Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Review of all the 3rd round matches

Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Review of all the 3rd round matches: The 3rd round of the Ranji Trophy 2015-16 turned out to be an exciting 4 days affair. Yuvraj Singh stamped his authority with a stylish 187 while Dinesh Karthik smashed 167. Mumbai won a nail biting thriller against Tamil Nadu as Delhi won the derby by 4 wickets against Haryana.

Odisha bagged the bragging rights by beating Assam convincingly and Services uprooted Jammu and Kashmir by 9 wickets. Tempers were high as Karnataka hosted Vidarbha while Jharkhand got the better of Kerala by 133 runs. Let’s unwrap another action packed round of Ranji Trophy, presenting review of all the 3rd round matches.

Group A

1. Mohanty’s five stuns Assam

A low-scoring encounter in which both Assam and Odisha were bowled out for less than 100 in their first innings, Assam failed to build on the thin first innings lead as Mohanty’s 5-24 floored the home team for 137.

Chasing a modest 142, Podder’s run a ball 77 guided the visitors to home safely, as Odisha won the low scoring contest by 8 wickets.

B Mohanty (Odisha) won the man of the match award for his match winning 5-24.

Odisha 88 (Krishna Das 7-21) and 142 for 2 (Podder 77*, Sarangi 29*) beat Assam 137 (Syed Mohammed 42* Tarjinder 27, Pradhan 5-27) and 92 (B Mohanty 5-24) by eight wickets

2. Unmukt Chand guides Delhi to a 4 wicket win

Manan Sharma’s left arm spin scripted a collapse, as Haryana were down for 195 in the first innings. Delhi in reply took a slender lead as Jayant Yadav bagged 4 wickets. Virender Sehwag turned out to be the lone warrior for Haryana, as Manan Sharma bagged 11 wickets in the match.

Unmukt Chand lead the chase for Delhi, while Milind Kumar played the second fiddle. Delhi chased down 224 with 4 wickets in hand.

UBT Chand (Delhi) received the man of the match award for his consistent show.

Delhi 237 and 69 for 0 (Chand 48*) need another 155 runs to beat Haryana 195 and 265 (Sehwag 51, Rana 46, Manan 6-105)

3. Dull draw between Karnataka and Vidarbha

Manish Pandey played a sheet anchor’s role as he guided Karnataka to 350 courtesy an articulate century. Badrinath, Satish and Jaffer played well for the visitors, as Vidarbha posted 310 on the board.

Samarth  and Nair brought up their centuries respectively, as Karnatak posted a target of 372 for the visitors. Vidarbha played out the 11 overs without losing any wicket, as the match ended in a draw.

MK Pandey (Karnataka) took home the man of the match award for his well crafted century.

Karnataka 350 (Manish 104, Thakur 4-50) & 331 for 3 (Samarth 121*, Nair 101*) drew Vidarbha 310 (Badrinath 92, Satish 81, Jaffer 68, Aravind 4-46, Suchith 4-51) & 17 for 0 (Shanware 7*, Fazal 6*)

4. Bengal walks away with first innings lead

Manoj tiwary once again lead a Bengal fight back, as rain interrupted the match on numerous occasions.

Behind by 84, Rajasthan were struggling at 15 for 3, with Ashok Dinda, the pace spearhead, picking up the openers. But Ashok Menaria soaked in the pressure and faced 174 balls for his unbeaten 69 to take Rajasthan to 146 for 5 in 57 overs before the umpires called for stumps. Bengal walked away with the first innings honours.

MK Tiwary (Bengal) picked up the player of the match award for his heroics with the bat.

Rajasthan 198 (Vineet Saxena 66*, Pragyan Ojha 4-49) and 146 for 5 (Ashok Menaria 69*, Dinda 2-21) drew with Bengal 282 (Manoj Tiwary 83, Easwaran 53, Ajay Singh 3-72)

Group B

1. “Khadoos” Mumbai clinches a thriller

Bandra Kurla Complex witnessed a thriller as Mumbai finished a nail biting win by 1 wicket. Mumbai are now top of the table in Group B pushing down Tamil Nadu from the top spot.

Karthik played a captain’s knock of 167, as Tamil Nadu posted 434 on the board. In reply, Mumbai were bundled out for 294, with S.Lad being the lone fighter, as he scored a gritty century.

Tamil Nadu, who resumed on 73 for 7 after taking a 140-run lead, were bowled out for 95, with the left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar finishing with 7 for 53. And Mumbai had more than 80 overs to gun down 236 for an outright win. Shah’s 4 wicket went in vain as Surya Kumar and Iyer staged a thrilling win for Mumbai by 1 wicket.

VV Dabholkar (Mumbai) took the man of the match award for his match winning 12 wicket haul and a thrilling last wicket grip.

Mumbai 294 (Lad 150, Mohammed 5-86) and 236 for 9 (Iyer 83, Yadav 58, Rahil 4-78) beatTamil Nadu 434 (Karthik 167, Dabholkar 5-122) and 95 (Malolan 33, Dabholkar 7-53) by one wicket.

2. Railways makes a stunning comeback

Seamers Anureet Singh and Krishnakant Upadhyay lead Railways’ road by picking up nine wickets between them, as UP floored for 58 in their chase of 341. Railway build a solid foundation, all thanks to Ashish notched up a century.

UP couldn’t break Mali’s web, as they folded for 264. Railways then set a target of 341, only to see UP flunk to a defeat.

Anureet Singh (Railways) was adjudged the man of the match for his lethal spells.

Railways 375 (Ashish 101, Ghosh 50) and 229 for 4 declared (Faiz Ahmed 80, Ashish 60, Ankit Rajpoot 2-53) beat Uttar Pradesh 264 (Srivastava 93, Shaukat 76, Mali 5-88) and 58 (Anureet Singh 5-15, Krishnakant Upadhyay 4-32) by 282 runs

3. Andhra grabs innings points against Baroda

Centuries from Bharat, Bhui and Pradeep lead Andhra’s fight back, as Baroda put up 302 in the first innings. Baroda were trailing by 172 runs, as the visitors batted for 17 overs and notched up 60 runs for 2 wickets before umpires called it stumps on Day 4.

For Baroda, it was Devdhar who guided the ship from the start with a valiant 97.

KS Bharat (Andhra) received the man of the match award.

Baroda 302 (Devdhar 97, Swapnil 74, Stephen 4-72) and 60 for 2 drew with Andhra 474 for 6 declared (Bharat 144, Bhui 116, Pradeep 100)

4. Yuvraj fires as Punjab bags 3 points

A top order show helped Punjab earn vital 3 points, as Yuvraj scored a stylish 187, while Manan Vohra smashed 104. Parthiv Patel and Panchal’s fruitful centuries guided Gujrat to 467 in the first innings.

Gujrat couldn’t capitalize on the 43 overs of the 2nd innings, as both the teams settled for a draw.

Yuvraj Singh (Punjab) received the man of the match award for his mighty 187.

Gujarat 467 (Parthiv 113, Panchal 105, Venugopal Rao 95, Ladda 5-133) and 135 for 4 (Merai 56, Ladda 2-60) drew with Punjab 608 (Yuvraj 187, Vohra 104, Uday Kaul 78, Rujul Bhatt 8-151)

Group C

1. Jharkhand rides on Shahbaz’s best

Left arm spinner Shahbaz ended the eventful game with a carrier best figures of 7 for 64, as Jharkhand ended up beating Kerala by 133 runs. Kerala failed to chase Jharkhand’s first innings total, as the hosts were bundled out for 148.

Jharkhand in reply built their innings on partnerships, as a target of 317 was set for Kerala to achieve. Nadeem spinned a web, as Kerala faltered to 183 in no time.

S Nadeem (Jharkhand) earned the man of the match award for his match winning 7-64.

Jharkhand 202 (Tiwary 75, Munda 54, Warrier 4-56) and 262 (Kishan 58, Monish 5-66) beatKerala 148 (Prem 52, Aaron 5-23) and 183 (Kodoth 72, Nadeem 7-64) by 133 runs

2. Juggernaut scores makes Himachal and Hyderabad settle for draw

Robin Bist’s unbeaten 220 and Rishi Dhawan’s 114 helped Himachal Pradesh amass a huge first-innings total of 707 for 8, as they took away three points from their drawn game against Hyderabad.

For Hyderabad, it was Agarwal and Vihari who notched up gritty tons to take the visitors to 434. Only 13 overs were played by the visitors in the 2nd innings, as the match ended in a draw.

R Bist (Himachal Pradesh) picked up the man of the match award for his spectacular batting skills.

HimachalPradesh 707 for 8 declared (Bist 220*, Bains 161, Dhawan 114) drew with Hyderabad 434 (Agarwal 118, Vihari 101, More 4-84) and 2 for 0.

3. Goa wins their first encounter after Jakati spells victory

Shadab Jakati starred with the ball as Goa crushed Tripura by 9 wickets inside three days in Porvorim to earn their first win of the season. They achieved the 50-run target for the loss of Swapnil Asnodkar, which meant they were denied a bonus point.

Tripura faced a major setback, as they went all down of mere 61 in the first innings. Misal’s 62 turned out to be the top score, as Goa were shot for 257. Tripura put up a better performance in the 2nd innings, as Murasingh’s century ensured that Goa will bat to chase 50 in the 4th innings of the game.

Kamat and Desai saw the team through, as Goa wrapped up the match inside 3 days.

SB Jakati (Goa) received the man of the match award for his match winning spell.

Goa 257 (Misal 62, Dutta 4-44) and 50 for 1 beat Tripura 61 (Rituraj Singh 3-17, Jakati 2-14) and 245 (Murasingh 104, Jakati 5-54) by 9 wickets

4. Services wraps up a win in 2 days

R.Raj went through Jammu and Kashmir’s batting line up, as he picked up 7-38. J&K were wrapped for 85 in the first innings. Services in reply made 229 with Paliwal top scoring with a brisk 70. Opener Khajuria’s half century couldn’t save the hosts, as J&k were folded for 161.

Chasing 18 runs to win, Services lost Gupta’s wicket. The visitors chased the double figures in 17 minutes and 21 balls.

RS Paliwal (Services) was adjudged the man of the match for his vital 70.

Services 229 (Paliwal 70, Yashpal 66) and 18 for 1 beat Jammu & Kashmir 85 (Raushan 7-38) and 161 (Khajuria 51, Khalid 7-61) by nine wickets.