Defending champions Mumbai needed just 22 minutes and 31 balls to wrap up a massive 338-run victory over minnows Vidarbha and log six points to shoot to the top of the Ranji Trophy Group A table at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Chasing an imposing target of 530 and staring defeat in the face last evening at 177 for 8, Vidarbha collapsed for 191 by adding 14 runs while losing their last two wickets to medium pacer Shardul Thakur, who ended up with innings figures of 4 for 48 on the fourth and final day of the lop-sided clash.
Thakur, who grabbed 3 for 40 in the first innings, polished off the Vidarbha innings in a morning spell of 2.4-0-2-2 for impressive match figures of 7 for 88.
The Vidarbha batsmen who were dismissed by Thakur on Sunday were Akshay Wakhre, who was caught behind for 5 and last man Sandeep Singh, who was beaten and bowled for a duck to leave Shrikant Wagh stranded without partners on 41 off 52 balls.
Mumbai took their overall points tally to 19 from 4 games, three more than second-placed Punjab and five ahead of third-placed Gujarat, who have also played four games each.
The 40-time champions next face another weak team, Jharkhand, at home from December 6-9.
Brief scores: Mumbai 261 and 381 for 4 decl beat Vidarbha 113 and 191 (S Shrivastava 69, S Wagh not out 41; S Thakur 4 for 48, V Dabholkar 2 for 33) by 338 runs.
Karnataka win by four wickets, earn full points
Abhimanyu Mithun and HS Sharath grabbed five-wickets each as Karnataka got the better of Odisha by four wickets and earn full six points on the fourth and final day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match in Cuttack on Sunday.
After Mithun (5/58) and Sharath (5/80) shared all 10 wickets between them to bundle Odisha all out for 279 in their second innings, Karnataka were required to chase down just 127 for victory, which they achieved comfortably.
Earlier, Karnataka had scored 379 in their first innings in reply to Odisha's 226 in the first essay, thereby taking a solid 153-run lead.
Resuming on 169 for four, Odisha lost overnight batsman Abhilash Mallick early. Mallick could just add just three more runs to his last night's score of 47 to complete his half-century before he fell victim to Mithun.
His 50 came off 89 balls and it included six boundaries and a six. Mallick also shared an important 100-run stand with skipper Biplab Samantray for the fifth wicket.
Samantray, having resumed on 50, went on to score a fine century and also put on two important partnerships with the tail-enders.
He first stitched 50 runs with Alok Sahoo (21) for the seventh wicket and later joined hands with Basant Mohanty (14 not out) to put on another 35 runs for the ninth wicket.
But Samantray's innings was cut shot by Sharath, who trapped the captain lbw. He departed for a well-made 215-ball 106, laced with 14 hits to the fence and two sixes.
Chasing a modest target, Karnataka batsmen reached 130 for six in 41.3 overs. Ganesh Satish top scored with 34, followed by Lokesh Rahul (29).
For Odisha, Suryakant Pradhan (3/38) took three wickets, while Basant Mohanty (2/34) claimed two and Deepak Behera chipped in with one.
Brief scores:
Odisha: 226 & 279 all out (Biplab Samantray 106, Abhilash Mallick 50; Abhimanyu Mithun 5/58, HS Sharath 5/80).
Karnataka: 379 & 130 for six in 41.3 overs (Ganesh Satish 34, Lokesh Rahul 29; Suryakant Pradhan 3/38).
Middle-order earns draw for Rajasthan against UP
Some determined batting by their middle- order batsmen ensured that Rajasthan walked away with a draw but Uttar Pradesh grabbed three points by the virtue of their first innings lead in a Ranji Trophy Group B match, which ended in Jaipur on Sunday.
Chasing 361 to win, Rajasthan batted out the whole day, scoring 253 for six with at least three batsmen scoring half-centuries.
Bist brother -- Robin and Chetan -- and Rajesh Bishnoi saved the hosts, who were reeling at 76 for four one stage after starting the day at 15 for no loss.
Robin made 51, Rajesh 53 and Chetan remained unbeaten on 61 at Swai Mansingh stadium.
The hosts lost openers Siddarth Saraf (5) and Vineet Saxena (21) cheaply as paceman RP Singh had the former caught behind.
Imtiaz Ahmed removed Sexena and struck a vital blow to the hosts by dismissing rival skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar (5).
Ali Murtaza in between removed well-set Ashok Menaria (40) but Robin combined with Bishnoi to stabilise the innings.
They added 93 runs for the fifth wicket before Arish Alam had Bishnoi caught by Murtaza.
The two Bist brothers then batted together long enough to ensure that Rajasthan reach a safe position.
Brief Scores:
Uttar Pradesh 226 and 319 for 5 declared
Rajasthan 185 and 253 for 6 in 93 overs: (Robin Bist 51, Rajesh Bishnoi 53, Chetan Bist 61 not out; Imtiaz Ahmed 3/48).
Gujarat earns three points, Jharkhand settle for one
Gujarat earned three vital points on the basis of their first innings lead against Jharkhand, even as their Group A Ranji Trophy match ended in a tame draw on the fourth and final day, in Jamshedpur on Sunday.
Jharkhand had to be satisfied with just one point.
Earlier, Gujarat had scored 352 for nine declared in reply to Jharkhand's first innings total of 289, thereby taking a 63-run lead. Jharkhand, in their second innings, managed 166 for seven at stumps at Keenan stadium on Sunday. Resuming at 28 for no loss, Jharkhand suffered a setback in the very first over of the day, losing overnight batsman and opener Rameez Nemat in the fifth delivery.
Nemat, who scored a brilliant 78 in the first innings, fell to medium pacer Jasprit Bumrah for the second time in the match.
Jharkhand wickets tumbled in quick secession with the scorecard reading 76 for seven at one stage. But Bhavin Thakkar, who was retired hurt at two on Saturday, took to the crease and partnered in-form middle-order southpaw Saurabh Tiwary, who stepped in at the fall of Nadeem.
Thakkar and Tiwary joined hands to consolidate the innings. Both scored unbeaten fifty and also shared an unbroken 90-run stand for the eighth wicket.
For Gujarat, Bumrah was the pick of the wickets with figures of three for 27, while Akshar Patel (2/50) and Rakesh Dhurv (2/21) shared two wickets each.
Brief scores:
Jharkhand: 289 & 166 for seven in 98 overs (Bhavin Thakkar not out 50, Saurabh Tiwary not out 50; Jasprit Bumrah 3/27).
Gujarat 1st innings: 352 all out.
Bengal manage three points against Services
Favourites Bengal grabbed three points and picked up the remaining four Services wickets within 90 minutes to grab three points by virtue of their 127-run first innings lead in their fifth round Ranji Trophy encounter in Palam on Sunday.
Chasing Bengal's first innings total of 431, Services were all out for 304 in in 120.5 overs as speedster Ashoke Dinda (3/97 in 32 overs) and off-break bowler Sourashish Lahiri (3/69) were successful bowlers.
Left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena (2/54 in 30 overs) also did a good job by removing Soumya Ranjan Swain (56) early in the morning with an armer that he padded up at the Airforce Ground.
Bengal now have 11 points from five games and will be desperate for an outright win in their next game against the Railways which will be followed by two heavyweight teams in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
Sourashish Lahiri was adjudged man-of-the-match by the on-field umpires.
The match as a contest was over when Services were all out within 19.5 overs in the day. Once Irfan Khan (0) was run out after a mix-up, Services were reduced to 267 for eight and still required 15 runs to avoid follow-on. It was Suraj Yadav (42 no), who batted with a twisted ankle helped Services to get past the 282-run mark required to avoid follow-on.
In an inconsequential second innings, Bengal scored 126 for three with veteran Subhamoy Das (54) and Arindam Das (50) helping themselves to half-centuries.
The match was called off after the first mandatory over with out-of-form batsmen Anushtup Majumdar (12 no, 35 balls) and Sandipan Das (5, 27 balls) batting out 10 overs without showing any positive intent making it unbearable for the handful who were present at the ground.
Brief Scores: Bengal 431 & 126/3 in 54 overs (Subhamoy Das 54, Arindam Das 50).
Services 304 in 120.5 overs (Vishnu Tiwary 71, Soumya Ranjan Swain 56, Pratik Desai 52, Ashoke Desai 3/97, Sourashis Lahiri 3/69). Points: Bengal 3; Services 1.
Pujara strikes 269 ahead of South Africa tour
Cheteshwar Pujara got some much-needed batting practice ahead of India's tour of South Africa making 269 while skipper Jaydev Shah missed a double ton by five runs as Saurashtra grabbed the first-innings lead against Tamil Nadu in their Ranji Trophy match in Chennai on Sunday.
Pujara faced 461 balls and hit 33 boundaries while Shah made 195 off 296 balls. Shah faced the fence 17 times and was involved in a huge 353-run stand for the fourth wicket with Pujara in the Group B match.
Thanks to their efforts, Saurashtra overtook Tamil Nadu's massive first-innings score, eventually declaring at 581 for six in 161.4 overs. Tamil Nadu had scored 565 for eight in 158.2 overs.
After the fall of Shah, Pujara added 157 runs with Aarpit Vasavada (70).
This was Pujara's third first-class century on the trot, having reached the three-figure mark in the Mumbai Test against the West Indies and versus Bengal in a Ranji match.
Resuming at overnight 326 for three with both Pujara and Shah well past their hundreds, Saurashtra had little trouble in tackling the Tamil Nadu attack spearheaded by L Balaji.
Pujara started the day o n 152 while Shah was batting on 133 at the start of day's play.
Pujara's effort was the match's second double century, with Abhinav Mukund making 240.
Brief scores:
Tamil Nadu 1st innings: 565 for 8 in 158.2 overs
Saurashtra 1st innings: 581 for 6 in 161.4 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 269, Jaydev Shah 195).
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