Ranji Trophy 2017-18, Round 6 - Day 3 Review

The third day of the sixth round matches of the ongoing Ranji Trophy season witnessed a lot of action as three teams registered outright victories. Delhi, Bengal and Services defeated their respective opponents by an innings as the league stage of the tournament is reaching its business end. Also, Delhi ended the chances of Maharashtra qualifying for the quarter-finals after they earned a bonus point victory against them.

Maharashtra was shot out only for 99 in the first innings in reply to the score of 419 posted by the hosts. They were again reduced to 56/3 following on, but Rahul Tripathi slammed a sensational ton and scored 106 off just 78 deliveries with 12 fours and 4 sixes. Though he only delayed the inevitable for his team as they were again bundled out for 259. Navdeep Saini and Vikas Mishra scalped four wickets each which helped Delhi secure a victory by an innings and 61 runs.

Bengal skittled Punjab in their second again once again with utter disdain as their batsmen did not offer any resistance. Ishan Porel scalped a wonderful five-wicket haul as Punjab as the hosts were bundled out for only 213 winning the match by an innings and 19 runs. Earlier, the visitors declared their first innings on 379/9. Services registered a handsome win by an innings over Chhattisgarh as Diwesh Pathania ran through their line-up with 7/41.

The hosts Assam batted well to keep Hyderabad at bay in their second innings and finished the day on 300/7. But they only have the lead of 110 runs and the tail has to wag to frustrate the opposition which is highly unlikely. Amit Sinha is only four runs shy of his century and he is the key for them on the final day. Uttar Pradesh gave away the brilliant start provided by their openers and are now staring down the barrel against Karnataka who has posted a mammoth total of 655. Suresh Raina bagged a three-ball duck as he continued to struggle this season.

The defending champions Gujarat are looking firm favourites against Rajasthan after declaring on  601/4 with a huge lead of 448 runs. Parthiv missed out on a double century and was dismissed on 173. Moreover, they reduced Rajasthan to 183/4 and would love to fold them soon on the last day. Kerala piled on quick runs courtesy a stupendous knock of 155 from Sanju Samson and have set a target of 405 runs in front of Saurashtra. The visitors need 375 more with nine wickets in hand as the match is expected to go down the wire.

Bowlers continued to rule in the match between Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana with 12 more wickets falling on the day. Ram Dayal came to the rescue of J&K and picked a five-fer which helped them stay in the game. A splendid century from Yo Mahesh helped Tamil Nadu gain a vital lead of 62 against Madhya Pradesh. The game is heading towards draw as MP batted solidly in their second essay but TN will earn crucial points on the basis of first innings lead. Subhranshu Senapati helped Odisha stay in the hunt with his 131* as they scored 316/5 in reply to Baroda’s 503.

Shardul Thakur shone with a sensational five-wicket haul for Mumbai helping them earn a sizeable lead of 117 runs against Andhra. They finished the day on 190/4 in the second innings and most probably will take out at least three points out of this crucial encounter. Centuries from Wasim Jaffer and Ganesh Satish has put Vidarbha in commanding position against Goa and would look to bowl them out for an innings victory on the final day.

Brief Scores:

Delhi v Maharashtra, Group A

Delhi 419/10 (Nitish Rana 174, Rishabh Pant 99; Chirag Khurana 3/106)

Maharashtra 99/10 & 259/10 (R Tripathi 106; N Saini 4/57, V Mishra 4/90)

Assam v Hyderabad, Group A

Hyderabad 326/10 (Bavanaka Sandeep 84; Arup Das 5/112)

Assam  136/10 & 300/7 (A Sinha 96*)

Karnataka v Uttar Pradesh, Group A

Karnataka  655/10 Manish Pandey 238, Dega Nischal 195; Imtiaz Ahmed 6/110)

Uttar Pradesh 243/5 (U Sharma 89)

Gujarat v Rajasthan, Group B

Rajasthan 153/10 & 183/4 (R Bist 81)

Gujarat 601/4decl (Priyank Panchal 152, Parthiv Patel 173*)

Kerala v Saurashtra, Group B

Kerala 225 & 340/3 decl (S Samson 155*)

Saurashtra 232/10 & 30/1

Jammu Kashmir v Haryana, Group B

Haryana 184/10 & 161/9 (R Dayal 5/42)

Jammu & Kashmir 176/10 (Ahmed Bandy 67; Ashish Hooda 3/38)

Tamil Nadu v Madhya Pradesh, Group C

Madhya Pradesh  264/10 & 142/1 (R Patidar 81*)

Tamil Nadu  326/10 (N Jagadeesan 101, Yo Mahesh 103*; Puneet Datey 3/55)

Baroda v Odisha, Group C

Baroda 503/10 (Ninad Rathva 115, Vishnu Solanki 109; Basant Mohanty 5/85)

Odisha 316/5 (S Senapati 131*)

Mumbai v Andhra, Group C

Mumbai  332/10 & 190/4 (S Iyer 75*)

Andhra  215/10 (Hanuma Vihari 70; S Thakur 5/55)

Bengal v Punjab, Group D

Punjab 147/10 & 213/10 (S Gill 63; B Amit 3/31)

Bengal 379/9decl (Abhishek Raman 155, Abhimanyu Easwaran 117; Siddarth Kaul 5/118)

Goa v Vidarbha, Group D

Goa 239 & 19/2 (A Sarwate 1/4)

Vidarbha 427/3decl (W Jaffer 158*, G Satish 101

Chattisgarh v Services, Group D

Chattisgarh 130/10 & 133/10 (A Chauhan 43; D Pathania 7/41)

Services 272/10 (Vikas Hathwala 76; Shahnawaz Hussain 5/59)