New Delhi: Stuart Binny celebrated his maiden call-up into the Indian team with a scintillating 88 as table toppers Karnataka asserted their supremacy with a solid performance reaching 226 for five at stumps on the second day of their final Ranji Trophy encounter against hosts Delhi who are almost out of the race for a quarter-final spot.
Karnataka now have a lead of 24 runs and have ensured three points from the game.
After the match started an hour and half late due to bad light, Karnataka opener Karun Nair batted well for his patient unbeaten knock of 92 while Binny attacked the spinners hitting some effortless sixes off the spinners to score 88 off 94 balls.
The Binny-Nair duo added 127 runs in quick time especially after Karnataka were reduced to 73 for four with Mayank Agarwal (2), R Samarth (13), Manish Pandey (8) and Abrar Kazi (11) all back in the hut.
It was Binny who brought some life into the match as he hit Varun Sood for three sixes - two over long on and another over long off.
Another six came off Manoj Chauhan who rarely got his length right. In all, he batted for 94 balls hitting four fours.
While Nair was content in taking singles and hitting the odd boundaries in between, Binny was in his free flowing self. During tea-break, he got the news of his selection and post break completed his 50. As if to celebrate the selection, he hit Manan Sharma over extra cover for a fifth six as they completed their century partnership in the 62nd over.
With Delhi bowlers getting very little assistance from the track, Karnataka batsmen had little difficulty in negotiating the bowling. Initially, umpires didn't allow the pacers to bowl with new ball which meant spinners operated at the beginning. This also released a bit of pressure.
The talk about having a rank turner turned out to be false as hardly couple of deliveries turned and most of them kept low. Left-arm spinner Sood got Kazi and Pandey with two such deliveries that kept low.
However, once Binny came into the picture, he changed the course of the game with his hard hitting. Within no time, he reached 40's and suddenly the pressure was back on Delhi. There were lofted shots, drives on the up as well as couple of late cuts off Manan, who was also hit for couple of big sixes.
At one point of time, Binny overtook Nair when they were in 60's. Nair reached 80's when he hooked Nehra for a six and then swept Manoj to overtake Delhi's first innings score of 202
Brief scores: Delhi 202; Karnataka 226/5 (Karun Nair 92, Stuart Binny 88).
Saurashtra post win but unlikely to make the knockout stage
Saurashtra post win but unlikely to make the knockout stage
Rajkot: Saurashtra today crushed a hapless Services by nine wickets on second day of their Ranji Trophy Group B final league match, but the win may not be enough for them to remain in contention for a berth in the knockout stage.
Saurashtra needed not just an outright victory but also a bonus point to keep their chances of making the quarterfinals alive. But the hosts missed out on gaining a bonus point as they lost opener Chirag Pathak (14) while chasing 31 run for victory.
A fighting knock of 85 by Anshul Gupta of Services went in vain as Saurashtra finished the four-day match on the second day itself at the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium at Khandheri here.
With this win, the last year's finalist finished the Ranji season on 22 points from eight matches.
Earlier resuming on 176 for nine in their first innings, Saurashtra could add just one run to their overnight score before being all out for 177.
But that was enough for them to take a healthy 105-run lead over Services, who were bundled out a a mere 72 in their first essay.
For Services, Yashpal Singh grabbed five for 41, while Rajat Paliwal accounted for four for 22. The visitors, in their second innings also, continued their lacklustre performance as they got bundled out for just 135, thereby setting Saurashtra a target of 31 runs. Anshul Gupta was the only batsman to offer some resistance as he stood tall among the ruins. His gritty 122-ball knock was punctuated with eight fours and a six. His effort helped the Services cross the three-figure mark.
Yashpal Singh (11) was the only other batsman to reach the double-digit mark, while the rest of Services players seemed in a hurry to go back to the hut.
For Saurashtra, Nayan Doshi was the pick of the bowlers with figures of four for 31, while Kamlesh Makwana and Dharmendra Jadeja finished with three wickets each, giving away 48 and 50 runs, respectively.
Brief scores:
Services 72 & 135 (Anshul Gupta 85, Yashpal Singh 11; Nayan Doshi 4/31, Kamlesh Makwana 3/48, Dharmendra Jadeja 3/50).
Saurashtra 177 & 33 for one (Chirag Pathak 14, Sagar Jogiyani not out 15).
Dewan's ton guide Haryana to a strong position against Odisha
Bhubaneswar: Opener Rahul Dewan smashed an unbeaten century to take Haryana to a commanding position against hosts Odisha in an inconsequential Group A match of the Ranji Trophy, here today.
Placed seventh and last in the nine-team Group A, Odisha and Haryana are already out of the quarterfinal reckoning but both the teams would be hoping to end their Ranji campaign this season on a positive note.
Dewan made an unconquered 136 off 253 balls with the help of 19 boundaries, while Sachin Rana was unbeaten on strokeful 83 off 103 balls and Avi Barot scored 60 off 91 balls as Haryana took the vital first innings lead over Odisha.
Replying top Odisha's 242 all out, Haryana were 294 for two at stumps on the second day of the four-day match at the East Coast Railway Sports Association ground.
Dewan and Barot made a strong start to Haryana's reply, stitching 143 runs for the opening stand before Rana joined hands with Dewan and the duo shared an unbroken 141-run third-wicket partnership to take the visitor's forward.
For Odisha, Off-spinner Niranjan Behera (2/48) accounted for both the Haryana wickets to fall today.
Earlier resuming their innings at the overnight score of 221 for nine, the last wicket pair of Odisha added 21 more runs before being bowled out.
Brief Scores:
Odisha: 242 all out in 100-.3 overs (Girja Rout 94; Amit Mishra 4/83, Jayant Yadav 3/51).
Haryana: 294 for two in 77 overs (Rahul Dewan 136 not out, Sachin Rana not out; Niranjan Behera 2/48).
Goa poised for victory after taking first innings lead
Goa poised for victory after taking first innings lead
Porvorim (Goa): Opener Swapnil Asnodkar and Amit Yadav scored a half century each to help Goa take vital 119 runs first innings lead over Andhra Pradesh on the second day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Group 'C' league match here today.
Resuming at their overnight score of 58/2, Goa's top order batsmen failed to negotiate the visitors' bowling attack as wickets fell at regular intervals.
Opener Swapnil Asnodkar put up a brave front to take Goa score close to Andhra's first innings 148 all out, before he was cleaned-bowled by B Sudhakar for 80 with the score at 137/6. His 80 came from 181 balls and laced with 10 fours. Amit Yadav (51) scored a useful half century adding 50 runs for the last wicket along with B Mangaldas to see Goa take a vital 119 runs first innings lead.
Ravi Kant Shukla (38), Darshan Misal (29) also chipped in useful runs. B Mangaldas remained not out on 11.
In their second innings, Andhra were tottering at 32/3, still requiring 87 runs to avoid an innings defeat with seven wickets in hand.
Harshad Gadekar claimed both the openers Bharath K (11) and D B Prashanth Kumar(1) While Amit Yadav dismissed B A Sumanth (9).
For Andhra, B Sudhakar was the most successful bowler with three wickets. P Vijay Kumar, K Harish and S K Mohammed Basa took two wickets each while D Siva Kumar claimed one wicket.
Brief Scores:
Andhra Pradesh: 148 and 32/3 in 16 overs.
Goa: 267 all out in 97 overs (Swapnil Asnodkar 80, Amit Yadav 51, Ravi Kant Shukla 38; B Sudhakar 3/42).
Maharashtra takes first innings lead over Assam
Maharashtra takes first innings lead over Assam
Guwahati: Left arm spinner Akshay Darekar scalped six wickets to help Maharashtra bundle out Assam for a meagre 152 and take a massive 209-run first innings lead in their Ranji Trophy Group C match, here today.
In reply to Maharashtra's first innings total of 361, the hosts fell for 152 as Darekar finished with impressive figures of six for 53, while Shrikant Mundhe chipped in with three for 17.
Assam kept losing wickets at regular interval even as Darekar and Mundhe wreaked havoc. Niraj Patel was the only batsman who managed to show some resistance, top scoring with 40.
Maharashtra, in their second innings, reached 16 for no loss with openers Harshad Khadiwale (0) and skipper Rohit Motwani (10) at the crease when the stumps were drawn.
Earlier, resuming on 343 for eight in their first innings, Maharashtra could add just 18 runs in the morning by losing two wickets in the process.
Brief scores:
Maharashtra: 361 & 16 for no loss (Rohit Motwani batting 10).
Assam: 152 all out (Niraj Patel 40, Amit Sinha 20; Akshay Darekar 6/53, Shrikant Mundhe 3/17).
Rajasthan on top against Baroda
Rajasthan on top against Baroda
Jaipur: Vineet Saxena and Suryaprakash Suwalka hit unbeaten half centuries each as Rajasthan made a strong reply after bowling Baroda out for 236 on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group B match here today.
Saxena and Suwalka were batting on 54 and 70 respectively as Rajasthan ended the day at 155 for one at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Rajasthan now trail by 81 runs with nine first innings wickets in hand.
Opener Siddharth Saraf (23) was the lone Rajasthan batsman out today, off pacer Munaf Patel.
Earlier in the day, Aditya Waghmode (114) hit a century to take Baroda to 236 all out after resuming the day at 163 for six.
Waghmode added 35 more runs to his overnight 79 and he was the last Baroda batsman out as the visitors added 73 runs at the expense of the four wickets. Waghmode faced 216 balls and hit 17 fours and a six.
Rajasthan pacer Deepak Chahar grabbed all the four Baroda wickets that fell today, to finish with figures of 5/58. He had taken one Baroda wicket yesterday.
Brief Scores:
Baroda: 236 all out in 69.1 overs (Aditya Waghmode 114, Deepak Chahar 5/58, Pankaj Singh 4/60).
Rajasthan: 155 for one in 54 overs (Vineet Saxena batting 54, Suryaprakash Suwalka batting 70).
Samiullah Beigh shines for J&K with a five-for
Samiullah Beigh shines for J&K with a five-for
Agartala: Opener Adil Rishi led Jammu and Kashmir to a good start in their first innings after pacer Samiullah Beigh captured five wickets to bowl out Tripura for 280 in their Ranji Trophy Group C match here today.
Rishi was 50 not out at the end of second day's play as J&K were 117 for three at Tripura Institute of Technology ground here.
Resuming from a solid 176 for three, Tripura were dealt early blows as they lost overnight batsmen Yogesh Takawale and Syed Abbas Ali in the space of eight runs.
Skipper Takawale (83) could only add a run to his overnight score before medium pacer Ram Dayal cleaned him up, while Abbas Ali (58) fell prey to Mohammad Mudhasir after completing his half century that included six fours and a six.
Takawale smashed 14 boundaries and a maximum in his 153-ball knock.
Abhijit Dey's knock of 51 was instrumental in taking Tripura a decent total in their first innings as wickets fell at the other end, and his eventually folded at 280.
Beigh (5/80) bagged his sixth five-wicket haul in First-class cricket.
J&K openers Adil and Obaid Haroon added a quick 52 runs for the first wicket. But Tripura bowlers claimed three wickets to share the honours before the close of play.
Rana Dutta, Tushar Saha and Sanjay Majumder picked a wicket each for the hosts.
Brief Scores:
Tripura 1st innings: 280 allout in 95.1 overs (Yogesh Takawale 83, Abbas Ali 58; Samiullah Beigh 5/80)
J&K 1st innings: 117/3 in 29 overs (Adil Rishi 50 batting; Sanjay Majumder 1/13).
Prasanth, Fernandez rescue Kerala after top-order collapse
Prasanth, Fernandez rescue Kerala after top-order collapse
Hyderabad: Kereala rode on a fine century from middle-order batsman Padmanabhan Prasanth to take the vital first innings lead over Hyderabad on the second day of a Group C Ranji Trophy match, here today.
Resuming at 45 for three overnight in reply to Hyderabad's 201, Prasanth (106), who retired hurt on four earlier in the day, joined hands with Robert Fernandez (78) to rescue Kerala with a 151-run eighth-wicket partnership.
Kerala were struggling at 94 for seven at one stage, when Prasanth came out to bat once again and together with Fernandez played cautiously to get past Hyderabad's total.
Kerala were eventually bowled out for 264 in 83.4 overs with pacer Majeti Ravi Kiran (4/81) and Ashish Reddy (3/57) sharing the bulk of wickets between them.
Prasanth's century knock came off 197 balls and was studded with 12 boundaries and two sixes, while Fernandez struck seven fours and one six during his 199-ball innings.
At the close of play, Hyderabad were 46 for one from 16 overs in their second innings with Hanuma Vihari unbeaten on 21 and Bavanaka Sandeep batting on 22.
Skipper Akshath Reddy was the lone Hyderabad wicket to fall, bowled by Prasanth Parameswaran.
Brief Scores:
Hyderabad: 201 & 46 for one in 16 overs (Bavanaka Sandeep 22 batting, Hanuma Vihari 21 batting; Prasanth Parameswaran 1/13).
Kerala: 264 all out in 83.4 overs (Padmanabhan Prasanth 106, Robert Fernandez 78; Majeti Ravi Kiran 4/81, Ashish Reddy 3/57).
Punjab in complete control against Jharkhand
Punjab in complete control against Jharkhand
Dhanbad: Punjab's Rajwinder Singh and Gurkeerat Singh claimed four wickets each to put Jharkhand on the mat in their Ranji Trophy Group A match, after their batsmen put on a mammoth 516 in the first innings here today.
Jharkhand, in reply, were struggling at 210 for nine after getting off to a decent start.
The hosts lost the last seven wickets for just 29 runs to give Punjab complete control of the match at the end of day two at the Railway stadium here.
Jharkhand were 173 for two when opener Rameez Nemat (81) was run out by Yuvraj Singh.
Spinners Rajwinder (4/66) and Gurkeerat (4/36) wreaked havoc as Jharkhand batsmen failed to negotiate the two.
The duo produced a fine spell of spin bowling in the closing overs of the day t leave Jharkhand reeling at 202 for nine.
Ishank Jaggi (51) and Rameez, who hit 11 boundaries, put on a 91-run stand for the second wicket, while Saurabh Tiwary made 30.
Earlier, Siddarth Kaul (50) scored a half-century to guide his side over the 500-run mark after starting the day on 380 for four.
For Jharkhand, spinner Shahbaz Nadeem picked four scalps while Samar Quadri and Varun Aaron finished with three and two wickets respectively.
Brief Scores:
Punjab 1st innings: 516 all out in 117.5 overs (Manan Vora 187, Jiwanjot Singh 78; Shahbaz Nadeem 4/165).
Gujarat takes an upper hand against Mumbai
Gujarat takes an upper hand against Mumbai
Valsad: Gujarat placed themselves in a strong position as they first took a 99-run first innings lead over Mumbai and then reduced the visitors to 76 for four in their second essay on day two of their Ranji Trophy Group A match here today.
In reply to Mumbai 154, Gujarat posted 253 all out in their first innings to take a solid lead.
At stumps, Mumbai were struggling with their top four batsmen back in the pavillion. Hiken Shah and Iqbal Abdulla, both unbeaten on four each, were at the crease.
Earlier, resuming on 90 for two, Gujarat lost their overnight batsman Parthiv Patel, who added just one more run to his overnight score of five, early.
But the other overnight batsman in Samit Gohel, resuming on 36, went on to complete his half century. He scored a fine 58 off 171 balls, laced with five hits to the fence.
Y Venugopal Rao (39), Akshar Patel (36) and Chirag Gandhi (26) also chipped in with valuable runs but none of them could convert their scores into a big one.
For Mumbai, Iqbal Abdulla was the the pick of the bowlers with figures of six for 42, while Shardul Thakur (3/54) claimed three.
In their second innings also, Mumbai got off to a poor start as they were straightaway reduced to 18 for two.
Although skipper Wasim Jaffer (16) and Suryakumar Yadav (34) steadied the boat, putting on a 33-run stand for the third wicket, they failed to see the day off.
Gujarat's medium pacer Jasprit Bumrah (3/12) chipped in with three important wickets to give the hosts an upper hand at the end of the second day.
Brief scores:
Mumbai: 154 & 76 for four in 33 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 34; Jasprit Bumrah 3/12).
Gujarat: 253 (Samit Gohel 58, Y Venugopal Rao 39, Akshar Patel 36; Iqbal Abdulla 6/42, Shardul Thakur 3/54).
Jharkhand 1st inings: 210/9 in 58 overs (Rameez Nemat 81, Ishank Jaggi 51; Gurkeerat 4/36).
