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Riding on Shreyas Iyer's marathon knock of 173, Ranji giants Mumbai gathered three points against Baroda on the basis of first innings lead in their Group B cricket encounter, in Vadodra, on Sunday.
Who is speaking the truth? Tiwary or Gambhir?
In a high-scoring four-day encounter, the Aditya Tare-led Mumbai drew first blood after posting 447 in the first innings. The Aditya Waghmode-led Baroda replied with a gutsy 397 in response but was not enough.
Abhishek Nayar's 89-run contribution, while coming in at No 8 also added to the Mumbai score.
In the end, Mumbai finished proceedings on 202 for five with Suryakumar Yadav unbeaten on 100.
Dhawal Kulkarni's fifer in the Baroda innings also helped Mumbai get those crucial points at the Reliance Stadium.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai: 447 and 202/5 in 61.3 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 100, Akhil Herwadkar 58; Swapnil Singh 3-70)
Baroda: 397
UP stun Andhra by 56 runs
Uttar Pradesh staged a miraculous comeback in the four-day Ranji game to stun Andhra Pradesh by 56 runs and register their first outright win of the season in the Group ‘B’ encounter in Ongole.
New-ball bowler Ankit Rajput bagged a five-wicket haul to help bundle out out the hosts for 123 in pursuit of their 183-run chase.
The turning point for the Praveen Kumar-led side came in its second innings when No 9 batsman Mohammad Saif scored a gritty 56 to help the visitors post 309 and give a fighting victory target to the Mohammad Kaif-led Andhra.
Saif's 100-run ninth-wicket partnership with Praveen (53) provided the inspiration for a side that was bundled for 170.
Starting on their overnight score of 26 for one, Andhra top-order faltered against young Rajpoot's pace and swing and the rest of the batting fell like a pack of cards.
Praveen was adjudged the man of the match award after his four-wicket haul in the first innings and also a gritty knocks of 47 and 53 in the first and second innings respectively.
Brief Scores:
Uttar Pradesh: 170 and 309 (Mohammad Saif 56, Praveen Kumar 53; Paidikalva Vijaykumar 4-68)
Andhra Pradesh: 297 and 123 all out in 47.3 overs (Paidikalva Vijaykumar 28, Srikar Bharat 16; Ankit Rajpoot 5-35)
Bengal get three points, Gambhir skips batting
Putting aside Saturday's skirmish with rival captain Gautam Gambhir, Manoj Tiwary led from the front with a patient 97 to ensure that Bengal pocket three points by virtue of first innings lead against Delhi in their drawn Group ‘A’ match, in New Delhi.
Tiwary focussed on his game as Bengal scored 217 for four in their second essay after being precariously placed at 29/3 at one point.
A target of 326 in 44 overs was unachievable as Delhi were 161 for 4 when it was decided that match would be called off. Debutant Rishabh Pant scored an attractive 57.
Delhi skipper Gambhir didn't come out to bat as he attended the selection meeting when the match was on.
In fact, the bad blood between the two teams was evident as Delhi continued batting during mandatory overs knowing that match was dead as contest.
Bengal started the day at 47 for three, with Manoj in company of nightwatchman Aamir Gani (62) and the duo added 144 runs for 4th wicket.
The former India U-19 cricketer showed maturity beyond his age as his well compiled knock was a big reason for Bengal keeping their three points intact.
The fate of the match was sealed when Manoj and Gani saw off the first hour during which Unmukt dropped Gani.
However as his captain gave confidence, he started playing shots including cover drives and sweeps.
Brief Scores:
Bengal: 357 & 217/4 decl (Manoj Tiwary 97, Aamir Gani 62, Sumit Narwal 2/37)
Delhi: 249 & (target 326) 161/4 (Rishabh Pant 57).
Fazal, Jaffer steer Vidarbha to three-wicket win over Assam
Faiz Fazal (63) and Wasim Jaffer (71) shared an 124-run opening partnership to steer Vidarbha to a three-wicket victory over Assam on the fourth and final day of their Group ‘A’ match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.
Chasing 213 to win, Vidarbha resumed their second innings at 88 for no loss as Fazal and Jaffer continued their good work and notched up their individual half-centuries.
Syed Mohammad dismissed Jaffer in the 44th over, while Amit Verma removed Fazal at the 150-mark in the 57th over. Jaffer had eight boundaries in his 119-ball innings, while Fazal hit just three fours during his stay.
Ganesh Satish (17) and skipper S Badrinath (37) then took Vidarbha to the 200-mark but S Purkayastha then came up with twin strikes to dismiss both the batsmen in the 70th over.
Just 13 runs off the target, Vidarbha then suffered a mini-collapse as they lost Badrinath, Shalabh Shrivastava (0), Jitesh Sharma (4) and Aditya Shanware (1) in the next four overs.
SS Ruikar (4) and UT Yadav (6) then took the team home and helped Vidarbha grab six points.
Brief Score:
Assam: 206 & 160
Vidarbha: 154 & 215/7 in 74 overs (W Jaffer 71; Amit Verma 3/55, S Purkayastha 3/90).
Kerala bag three points against Services
Karaparambil Monish (4/105) and Rohan Prem (4/44) retured with four-wicket hauls each to help Kerela earn a crucial first innings lead and grab three points against Services in their drawn Group ‘C’ match in New Delhi.
Resuming their first innings on the fourth and final day at 281/7, Services were all out for 319, four runs short of Kerala's first innings score of 322.
Prem dismissed overnight batsmen Raushan Raj (8) and Muzzaffaruddin Khalid (28), while Monish caught and bowled Diwesh Pathania (5) as Services were all out in 129.4 overs.
VA Jagadeesh (43) and Akshay Kodoth (72) then produced a 118-run partnership for the opening wicket as Kerala declared their second innings at 176 for three in 57.1 overs, setting Services a target of 180 at Palam A Ground, Model Sports Complex.
Sachin then returned to claim three wickets as Services ended with a score of 43 for four in their second innings as the match ended in a draw.
Brief Score:
Kerala: 322 & 176/3d in 57.1 overs (AG Kodoth 72; AH Gupta 2/23)
Services: 319 & 43/4 in 18 overs (R Chauhan 17; Sachin Baby 3/24).
Haryana bag three points against Karnataka
Haryana fell two wickets short of claiming their first outright victory against defending champions Karnataka but the Virender Sehwag-led side bagged their first three points of the season in the drawn Group ‘A’ match, in Mysuru.
After an exemplary 136 by Sehwag in the first innings, Haryana bowlers made it count in the rest of the four-day encounter as the hosts, who came close to losing their first Ranji game in almost three years, were left in tatters at 202 for eight while chasing a victory target of 373 runs.
Off-spinner Jayant Yadav, who scored a century during his 206-run third-wicket stand with Sehwag, picked 6 wickets in the final innings to give the Vinay Kumar-side a scare in the final session of the fourth day.
For the visitors, Nitin Saini also scored a useful 52 in the second innings as Sehwag struck a 40, while dropping himself to number seven. In their second outing, Robin Uthappa (66) gave the hosts a good start but Yadav soon spun a web after sharing the new ball with pace spearhead Harshal Patel. Harshal and Ashish Hooda picked up a wicket each.
Yadav tasted his first blood after he claimed the prized wicket of Samarth, who was caught by H J Rana. The Haryana spinner then sent back top Karnataka batsmen Karun Nair, Uthappa and Chidambaram Gautam, leaving Karnataka struggling at 164 for five.
Vinay (3) was picked up by Patel, following which Yadav claimed next two wickets of Jagaeesha Suchith (6) and Shreyas Gopal (24), leaving Karnataka hopelessly situated at 197 for eight, needing 176 runs more to register an outright victory.
With uncertainties looming large of the availability of the indisposed H S Sharath and injured Pandey to join Mathias, Pandey walked into the middle with three stitches in his right hand and faced the odds whilst bearing the pain.
Brief Scores:
Haryana: 170 and 262
Karnataka: 221 and 202/8 in 98 overs (Robin Uthappa 66, Lokesh Rahul 24; Jayant Yadav 6-65)
J&K bag three points against Tripura
Pervez Rasool's strokeful 130 in the first innings proved decisive as Jammu and Kashmir bagged three points against Tripura in the drawn Group ‘C’ encounter in Agartala.
Declaring their second innings on their overnight score of 163 for three, the Mithun Manhas-led J&K gave the hosts a 368-run target on the final day. Looking to pick 10 wickets, J&K saw great response from Tripura, who rode on centuries from Arindam Das (106 not out) and Parvinder Singh (100 not out) to finish Day 4 on 243 for two.
But it was the visitors' 428 in the first innings that set the tone for their domination in the match at the Tripura Institute of Technology Ground.
Man of the Match Rasool's 195-ball knock, which was laced with 18 fours and 3 sixes, was backed up by Manhas's 96 and Bandeep Singh's 63.
The Kaushal Acharjee-led Tripura could only muster 224 in their first innings with J&K pace spearhead Ram Dayal bagging a four-wicket haul.
Brief Scores:
Jammu and Kashmir: 428 and 163/3 dec in 30 overs (Bandeep Singh 51 not out, Ian Dev Singh 40 not out; Rana Dutta 2-24)
Tripura: 224 and 243/291.3 overs (Arindam Das 106 not out, Parvinder Singh 100 not out; Pervez Rasool 1-54)
HP bags 3 points against Goa
Owing to their first innings lead, Himachal Pradesh grabbed three points against Goa after their Group ‘C’ match ended in a tame draw in Dharamsala.
Snehal Kauthankar (101) scored a strokeful century to power Goa to 367 for six declared in 118 overs in their second innings to set Himachal a target of 316 runs. Himachal then reached 125 for two in 30 overs as the match ended in a draw.
Resuming their second innings at 182 for three, Goa rode on the century by Kauthankar, which was laced with 16 hits to the fence. DS Jadhav (50 not out) and overnight batsman DW Misal (44) were the other scorers for Goa today.
For HP, Rishi Dhawan (2/58), Bipul Sharma (2/103) and AP Vasisht (2/96) took two wickets each at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium.
In reply, AK Bains (49) and P Chopra (60) shared a 107-run opening stand in 23.6 overs. Desai dismissed Bains in the 24th over when he had him caught behind by wicket-keeper Rahul Keni. Chopra was then cleaned up by Misal in the 29th over.
Brief Score:
Goa: 324 & 367/6d in 118 overs (SS Kauthankar 101; R Dhawan 2/58)
Himachal Pradesh: 376 & 125/2 in 30 overs (P Chopra 60; D Misal 1/13)