Ranji Trophy wrap: Jagadeesan hits 183 to put TN on top against Saurashtra, Goa storm into quarters

Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper batsman Narayan Jagadeesan came up with a gritty 183 to help his team post a competitive total of 424 on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B game against Saurashtra in Rajkot on Thursday.

Then Tamil Nadu hit back to reduce Saurashtra to 107/3, as the hosts are still adrift by 317 runs. After Saurashtra, led by their skipper Jaydev Unadkat, took honours on the opening day by restricting Tamil Nadu to 250/7, it was Jagadeesan who pulled the side out of trouble by notching up his fourth first-class century.

The 24-year-old right-hander, who was unbeaten on 61, added 122 runs to his overnight score as his knock ensured that the visitors crossed the 400-run mark. The usually aggressive Jagadeesan buckled down and added 115 runs for the eight wicket with M Mohammed (42 off 121 balls), who played the perfect second fiddle and held one end up.

Jagadeesan hammered 22 fours and five other hits over the fence in his 256-ball knock. He also added 66 runs for the last wicket with K Vignesh, and in the process, took the Saurashtra attack to cleaners.

For Saurashtra, Unadkat (6/73) grabbed another five-wicket haul and emerged as the most successful bowler. The result of the game would not affect Saurashtra as they have already qualified for the quarter-finals, while it will have a bearing on TN’s prospects, as nothing less than a win would give them an outside chance to make the final eight.

In reply, the hosts playing at the SCA stadium in Khandheri, lost opener Harvik Desai (12) cheaply. Left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore dismissed the other opener Kishan Parmar (24) a little later, as Saurashtra were reeling at 45/2.

Avi Barot (38*) and Vishvarajsinh Jadeja (16) tried to rally the innings, but the latter was dismissed when he gave a sitter to RS Jaganathsrinivas to a delivery from spinner M Siddharth, as Saurashtra lost their third wicket at 87.

Barot and Arpit Vasavada (11*) ensured no further damage till stumps were drawn. But Saurashtra have a mountain to climb and with two days remaining, Tamil Nadu can go in for the kill. Meanwhile at the Wankhede, in an inconsequential game, Mumbai posted a massive 427 on the board in their first essay against Madhya Pradesh. Both teams are out of the coveted domestic tournament.

Sarfaraz, who has had a dream run this season, however fell 23 runs short of a double hundred. He already has a triple, double and now a hundred to his name this season. Then Mumbai bowlers reduced Madhya Pradesh to 200/7, still adrift by 227 runs. In Bengaluru, Baroda are marginally ahead by 60 runs, but hosts Karnataka can sniff victory having taken five Baroda wickets in their second essay and still two days left.

J&K’s Yousuf bags six

A six-wicket haul by debutante left-arm medium-pacer Mujtaba Yousuf helped Jammu and Kashmir gain an upper hand against Haryana, despite a fighting ton by Pramod Chandila, on the second day in Jammu.

Replying to J&K’s first innings score of 340, Haryana were dismissed for 291 to concede a 49-run lead. Resuming at 2/1, Haryana slipped to 66/4 as Yousuf (6/49) and Aquib Nabi (2/49) struck to dismiss Ajit Chahal (16), Chaitanya Bishnoi (4) and YR Sharma (18).

Opener Ankit Kumar (63) and Chandila came together to steady the ship and put on 120 runs for the fifth wicket. The two mixed caution with aggression and defied the J&K attack, playing some superb shots.

Left-arm pacer Abid Mushtaq (2/66) broke the stubborn partnership, having trapped Ankit Kumar leg-before wicket for 63. Chandila then found an able partner in wicket-keeper Rohit Sharma, who made 41 (85 balls, 4 fours). The duo forged a 73-run partnership to push the score along.

Goa enter quarters with big win

Goa cantered into the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals with an innings and 211-run win over Mizoram in Kolkata. All-rounder Amit Verma once again led by example as he followed up his century with a 5/39 in the second innings of Mizoram who folded for 170 after following-on to suffer the defeat inside two days.

Nineteen wickets tumbled on the extended second day with Mizoram skipper KB Pawan waging a lone battle remaining unbeaten on 111, as seven of their batsmen failed to reach double digits in their second innings.

Lakshay Garg and Amulya Pandrekar claimed three wickets each, while Verma was at his tidy best with figures of 2/2 from 4.2 overs as Mizoram were bundled out 109 inside 41 overs. Goa topped the table with an unassailable 50 points to secure the lone knockout berth from the Plate Group.

Goa had declared their first innings for 490/4 with Smit Patel slamming a career-best 236, while Player-of-the-Match Verma made 148.

Sharma, Bidhuri power Delhi to 623

Kshitiz Sharma, whose place in the playing eleven was questioned, silenced his critics with a gritty 103 that helped Delhi post a mammoth 623 against Rajasthan in New Delhi. Sharma, who played for Arunachal last season, stitched a 196-run stand with Kunwar Bidhuri, who too reached the three figures, scoring 115 off just 135 balls.

Sharma’s innings was a complete contrast to Bidhuri’s blistering knock as he consumed 212 balls for his second first-class century. Bidhuri, who scored his first ton, collected 12 fours and a couple of sixes.

Delhi had resumed day two at 389/6 and ended up adding 234 runs. The hosts maintained a decent run rate of 4.23 in the innings lasting 147 overs. Opener Hiten Dalal had also scored his first first-class ton.

In response, Rajasthan were under the pump at 115/4, trailing Delhi by 508 runs at close of play. Virtually out of the quarter-final race, Delhi need other results to go their way and a big win over Rajasthan to remain in the hunt for a knockout berth.

With just 18 points from seven games, Delhi are currently languishing at the 10th spot in the 18-team Group A and B cross pool and are virtually out of the reckoning, but a bonus point win over Rajasthan and some favourable results can still keep them in the fray.

In Patiala, Punjab, resuming the day at 93/3, just about managed to take a 13-run first innings lead against Bengal after being bowled out for 151. Bengal were bundled out for 138 on day one. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed wreaked havoc on day two, running through Punjab batting to bring his team back into the game. At stumps, Bengal were 199/9, leading Punjab by 186 runs.

Brief Scores:

Tamil Nadu 424 (N Jagdeesan 183; Abhinav Mukund 86; Jaydev Unadkat 6/73) v/s Saurashtra 107/3. Saurashtra trail by 317 runs.

In Mumbai: Mumbai 427 (Sarfaraz Khan 177; Aakarshit Gomel 122; Gourav Yadav 4-101) vs Madhya Pradesh 200/7 (Venkatesh Iyer 87*; Royston Dias 2/38, Deepak Shetty 2/43). Madhya Pradesh trail by 227 runs.

In Bengaluru: Baroda 85 and 208/5 (A Pathan 90, Deepak Hooda 50; M Prasidh Krishna 2-29) v/s Karnataka 233 (Karun Nair 47, Abhimanyu Mithun 40; S Sopariya 5/83). Baroda lead by 60 runs.

In Lucknow: Himachal Pradesh 220 and 182/3 (R Thakur 73, AP Vashisht 51*; Saurabh Kumar 2/48) vs Uttar Pradesh 119 (Akshdeep Nath 46; Rishi Dhawan 5/32, Vaibhav Arora 3/34). Himachal Pradesh lead by 283 runs.

Jammu & Kashmir 340 (Shubham Singh Pundir 84, Shubham Kajuria 62, Parvez Rasool 49, Ram Dayal 43; Rahul Tewatia 7/98) vs Haryana 291 (Pramod Chandilla 119, Ankit Kumar 63, R P Sharma 41; Mujtaba Yousuf 6/49).

At Guwahati: Tripura 497 (M B Mura Singh 118, AA Sinha 90, Pratyush Singh 63, Milind 53, Harmeet Singh 41; Ranjeet Mali 5/114) vs Assam 162 for 1 in 59 overs (Rishav Das 88*, Gokul Sharma 39*).

At Baramati: Maharashtra 207 (A Palkar 60, VV More 59, NS Shaikh 47; Agrim Tiwari 3/49, Pradeep Chamoli 3/52) and 140/2 (Ankit Bawane 50*, Swapnil Fulpagar 40*) vs Uttarakhand 251 (Kamal Singh 101, Saurabh Rawat 49, Vaibhav Bhatt 33; Satyajit Bachhav 4/71).

At Cuttack: Odisha 436 (Debasish Samantray 156, Biplab Samantaray 74, Anurag Sarangi 65; Ashish Kumar 6/79) vs Jharkhand 71/2 (Kumar Suraj 42*).

At Raipur: Chhattisgarh 179 (Amandeep Khare 97; Raushan Raj 4/53) and 17/0 Services 398 (Rahul Singh Gahlaut 115, Rajat Paliwal 91; Puneet Datey 5/60).

Goa 490/4 declared. Mizoram 109 (Taruwar Kohli 50*; Amulya Pandrekar 3/17, Lakhshay Garg 3/18) and 170 (Pawan KB 111*; Amit Verma 5/39). Goa won by an innings and 211 runs.