Mumbai overcame a late middle-collapse to beat Railways by two wickets and record their first win of the season in a thrilling Ranji Trophy Group A Super Division match in Mumbai on Saturday.
Chasing a victory target of 252, the hosts, who were 204 for two at one stage slumped to 237 for eight, but middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma (31 n.o.) kept his nerves and in the company of Dhawal Kulkarni took the hosts home.
Resuming at overnight 22 for no loss, Omkar Gurav (30) and Sahil Kukreja (54) added a further 34 runs in nearly 11 overs, when Gurav was run-out.
From there on, youngster Ajinkya Rahane took control of the proceedings and added 97 runs for the second wicket with Kukreja, whose 217-ball effort that included five fours, ended when he was stumped by wicketkeeper M Rawat off M Suresh.
However, Rahane kept the pressure on Railways and consolidated Mumbai's position by forging a 51-run partnership for the third wicket with skipper Wasim Jaffer (25). He missed his second ton of the season when he was dismissed by Jai Prakash Yadav for a well made 94.
Rahane's dismissal changed the complexion of the game as the experienced duo of Murali Karthik (3-69) and Yadav (3-54) triggered a collapse, with Mumbai losing six wickets for 33 runs.
But Sharma's presence paved the way for Mumbai's win, who are now at the top of group A with 11 points from three matches.
Brief scores:
Railways 201 and 269 (M Rawat 76 not out, Sanjay Bangar 62; D Kulkarni 5-52, R Powar, 3-65)
Mumbai 219 and 252/8 (Ajinkya Rahane 94, S Kukreja 54, Rohit Sharma 31 n.o.; M Karthik 3-69, J P Yadav 3-54).
Tyagi, Kumar bowl UP to victory
Vadodara: Pacers Sudeep Tyagi (6/42) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/37) triggered a sensational lower order collapse to steer Uttar Pradesh to a 32-run victory over Baroda in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match.
Chasing a target of 176, Baroda were expected to score a comfortable win over UP but Tyagi's six-wicket haul and Bhuvneshwar's four completely turned the tables around as the duo bundled out Baroda for a mere 143 in their second innings.
Baroda were in total control at lunch on day four, placed on 81 for 2, with just another 94 runs needed for an outright victory.
But soon after lunch, Baroda saw a sudden collapse with Tyagi and Bhuvneshwar causing havoc.
First, Tyagi removed Kedar Devdhar for a well-made 46 and then in the very next ball he sent back Ambati Rayudu for a duck.
In his next over, he added another wicket to his kitty by seeing off Rakesh Solanki (3), to suddenly leave the hosts reeling at 95 for five.
The responsibility lay on dashing Yusuf Pathan and skipper Pinal Shah to consolidate the innings and steer the team towards victory.
And they did just that by slowly building up a partnership. In fact, Yusuf and Shah managed to put on vital 36 runs for the sixth wicket, with Yusuf doing the bulk scoring to keep Baroda always in the hunt.
But things changed dramatically as both the batsmen lost their wickets in quick succession.
Shah (4) failed to sustain and was bowled by Tyagi. Yusuf (40) also soon followed his partner back into the pavilion with Baroda's scoreboard reading 143 for seven.
Yusuf's dismissal to Bhuvneshwar saw Baroda lose their way as the last three wickets fell without the addition of a single run.
Earlier, resuming at an overnight score 279 for eight in the second innings, UP were bowled out for 294 to set a low target for Baroda.
Brief scores:
UP 1st innings: 190
Baroda 1st innings: 309
UP 2nd innings: 294 (Tanmay Srivastava 60, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 55, Piyush Chawla 36; Yusuf Pathan 5/83, Munaf Patel 3/46)
Gritty Gujarat eke out draw against Delhi
New Delhi: Priyank Kirit Panchal scored a match-saving century as Gujarat denied Delhi an outright win on the final day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match.
With the visitors standing on the brink of defeat at the start of final day's play with Delhi still enjoying a healthy 252-run lead, Panchal rose to the occasion and came up with a crucial 134-run knock to save the day for Gujarat.
Panchal's patient innings came off 265 deliveries during which he struck as many as 20 boundaries.
For Delhi, pacer Vikas Mishra returned with his best first-class figures of four for 51, while Gujarat's first innings tormentor Pawan Suyal scalped two for 69 but it was not enough to ensure a win for the hosts as the visitors' tail put up a resolute batting display to deny their opponents five points.
Delhi pocketed three points from the match by virtue of first-innings lead while Gujarat will return home with a point from the stalemate.
Earlier, resuming at the team's overnight score of 114 for two and personal 60, Panchal stitched a vital 63-run fourth-wicket stand with skipper Parthiv Patel (26 off 112 balls) to signal early signs of a fightback from Gujarat.
However, the tables turned when Parhtiv and Panchal fell within a span of 27 runs. Both Parthiv and Panchal were trapped in front by Suyal and Panchal respectively.
Gujarat found themselves in deeper trouble when, two runs later, Pratharesh Parmar too was caught plumb in front of the wicket by Pradeep Sangwan.
But then came Rohit Dahiya (2 n.o.), whose sheer determination and patience saved Gujarat as the right-hander negotiated 109 deliveries during his stay at the wicket.
Siddharth Trivedi too made crucial 18 off 33 balls to help his side's cause before the last-wicket pair of Dahiya and Ishwar Choudhary negotiated 11 overs to earn a point for Gujarat.
Brief Scores:
Gujarat 1st innings: 71 all out
Delhi 1st innings: 437 for six declared
Gujarat 2nd innings: 289 for nine in 114 overs (Priyank Kirit Panchal 134; Vikas Mishra 4/51).
Karnataka, Haryana split points
Rohtak: Karnataka's Amit Verma scored an unbeaten century here on the fourth and final day, even as the Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match between Karnataka and Haryana ended in a tame draw.
But Haryana managed to gain three points on the basis of their first innings lead, while Karnataka could take home only one point.
In reply to Karnataka's first innings total of 222, the hosts had scored 319 in their first essay to take 97-run lead.
After resuming at an overnight score of 72 for one, still trailing by 25 runs, Karnataka finished the day on 409 for eight in their second innings, with Haryana yet to take the field for the second time, here at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium.
Overnight batsmen K B Pawan, who was unbeaten on 31, went on to score a fine 80, including eight hits to the fence and a six. And thereafter, all key Karnataka batsmen -- Robin Uthappa (42), Manish Pandey (55) and Amit Verma (103 not out) as well as veteran spinner Sunil Joshi (50) chipped in with valuable contributions.
Haryana bowlers, who took the field on the final day with the aim of bundling out Karnataka at the earliest and then try to chase down the target, failed in their mission.
They were made to toil hard by the visiting team batsmen, who not only made individual contributions but also had big partnerships going.
Amit Verma played a fine knock as he remained not out on 103 from 140 balls studded with 14 fours and 4 sixes.
For Haryana, both Joginder Sharma (3/46) and Yuzvendra Chahal (3/102) took three wickets each, while Yatharth Tomar took two.
Brief Score:
Karnataka 1st innings: 222 all out in 71.2 overs
Haryana 1st innings: 319 all out in 108.2 overs
Karnataka 2nd innings: 409 for 8 in 117.1 overs (Amit Verma not out 103, KB Pawan 80, Manish Pandey 55, Sunil Joshi 50; Joginder Sharma 3/46, YS Chahal 3/102).
Tamil Nadu win three points against Saurashtra
Rajkot: Chandrasekar Ganapathy led the way with three wickets to help Tamil Nadu earn three points as their Super League Group A Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra ended in a tame draw.
Ganapathy took three wickets, including the important one of Shitanshu Kotak, who, at one stage, gave the hosts hope of overhauling Tamil Nadu's total.
Resuming at an overnight score of 246 for the loss of four wickets in reply to Tamil Nadu's mammoth 582 for four declared, Kotak and Sagar Jogiyani started in ernest putting on 85 runs for the fifth wicket. Kotak was unlucky to have missed, what would have been a well-deserved century, by just one run.
Kotak's knock, which came off 224 deliveries, was laced with 14 boundaries.
After Kotak's dismissal, Pratik Mehta joined Jogiyani and the two added 85 valuable runs for the sixth wicket to keep the hosts in the hunt for a first-innings lead.
Saurashtra's hopes were, however, dashed when Yo Mahesh removed Jogiyani and Mehta in quick succession. Useful contributions from the lower-order batsmen then helped Saurashtra to 492, but their efforts were not enough to give the hosts the first-innings lead.
Jogiyani hit 13 boundaries during his 175-ball 93 while Mehta collected five fours during his 81-ball 38.
While Ganapathy finished with three, Mahesh, Murthy Prabhu and Ravichandran Ashwin accounted for two wickets each.
In their second essay, Tamil Nadu were 30 for the loss of R Satish's wicket.
Brief score:
Tamil Nadu first innings: 582 for four decl and 30 for 1
Saursahtra first innings: 492 (S Kotak 99, S Jogiyani 93, R Jadega 63; C Ganapathy 3-69).
Assam score in drawn match against Bengal
Kolkata: Shaking off their minnows status, Assam scored over Bengal on the latter's home turf denying them three points and dealing a big blow to the their semi-final aspiration in the Ranji Trophy Super League.
Veteran Sridharan Sriram struck a 194-ball 146, Gokul Sharma hit 101 from 182 balls and Tarjinder Singh scored 98 from 153 deliveries to lead a superb turnaround and help the visitors earn three points by virtue of first-innings lead.
In reply to Bengal's mammoth first-innings total of 562 for six declared, Assam were never really in trouble and put up a brave front against the home side as they amassed 588 for six declared to take the crucial lead on a life-less strip at the Eden Gardens.
Resuming at 293 for three, Sriram and Arlen Konwar (26) stitched together 81 runs for the fourth wicket before Sharma and Singh added 176 for the sixth wicket to take the decisive first-innings lead.
Promoted to the Super League this season, Assam thus edged past the two-time Ranji champions and 10 times runners-up Bengal who slipped to sixth position on the group A standings.
Now, the task for WV Raman's boys to make the last-four stage appears stiff as Bengal's next four ties are away matches beginning with Gujarat from November 24-27.
To make matters worse, Bengal's star bowler Ashok Dinda has been ruled out for three weeks after being diagnosed with typhoid, while batsmen Arindam Ghosh and Rohan Banerjee, too, are indisposed.
Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary also could not make the field for the last three days and Wriddhiman Saha led the side, while medium pacer Mohammad Sami Ahmed who made his debut in place of Dinda, was available only in patches on Friday as both were down with high fever.
The credit, however, should go to Assam batsmen for overhauling Bengal's tall first innings total. Skipper Amol Muzumdar, a former Mumbai veteran having played 154 first-class matches, said he had never seen something like this in his 18-year-long career.
Brief Scores:
Bengal first innings: 562/6 declared in 167 overs
Assam first innings: 588/8 declared (Sridharan Sriram 146, Gokul Sharma 101 n.o., Tarjinder Singh 98, Sibsankar Roy 89, Dhiraj Jadhav 62; Mohammad Sami Ahmed 3/118).
