negi's four-wicket haul and Kunal Chandela's unbeaten half-century helped Uttarakhand beat Himachal Pradesh by five wickets in a Ranji Trophy Group A match in Dehradun, on Friday.
While bad light on Thursday gave a ray of hope to Himachal to salvage a draw, the final day brought good tidings for Uttarakhand as their bowlers, led by Negi, first restricted the opponents to 391, and then the batters, aided by Chandela's unbeaten 59, crossed the winning target of 105 in 28.5 overs.
Uttarakhand, who had gotten into prime position to win the match on the opening day itself when they dismissed Himachal for just 49 runs and then took a massive lead by scoring 336 runs in their first innings, could have finished the match inside three days. But bad light, which allowed just 14 overs to be bowled on day three, pushed the contest into the fourth day.
A lot rested on Himachal batters Akash Vasisht (111) and captain Rishi Dhawan (71) to save the match. They batted fluently while at the crease, first wiping out the huge deficit and then giving their team a slender lead as well.
But once they departed one after the other within a space of three overs, things became difficult for the visitors.
Himachal's innings wound up for 391, giving Uttarakhand a 105-run target to win the match.
Despite initial hiccups where Uttarakhand lost both their openers for two runs apiece and were 40 for four at one stage, but then Chandela stuck to the task, scoring an 81-ball 59. He had wicketkeeper-batter Aditya Tare for company and the duo ensured the hosts' safe landing.
When Tare departed, Uttarakhand were just 12 runs short of the winning target which was achieved soon.
Earlier, Negi played a key role in getting rid of the Himachal middle and lower order and restricting them to 391.
He first broke the overnight partnership between Dhawan and Vasisht, dismissing the former for 71 and then quickly got rid of Praveen Thakur (10), Mayank Dagar (10) and Pankaj Jaiswal (2).
Brief Scores:
At Dehradun: Himachal 49 and 391 in 111 overs (Rishi Dhawan 77, Akash Vasisht 111; Abhay Negi 4/54) lost to Uttarakhand 336 and 106/5 in 28.5 overs (Kunal Chandela 59 n.o.; Mayank Dagar 3/35) by 5 wickets. Uttarakhand 5 points, Himachal 0.
At Cuttack: Haryana 338 and 384/4 decl in 77 overs (Ankit Kumar 172 not out, Himanshu Rana 98) drew with Odisha 414 and 110/1 in 31 overs (Anurag Sarangi 53 not out). Odisha 3 points, Haryana 1 point.
At Vadodara: Uttar Pradesh 258 and 177 (Dhruv Jurel 50; Ninad Rathva 5/56) lost to Baroda 249 and 189/6 in 47.2 overs (Shashwat Rawat 68, Mitesh Patel 40, Ninad Rathva 40 not out) by 4 wickets. Baroda 6 points, Uttar Pradesh 0.
Goa grimly hold on to draw against Karnataka
Goa's batters dished out a gritty display on the fourth and final day to deny Karnataka an outright win in a Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match in Porvorim, on Friday.
Resuming at the overnight score of 321 for 8, Goa skipper Darshan Misal (95, 172 balls, 15 fours, 1 six) extend his vigil at the crease and also added 52 runs to the total.
Misal, who missed out on a well-deserved ton by five runs, put on 99 runs for the ninth wicket with Lakshay Garg (38, 83 balls).
Apart from swelling the total, Misal and Garg occupied the crease for long enough to frustrate the Karnataka bowlers.
Misal was the last batter to be dismissed, caught by Nikin Jose off medium-pacer V Vyshak (3/60).
Asked to follow on, Goa batters defied the visiting team's bowlers for 45 overs more, making 150 for 3 to force a draw.
Karnataka got three points while Goa had to be content with 1 point.
Meanwhile, Kerala knocked off the target of 126 in 19.1 overs to beat Chhattisgarh by seven wickets to pocket six points.
Opener P Rahul hammered 66 from 58 balls (5 fours, 2 sixes) and added 86 runs for the first wicket with Rohan Kunnummal (40, 27 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes) to power the chase.
In another Group C clash, Jharkhand thrashed Services by nine wickets at Jamshedpur to pick up six points.
Brief Scores:
At Porvorim: Karnataka 603 for 7 declared in 148.2 overs (Manish Pandey 208 not out, R Samarth 140, Vishal Onat 91, Mayank Agarwal 50; Darshan Misal 3/145) drew with Goa 373 all out in 121.5 overs 1 for 8 in 109 overs (Darshan Misal 95, Suyash Prabhudesai 87, Siddhesh Lad 63; V Vyshak 3/60, Shubang Hegde 3/80, K Gowtham 3/140) and 105 for 3 in 45 overs (Suyash Prabhudesai 61 not out). Karnataka: 3 points, Goa: 1.
At Thumba: Chhattisgarh 149 all out in 49.5 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 40, Jalaj Saxena 5/48) and 287 all out in 89.4 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 152, Amandeep Khare 30; Jalaj Saxena 6/75) lost to Kerala 311 all out in 107.1 overs (Rohan Prem 77, Sachin Baby 77; Sumit Ruikar 3/37) and 126 for 3 in 19.1 overs (P Rahul 66 not out, Rohan Kunnummal 40) by seven wickets. Kerala: 6 points, Chhattisgarh: 0.
At Jamshedpur: Services 367 in 90 overs (Rajat Paliwal 76, M S Rathee 69; Anukul Roy 6/67) and 214 all out in 74.2 overs (Arpit N Guleria 77, Rahul Singh Gahlaut 36; Shahbaz Nadeem 5/78, Anukul Roy 4/63) lost to Jharkhand 551 for 8 declared in 142 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 165, Kumar Suraj 83) and 31 for 1 in 7.5 overs. Jharkhand: 6 points, Services: 0.
Gujarat ride on Panchal's double ton to outwit Chandigarh
Gujarat thrashed Chandigarh by an innings and 87 runs on the fourth and final day of a Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match in Ahemdabad, on Friday.
Resuming at the overnight score of 46 for 2 and trailing by 246 runs, Chandigarh was bowled out for 205 in 75.3 overs.
Jagjit Singh Sandhu, batting at no. 10, was the highest scorer with 46 (42 balls, 6 fours, 3 sixes).
Left-arm spinner Hardik Patel was the best bowler for Gujarat, picking up four wickets.
Earlier, Gujarat piled up 596 for 4 declared, riding on captain Priyank Panchal's superb double century after Chandigarh had made 304 in the first innings.
Meanwhile in Indore, defending champion Madhya Pradesh huffed and puffed their way to a win over Railways, thanks to Avesh Khan's knock of 30 (25 balls, 2 fours, 2 sixes). Chasing 215 for victory, MP saw their openers put on 46 runs to set the platform. But the hard-working Railways bowlers managed to strike at regular intervals.
The consistent Rajat Patidar, a key batter for Madhya Pradesh, fell after making just 14 to left-arm spinner Akash Pandey (2/63).
Himanshu Mitra (45, 142 balls, 3 fours), Saransh Jain (36) and captain Akshat Raghuwanshi (26) made useful contributions but it looked Madhya Pradesh was letting the match slip away from their hands.
In Avesh Khan, Madhya Pradesh found a hero as the burly medium pacer smacked two sixes and two fours to take his side past the finishing line. Madhya Pradesh got six points for the win and now has 20 after three matches, followed by Gujarat (14) and Vidarbha (12).
Brief Scores:
At Ahmedabad: Chandigarh 304 in 116 overs (Bhagmender Lather 87) and 205 all out in 75.3 overs (Jagjit Singh Sandhu 46, Manan Vohra 40, Gaurav Gambhir 31; Hardik Patel 4/66) lost to Gujarat 596 for 4 declared in 134 overs (Priyank Panchal 257, M A Hingrajia 151 not out) by an innings and 87 runs. Gujarat: 7 points, Chandigarh: 0.
At Indore: Railways 274 and 195 all out in 72 overs (Shivam Chudhary 53, Vivek Singh 31; Kumar Kartikeya Singh 5/54, Saransh Jain 4/82) lost to Madhya Pradesh 255 all out in 84.5 overs (Rajat Patidar 54; SS Jadhav 5/34) and 215 for 8 in 79.3 overs (Himanshu Mantri 45, Saransh Jain 36, Avesh Khan 30 not out) by two wickets. MP: 6 points, Railways: 0.
At Agartala: Punjab 203 all out in 64.2 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 55; Manisankar Murasingh 5/48) drew with Tripura 322 for 4 in 114 overs (Sudip Chatterjee 112 not out, Wriddhiman Saha 101 not out, Sridam Paul 55). Tripura: 3 points, Punjab: 1.
