Mumbai: Maharashtra fought their way back in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Mumbai in brilliant fashion by bundling out the defending champions for a meagre 129 in second innings on a dramatic third day of the five-day match here today.
Maharashtra were all out for 280 in their first innings in reply to Mumbai's 402, thereby conceding a lead of 122 runs, but the visiting bowlers brought their side back into the game by dismissing the hosts for just 129 on a day which saw 14 wickets fall.
Mumbai were in even worse situation as they were reduced to 29 for 5 at one stage before some rear-guard lower order batting took the score past 100-mark.
Maharashtra medium pace trio of Samad Fallah (3/45), Anupam Sanklecha (4/57) and Shrikant Mundhe (3/26) captured all 10 Mumbai second innings wickets with a fine exhibition of seam bowling on a Wankhede Stadium track that offered bounce and pace.
This set Maharashtra a winning target of 252 and at stumps, the visiting team were 28 for the loss of Chirag Khurana's wicket. They need 224 more runs tomorrow to reach the target and dethrone the 40-time champions, but it will not be easy on the pitch that's still lively for pace bowlers.
Maharashtra lost three wickets for 16 runs after Mumbai opted for the second new ball to be all out 34 minutes before lunch, after resuming the day at overnight 219 for 7.
Maharashtra then sliced through Mumbai top-order to leave them at a precarious 29 for 5 in just 10 overs.
Fallah and Sanklecha had the top five batsmen Kaustubh Pawar (5), Wasim Jaffer (0), Aditya Tare (16), Vinit Indulkar (4), who made 82 in the first innings, and Abhishek Nayar (0) caught by slip fielders or by keeper and captain Rohit Motwani. Indulkar and Nayar were dismissed by Sanklecha in successive balls.Mumbai, who were 101 for 4 in the first innings before recovering, were once again pulled out of the deep hole by first innings centurion Suryakumar Yadav (33) -– who prevented Sanklecha from completing a hat trick -- and Iqbal Abdulla (27).
The sixth wicket duo put on 48 runs in 61 balls before Mundhe got his first wicket when he broke the stand by having Abdulla caught by Sangram Atitkar at third slip.
Yadav, who made 120 in the first knock, was then declared leg before off the same bowler and Mumbai were reduced to 88 for 7 and looked in danger of being packed off for less than 100 Shardul Thakur (33) stayed put at one end before he was the last man out to help add 41 more runs to the total which could be crucial in the final analysis.
Mundhe bowled unchanged on either side of tea for 10 overs to pick up his three wickets. In 37 minutes batting till stumps, Maharashtra lost Khurana, who opened instead of captain Motwani, for 17 off the last over bowled by Zaheer Khan when he edged to the slip cordon.
Regular opener Harshad Khadiwale remained unbeaten on six.
In the morning, Maharashtra tail-enders frustrated the Mumbai bowlers for the major part of the first session after they started 183 runs behind the home team. Mundhe, unbeaten on 14 last evening, struck a wayward Thakur -– who had bowled so well with fire yesterday -– for three fours early on and that forced Mumbai captain Zaheer Khan to bring in Abdulla to bowl his first over in the match when the ball was 63 overs old.
But, Abdulla and the other left-arm spinner Dabholkar failed to make any inroads and Mumbai summoned the new ball immediately after it was due when Maharashtra were 264 for 7 and it paid dividends.
Mundhe (38) fell to the first ball from Thakur, who completed his maiden five-wicket haul in his 11th first class game, after having put on 73 runs for the eighth wicket with Akshay Darekar (36). Javed Khan packed off Sanklecha and then Thakur added one more wicket to his tally by dismissing Darekar through a catch at the wicket to end the innings and finish with excellent, career-best figures of 6 for 86.
Shukla leads Bengal's recovery against Railways
Shukla leads Bengal's recovery against Railways
Kolkata: Skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla's valiant unbeaten half-century helped Bengal stage a remarkable fight-back against Railways in their controversy-marred Ranji Trophy quarter-final at the Eden Gardens, here today.
The third day's proceedings saw both the teams engaged in heated exchange of words as about 2,000-odd spectators also played their part in shouting and booing Murali Kartik.
Bengal players also levelled allegations of ball tampering against Railways skipper Kartik, for which, the left-arm spinner was warned by the on-field umpires. The ball was replaced in the 15th over of the Bengal's second innings.
But, it was Shukla with his 78-ball 63 (8x4, 1x6) that stole the show as he led the recovery after Bengal were reduced to 40/4.
Shukla found a perfect ally in cool-headed reserve Test specialist Wriddhiman Saha, who played a patient unbeaten knock of 31 from 105 balls (3x4) for the undefeated 93-run stand for the fifth wicket with the skipper as Bengal led by 136 runs with six wickets in hand on the third day.
Only 76.3 overs were possible in the day, including 51 in Bengal's second innings, something that sums up the time lost in the middle with Kartik engaging in a mind game and apparent sledging.
Mercurial pacer Ashoke Dinda dismissed Arindam Ghosh for 97 (13x4) en route his 6/105 to give hosts a slender three-run lead, which led to wild celebration in the Bengal camp as if they had made the semi-finals.
The Bengal pacer was lifted on shoulders by his teammates with loud cheers from the fans just before lunch.
But Bengal's joy was shortlived as in no time their scorecard read 40/4 in 21.5 overs with Anureet Singh scalping Abhimanyu Easwaran (0), Subhomoy Das (19) and Sudip Chatterjee (8).
Railways' strike bowler Anureet stepped up the pressure with five maiden overs on the trot in his marathon spell of 13-7-22-3.When it needed to show application, seniormost batsman Arindam got out going for a wildish swing. Subhomoy had some anxious moments in the middle before his innings was cut short by Anureet.
Such was the pressure that young gun Chatterjee, who had impressed with his career-best 96 in the first innings, panicked and slashed an away going delivery to be caught at first slip by Amit Paunikar.
With Bengal tottering in their second innings, there was a barrage of sledging from the Railways duo of Kartik and Anureet. In his every run-up, Anureet went up to the striker and uttered something, while Kartik too engaged in verbal duel with opposition batsmen.
It was Subhomoy who was at the receiving end after he survived a dubious caught behind appeal as the Railmen targetted the Bengal batsman. Subhomoy even fell down while chasing a wide ball that slipped out of Mali's hand to go near the second slip.
That Bengal were 15/2 after 14 overs at the drinks break in the second essay summed up their misery.
But a positive looking Shukla led Bengal's recovery with Saha in the post-tea session.
When all other Bengal batsmen showed lack of intent, Shukla had everything going in for him and also survived a run out scare in the middle.
With Anureet out of the Railways attack after his long first spell and Mali not being so effective, Shukla took off the pressure with a flurry of boundaries. He was not even afraid to take risk, slashing Mali over point region for a six.
Shukla notched up his half-century in 52 balls, hitting Anureet for a boundary in the long-on region.
Earlier, resuming the day at 233/5, Railways were bundled out for 314 in 93.3 overs with Dinda claiming his 15th five-for in first-class cricket.
Rasool takes five as match versus Punjab heads for close finish
Rasool takes five as match versus Punjab heads for close finish
Vadodara: Jammu and Kashmir skipper Parveez Rasool continued his brilliant all-round performance with a five-wicket haul as their Ranji Trophy quarter final match seemed headed for an exciting finish with Punjab leaving them with a target of 324 for a historic victory here.
At stumps, J&K were 77 for two needing another 247 runs with eight wickets in hand to make it to their maiden semi-final appearance in the national championship. Hardeep Singh (20) and Ian Dev Singh (17) were at the crease at close on an eventful third day's play.
Although two days are still left in the match, an outcome is expected tomorrow with Jammu and Kashmir batsmen showing a lot of positive intent in the 20 overs they batted today.
After scoring a sparkling century to keep the first innings lead down to 24, Rasool grabbed five for 58 in 14.2 overs, polishing off Punjab's middle and lower-order to bowl them out for 296. This was Rasool's sixth five-wicket haul in 29th first-class match.
Mandeep Singh (101) and Gurkeerat Singh (66) had a 113-run partnership for the seventh wicket after Punjab were reduced to 112 for six with the dismissal of India discard Yuvraj Singh (40).
Rasool got into the act with his classical off-breaks as he first dismissed Yuvraj, who after hitting the offie for a six tried to repeat the the shot only to be caught by Samiullah Beigh at long on. Yuvraj hit six fours and a six in his 58-ball knock.
Mandeep and Gurkeerat scored runs at a quick clip as they added 113 runs at an average of over four runs per over.
Mandeep in his 151-ball knock hit 14 boundaries while Gurkeerat faced 77 deliveries to hit nine fours and a six.
Gurkeerat was finally dismissed when Rasool got one to turn enough as the batsman missed the line to be adjudged leg before.Harbhajan Singh tried to play an ugly hoick across the line and was caught plumb in-front as Rasool had his revenge in the 'battle of captains' after being hit by his opposite number in the first innings.
At 225 for eight, Mandeep found an able ally in Manpreet Gony (31), who used the long handle to good effect spanking four boundaries and a six.
Mandeep-Gony duo added 52 runs for the ninth wicket before Gony was caught behind to give Rasool his fourth victim.
En route his seventh first-clas centuries, the 22-year-old Mandeep hit some lovely pull-shots as he reached the century with last man VRV Singh for company.
He was finally bowled when he went for a slog shot and missed the line of the ball to give Rasool his fifth victim of the innings.
Starting the chase of 324, Adil Rishi smacked six boundaries in his knock of 34 as J&K batsman showed a lot of positive intent without being bogged down.
Rishi's opening partner Bandeep Singh (4) was caught by substitute fielder Vinay Choudhary.
But that didn't deter Rishi from going for his shots as he played the cuts and drives at will in company of Hardeep before VRV got an outside edge to keeper Gitansh Khera.
Ian Dev, who hasn't had a great season, started off well hitting Harbhajan over mid-wicket for a big six and also hit a boundary taking 12 runs off the only over he bowled on the day.
