Captain Wasim Jaffer and wicket-keeper Omkar Gurav struck a century each as Mumbai opted for some batting practice by piling up 286 for one in their second innings as their Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match against Bengal ended in a tame draw in Kolkata on Saturday.
Mumbai had the opportunity to enforce follow on over Bengal on the penultimate day on Friday, having bowled the hosts out for 296 in reply to their mammoth first innings total of 621 for eight, but the visitors opted against it as they came out to bat in their second essay.
Already assured of three points by virtue of a first innings lead of 325 runs, Mumbai did not go for a result and instead opted for batting practice.
Mumbai batsmen made full use of the conditions on Saturday morning as Gurav (127) and Sushant Marathe (45) put on 106 runs for the opening wicket before the later was caught by Ranadeb Bose off left-arm orthodox bowler Shibsagar Singh (1/86).
But that was the only success the home team bowlers tasted on the final day as Mumbai skipper Jaffer (104) joined hands with Gurav to stitch an unbeaten 180-run stand to justify his decision of getting some valuable batting practice before their next match against Railways starting November 17.
Gurav faced 222 balls en route his 127-run knock during which he struck 17 boundaries.
In contrast Jaffer's innings was a fast paced one as he took only 112 deliveries to notch up his ton. The Mumbai skipper hit 12 fours and a six during his unbeaten knock.
Delhi loses initiative in drawn match
In a match ruled by spinners with host bowler Ashwin scalping 11 wickets, Delhi lost the initiative to win from a good position but gained three points on their first innings lead from their drawn tie on the final day of the Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match in Chennai on Saturday.
Resuming at overnight score of 122 for 2, Delhi opener Shikhar Dhawan stood firm resisting the host spinners -- Ashwin and Aushik Srinivas -- while other batsmen, including Virat Kohli made a hash of things, losing their wickets.
With a 110-run first innings cushion, Delhi mustered only 209 in their second innings, leaving Tamil Nadu to make 320 runs in 59 overs for a win. Tamil Nadu were 143 for 3 in 44 overs when the match was called off.
Delhi thus have four points from two matches, while Tamil Nadu have six, including the lone point from this match from their two matches this season so far.
Brief Scores: Delhi 318 and 209 (Chetan Sharma 22, S Dhawan 88, Mithun Minhan 33, Parvinder Awana 21, R.Ashwin six for 87 and Aushik Srinivas 3 for 40) drew with Tamil Nadu 208 and 143 for 3 (A.Mukund 59, S.Anirudha 28, S.Badrinath not out 25, Dinesh Karthik not out 23, Manoj Chauhan 3 for 42).
Karnataka register comprehensive victory
Karnataka started their season's campaign on a high note by registering a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Punjab on the fourth and final day of the Super League Group B Ranji Tropy match at the PCA stadium in Mohali on Saturday.
With this win, Karnataka have earned 5 points, while Punjab could add nothing to their kitty.
On the day, Punjab lost five wickets with an addition of only 11 runs on the board.
Karnataka's right-arm pacer Abhimanyu Mithun dealt crucial blows to Punjab middle-order, taking three scalps to reduce the hosts to 9-286 from 5-275 in their second innings in a space of less than seven overs.
Resuming at an overnight total of 173 for 2, with Yuvraj Singh (52) and Vishwas Bhalla (22) at the crease, Punjab suffered an early blow when the latter was adjudged LBW to R Vinay Kumar without any addition to his personal overnight score.
But India discard Yuvraj Singh continued to held on to his wicket and added 54 runs for the fourth wicket with Uday Kaul (43).
Yuvraj's impressive knock 79 off 123 balls, which was studded with 13 boundaries, however was cut short by S Aravind, who took his first scalp of the day.
Skipper Pankaj Dharmani (51) continued to fight a lone battle but towards the end, the hosts lost the plot.
Chasing a small target of 140, Karnataka openers K B Pawan (65) and debutant K L Rahul (61) played sensibly to help the visitors achieve the target in 38.1 overs.
NTS Sidhu removed both the Karnataka openers, but not before they had taken their team close to the victory target.
Gujarat register win against Saurashtra
Gujarat managed to prevail over Saurashtra by two wickets to earn five points on the fourth and final day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match in Surat on Saturday.
After taking a solid 70-run first innings lead against Gujarat, Saurashtra got bundled out for a mere 125 in their second innings on Saturday, to set Gujarat a easy target of 196 for victory, at the Lalabhai Contractor Stadium.
And even though Ravindra Jadeja (5-59) made Gujarat's job really difficult but the hosts manage to have the last laugh.
Earlier, resuming at an overnight score of 60 for two, with Bhushan Chauhan (22) and Shitanshu Kotak (1) at the crease, Saurashtra simply failed to capitalise on the advantage.
Both the overnight batsmen got out almost immediately. While Chauhan added just 2 more runs to his Friday's score, Kotak added only eight and the visitors could never recover from that position.
They kept losing wickets at regular intervals with hardly any resistance coming from the batsmen, even as Gujarat bowlers Salil Yadav (4 for 44) and Siddharth Trivedi (3 for 32) dominated the proceedings.
Chasing a modest target, Gujarat had to work really hard against some quality bowling by Ravindra Jadeja, who finished with impressive figures of five for 59 in his second innings.
However, Priyank Panchal (38), Bhavik Thaker (42), skipper Parthiv Patel (42) and Pratharesh Parmar (32 not out) chipped in with some valuable runs to steer Gujarat home.
Brief Scores: Saurashtra 1st innings: 261; Gujarat 1st innings: 191; Saurashtra 2nd innings: 125 all out in 59.1 overs (Chirag Pathak 35, Bhushan Chauhan 24; Salil Yadav 4-44, Siddarth Trivedi 3-32)
Gajarat 2nd innings: 196 for eight in 59.1 overs (Bhavik Thaker 42, Parthiv Patel 42; Ravindra Jadeja 5-59).
Maharashtra rout Vidarbha by 10 wickets
Maharashtra on Saturday defeated Vidarbha by a comprehensive 10 wickets on the fourth and final day of their Ranji Trophy Plate Group B league cricket match at the Anant Kanhere Grounds in Nashik.
With this outright win, Maharashtra have collected six points, including a bonus point.
Resuming at their overnight second innings score of 14 for the loss of two wickets, Vidarbha were bundled out for a paltry 61, setting a 77-run victory target for Maharashtra.
Samad Fallah was the wrecker-in-chief claiming six wickets for only 23 runs in 12 overs.
Chasing a modest victory target, Maharashtra quickly scored 80 for no loss.
Opener Harshad Khadiwale remained unbeaten at 37-ball 55, punctuated with nine fours and a six, while Sangram Atitkar was unbeaten on. Nikhil Paradkar went back to the pavilion retired hurt when he was at 13.
Vidarbha made 289 in the first innings and bowled out their opposition for 274, thus taking a 15-run lead.
However, in their second edition, Vidarbha innings fell like a house of cards, handing an easy win to Maharashtra.
Jharkhand force draw against Hyderabad
Ishank Jaggi's superb unbeaten double century scuttled Hyderabad's hopes to force a win against Jharkhand as the home team forced a draw scoring 387 for four in their second innings on the fourth and final day of their Ranji Tropy plate group A tie in Ranchi on Saturday.
Despite losing overnight partner Sourabh Tiwari, who failed to add any to his 32, and Rajiv Kumar (7) in the first two overs of the day, Jaggi (200 not out) crafted a magnificent 253-run partnership with Shiv Goutam (82 not out) for the fifth wicket to frustrate Hyderabad.
The visitors used as many as eight bowlers, but failed to separate the duo, and remained satisfied with three points they secured for taking the 292-run first innings lead.
Jharkhand got one point for the drawn match.
Jaggi played 333 balls and belted thirty boundaries in his unbeaten knock that enthralled the sparse crowd at the newly laid JSCA cricket stadium.
Goutam was more flamboyant hitting three sixes and nine boundaries to add to the delight of the home fans.
Brief scores: Jharkhand Ist innings: 200 all out
2nd innings: 387 for four (PKK Naidu 2/49)
Hyd Ist innings: 492 all out.
UP, Orissa match ends in draw
After forcing a follow on their opponents, Uttar Pradesh failed to go for the kill as their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match against Orissa ended in a thrilling draw in Lucknow on Saturday.
Orissa were asked to follow on after conceding a 158-run lead to Uttar Pradesh but they clung on to a draw with main contribution coming from middle order batsman Biplab Samantray (45) and opener Natraj Behera (36).
The Uttar Pradesh bowlers, led by India fringe players R P Singh, Sudeep Tyagi and Piyush Chawla, toiled hard the whole day to bundle out their opponents below 158 but failed to do get the desired result at the Dr Akhilesh Das Stadium.
Uttar Pradesh pocketed three points by virtue of their first innings lead while Orissa got one.
Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 1st innings: 403
Orissa 1st innings: 245 all out in 95.4 overs (Natraj Behera 113, Debasis Mohanty 40; R P Singh (6/50) and 171 for nine in 81 overs (Biplab Samantray 45, Natraj Behera 36; Sudeep Tyagi 4/61, R P Singh 3/29).
