A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played across India on Saturday
Karnataka rout Gambhir-led Delhi by an innings and 160 runs
Gautam Gambhir failed once again on a bowler friendly pitch as Karnataka humiliated Delhi by an innings and 160 runs inside two and half days in the Ranji Trophy group league encounter, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
However it was off-spinner K Gowtham, who made a comeback this season after his debut in 2012-13, grabbed a career best 5/35 and finished with a match haul of 8/61 to return with the Man of the Match award.
Starting their second innings with a huge deficit of 324, Delhi who were shot out for 90 in the first innings, were a shade better this time as they folded for 164 -- 50 minutes post lunch to concede the match with more than one day and a session to spare.
Presence of 'local boy' Gautam Gambhir failed to inspire Delhi. The left-handed opener managed identical scores of 2 in both innings.
The bonus-point win temporarily took Karnataka to the top of group B table with 10 points, ahead of Delhi on eight points.
Brief Scores:
Delhi: 90 and 164 (Unmukt Chand 38, Varun Sood 41, K Gowtham 5/35).
Karnataka: 1st Innings 414.
Mumbai 290/5 after Herwadkar century
Akhil Herwadkar notched up an unbeaten century as Mumbai inched closer to Madhya Pradesh's first innings total by progressing to 290 for five in their Group A Ranji Trophy match in Raipur.
At stumps on the third and penultimate day of the game, Herwadkar was batting on 136 and giving him company was Tushar Deshpande on eight at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium.
Aditya Tare made 80 off 165 balls with the help of 10 boundaries.
Opener Herwadkar, who was batting on 29 overnight, scored his runs off 326 deliveries, and found the fence 19 times.
Herwadkar was involved in a partnership of 155 runs for the fifth wicket with Tare, as Mumbai trailed by 155 runs by the end of day's play.
In the middle order, Suryakumar Yadav contributed 41 off 90 balls with the help of seven boundaries.
Madhya Pradesh were all out for 445 in their first innings, with Rajat Patidar top-scoring with 106.
Mumbai were 38 for two overnight and lost Shreyas Iyer early in the morning, but Herwadkar added 67 runs for the fourth wicket with Yadav to steady the innings, before consolidating it in the company of Tare.
Saurashtra eye bonus-point win over Maharashtra
Five-wicket hauls from medium-pacer Kushang Patel (5/43) and left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (5/41) forced Maharashtra to follow-on and give Saurashtra a chance to earn bonus-point win in their Ranji Trophy match in Vizianagaram.
Last season's runners-up Saurashtra are in with a chance of securing a bonus-point victory against Maharashtra, who were struggling at 114 for two in their second innings at the close of play.
Maharashtra, who resumed at 18 for no loss in their first innings, were bowled out for a meagre 182 in 56.2 overs in reply to Saurashtra's massive 657 for eight declared.
Trailing by 475 runs, Maharashtra were asked to follow-on.
Only bright spot in the match for Maharashtra was Murtaza Trunkwala, who top scored with 64 on first-class debut in the first innings and then followed it up with an unbeaten 58 in the second essay.
Brief scores:
Saurashtra: 657 for 8 decl.
Maharashtra: 182 (Murtaza Trunkwala 64; Kushang Patel 5/43, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 5/41) & 114 for two.
Railways need 300 runs against Gujarat
Gujarat held the edge as Railways required another 300 runs for an improbable victory with six wickets remaining in their Group A Ranji Trophy match in Rohtak.
At stumps on the third and penultimate day of the game at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Lahli, Mahesh Rawat was batting on 52 with Arindam Ghosh on 26, to help Railways to 171 for four in 61 overs.
Overnight 295 for three following a fluent century by Priyank Kirit Panchal (106) and Bhargav Merai's 70, Gujarat rode on half centuries by Manpreet Juneja (66), Chirag Gandhi (60 not out) Parthiv Patel (53) to notch up 437 for seven declared in their second innings on day two.
After managing just 187 in their first innings, Gujarat bowled out Railways for 124 to take the upper hand.
For Railways, Deepak Bansl, Ranjit Mali and Karn Sharma picked up two wickets apiece.
Mukund's ton helps TN reach 398/6 in reply to UP's 524
A brilliant 154 by skipper Abhinav Mukund and half-centuries by Dinesh Karthik and Baba Indrajith enabled Tamil Nadu reach 398 for six in their first innings on the penultimate day of their Group A Ranji Trophy match in Dharamsala.
Tamil Nadu now need 126 more runs with four wickets in hand to overtake Uttar Pradesh's first innings total of 524.
At the close of play, Indrajith was unbeaten on a solid 70 and giving him company at the other end was A Aswin Crist on 2.
Earlier, starting the day on 34 for one, overnight batsman Mukund, resuming at a personal score of 18, went on to put up a dominating show with the bat and complete his century.
En-route to his 154 that came off 249 deliveries and studded with 26 boundaries and a six, Mukund also put on crucial partnerships.
Tamil Nadu captain shared a solid 132-run stand for the fourth wicket with Karthik, whose 121-ball 73 included 11 hits to the fence and another 50 runs with Indrajith for the fifth wicket.
Brief scores:
Uttar Pradesh 1st innings: 524
Tamil Nadu 1st innings: 398 for six in 110 overs (Abhinav Mukund 154, Dinesh Karthik 73, Baba Indrajith 70 batting; Ankit Rajpoot 2/91)
Aziz, Rasool catch Andhra in spin web to give J&K lead
Spinners Aamir Aziz and Parvez Rasool caught Andhra in a spin web and bundled them out for 255 to help Jammu and Kashmir take a crucial first innings lead in their Group C Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai.
Aziz, who had a tally of six wickets from six games prior to this match, took five for 62 with left arm spin, while his more experienced partner Rasool grabbed three for 40 bowling off spin on day three of the four-day game at the Brabourne Stadium.
Andhra were dismissed post tea in just under 100 overs to give J&K a first innings lead of 79 runs. J&K had scored 334 in their first essay.
In the remaining time, the northern outfit made 31 for two, for an overall lead of 110.
Brief scores:
J&K: 334 and 31 for two (S Khajuria 13 batting).
Andhra 1st innings: 255 (DB Ravi Teja 81, AG Pradeep 47; A Aziz 5/62, Parvez Rasool 3/40).
