Ranji Trophy wrap: Rain denies Bengal chance of victory against Delhi, Odisha crush Assam

Weather once again played spoilsport for Bengal at Eden Gardens as the home side had to settle for one point against Delhi in their rain-hit Ranji Trophy group A clash in Kolkata on Thursday. Bengal needed three wickets, while for Delhi, who were overnight 217/7, had a stiff task to score 101 runs to secure three points.

But rain and bad light had the final say as only six overs were possible in two intervals on the final day.

Jonty Sidhu, who was overnight 49 after surviving an lbw on Mukesh Kumar’s no-ball, completed his half-century and was 53 not out, while Subodh Bhati was unbeaten on 26 when the play was stopped because of bad light after Bengal took the new-ball in the 82nd over.

Heavy rains followed, leaving the outfield wet as the groundsmen tried their best to resume play in the final session but the umpires deemed it unfit and the match was called off at 3.27 pm with Delhi 242/7.

Both teams thus settled for one point each but the drop in points for Bengal (20 from six matches) in their final home match would be a big blow to their qualification hopes. Delhi have 17 points from six matches.

The third day’s action on Wednesday was also hit by rain and bad light with only 9.3 overs of action possible. All of Bengal’s three matches at the Eden Gardens turned out to be jinxed.

In their two previous matches in Kolkata, Bengal had the advantage against Andhra and Gujarat but both of them were hit by rains to settle for three points each. Bengal, thereafter, chose to shift base to Kalyani as their home venue against Hyderabad where they secured a bonus-point victory.

With television coverage, Bengal were forced to return to the Eden but the weather God once again came to haunt the home side.

Bengal take on Rajasthan and Punjab in their last two group A league matches, both away.

Brief Scores: Bengal 318 vs Delhi 242/7 from 82 overs (Dhruv Shorey 65, Jonty Sidhu 53 not out, Hiten Dalal 40; Mukesh Kumar 3/75). Match drawn. Points: Bengal 1, Delhi 1.

Odisha thump Assam

Odisha thrashed Assam by an innings and three runs on the fourth and final day of a Ranji Trophy Group C match in Cuttack on Thursday, after the visitors suffered a dramatic batting collapse.

Resuming at the overnight score of 102/0 loss, Assam crumbled like a pack of cards to be bundled out for 195 in the space of 24 overs. The home team picked up seven points for the win and took its tally to 35 points from seven games at the top of Group C.

Overnight Assam batsmen Subham Mandal (74) and wicket-keeper Kunal Saikia (72) added 22 more runs before the latter fell to Debabrata Pradhan.

Saikia’s exit gave Odisha the breakthrough it was looking for as from there on they picked up wickets at regular intervals. Right-arm medium-pacer Rajesh Mohanty was the wrecker-in-chief, picking up four wickets including that of top-scorer Mandal.

Barring the top two, none of the other Assam batsmen got into double figures. In another Group C match, Maharashtra eased to a five-wicket win over Tripura in Agartala to improve its tally to 21 points.

At the Air Force Complex ground, Palam in New Delhi, Services outplayed Jharkhand by 118 runs, thanks to Pulkit Narang’s 6/58.

Brief scores (at end of final day): Odisha 436/10 in 136.3 overs (Debabrata Pradhan 79, Abhishek Raut 71, Shantanu Mishra 66, Anurag Sarangi 58, Govinda Poddar 58; Arup Das 4/101, Ranjeet Mali 4/113) beat Assam 238/10 in 82.2 overs (Ranjeet Mali 59, Kunal Saikia 53, Riyan Parag 43, Rishav Das 37; Debaratra Pradhan 4/37) and 195 all out in 65.4 overs (Subham Mandal 74, Kunal Saikia 72; Rajesh Mohanty 4/30, Suryakant Pradhan 3/53, Debabrata Pradhan 3/53) by an innings and 3 runs. Odisha: 7 points, Assam: 0.

At Jammu: Chhattisgarh 270/10 in 90 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 116, Abhimanyu Chauhan 51) vs Jammu & Kashmir 168/10 in 32.1 overs (Abdul Samad 33, Abid Mushtaq 31; Sumit Ruikar 4/82, Veer Pratap Singh 3/22). Chhattisgarh: 3 points, J&K: 1.

At Dehradun: Uttarkhand 109/10 in 42 overs (Tinu Kundu 3/49) and 109 for 3 in 32 overs (Saurabh Rawat 30) drew with Haryana 142/10 in 43.2 overs (Harshal Patel 50; Agrim Tiwari 6/47). Haryana: 3 points, Uttarakhand: 1.

At Agartala: Tripura 121/10 in 38 overs (M B Murasingh 24; Manoj Ingale 6/34) and 290/10 in 90 overs (Pallab Das 77, Milind Kumar 67, Harmeet Singh 46, M B Mura Sinh 37; A Palkar 5/62, M G Choudhary 3/77) lost to Maharashtra 208/10 in 64.2 overs (Vishant More 78 not out, Ankit Bawane 62, SM Gugale 34, VV More 30 batting; Mura Singh 3/24, AS Sarkar 3/59) and 205 for 5 in 55.5 overs (Ankit Bawane 61 not out, SM Gugale 57, AN Kazi 31; Rana Dutta 3/38) by five wickets. Maharashtra: 6 points, Tripura: 0.

At Delhi: Services 279/10 in 83.1 overs (Raushan Raj 79, Mohit Ahlawat 69, Pulkit Narang 38, Rajat Paliwal 38; Rahul Shukla 7/106) and 259/8 declared in 73 overs (Rahul Singh Gahlaut 82, Devender Lohchab 43) vs Jharkhand 153/10 in 53 overs (Sumit Kumar 38, Md Nazim 28; Diwesh Pathania 4/51, Raushan Raj 3/40) and 267/10 in 87.2 overs (Kumar Suraj 103, Utkarsh Singh 63, Saurabh Tiwary 29; Pulkit Narang 6/58). Services: 6 points, Jharkhand: 0.

Nirmohi stars for Chandigarh

Medium pacer Shresth Nirmohi picked up a career-best seven-wicket haul to help Chandigarh secure three points against Puducherry after their Ranji Trophy Plate group clash ended in a draw in Chandigarh on Thursday.

Nirmohi returned with figures of 7/46, with wickets off successive balls twice as Puducherry were bundled out for 113 inside 30 overs to concede a first innings lead.

The hosts, who had posted 134 in their first innings, replied with 102/3 in their second essay for the match to result in a draw with Chandigarh securing three points while Puducherry walked away with one.

With the draw, Puducherry dropped to second place with 34 points, three behind Goa, while third-placed Chandigarh has 29 points after seven rounds.

Brief Scores: Chandigarh 134 and 102/3; 22 overs (Manan Vohra 52). Puducherry 113; 29.2 overs (Paras Dogra 49; Shresth Nirmohi 7/46). Match drawn. Points: Chandigarh 3, Puducherry 1.