Left-arm spinner Nishant Sindhu delivered a match-winning performance, taking 5/56 in the second innings to complete an 11-wicket haul as Haryana defeated Punjab by 37 runs in a Ranji Trophy Group C clash in Rohtak Friday.
Punjab, starting the penultimate day on 73/3 and needing 144 more runs, crumbled under pressure from Sindhu's relentless spin and Jayant Yadav's precise off-spin (3/35 in 10.4 overs), collapsing well before lunch and handing Haryana their second outright win in four matches.
Haryana, who also have two first-innings lead results, strengthened their position at the top of the standings with 19 points from four games, bringing them close to a quarterfinal berth.
Punjab's chase largely rested on overnight batter Prabhsimran Singh, unbeaten on 23, but his early dismissal by Sindhu triggered a collapse.
Nehal Wadhera struck a quick 33 off 34 balls with five boundaries and a six, briefly reviving hopes, but his fall sealed Punjab's fate.
Punjab ultimately lost eight of their second-innings wickets to Haryana's spinners, as Sindhu and Yadav dominated the conditions in Lahli, where 33 of the 40 wickets in the match went to spin.
Rain leaks disrupt Kerala v UP clash
A heavy downpour resulting in leaky dressing room roofs led to early stumps at the St Xaviers College ground at Thumba in Thiruvananthapuram where hosts Kerala held a strong position, reducing Uttar Pradesh to 66/2, still trailing by 167 runs.
Rainwater seeped through several parts of the ceiling, reportedly damaging players' kit bags, while the wicket remained under cover as only 32.1 overs were possible in the day.
Earlier, Salman Nizar top-scored with 93, while Sachin Baby (84) and Mohammad Azharuddeen (40) provided crucial contributions to extend the lead of Kerala who are second in the table ahead of Karnataka on net run-rate.
Bengal in command vs Karnataka
Ishan Porel delivered crucial breakthroughs with figures of 4/54 from 23.1 overs, leading Bengal's three-pronged pace attack that claimed nine wickets to secure a significant first-innings lead over Karnataka.
Resuming on 155/5, Karnataka were bowled out for 221 in 82.1 overs, with Porel striking early.
Abhinav Manohar, resuming overnight on 50, added only five runs before falling for 55, while Shreyas Gopal got out for 28 both to Porel.
In their second essay, Bengal reached 127/3, with Sudip Chatterjee giving them a fine start before falling for 48.
Bengal now hold an overall lead of 207, putting them firmly in control.
Brief Scores
In Rohtak: Haryana 114 and 243 b Punjab 141 and 179; 39.4 overs (Salil Arora 57, Nehal Wadhera 33; Nishant Sindhu 5/56, Jayant Yadav 3/35) by 37 runs.
In Patna: Madhya Pradesh 616. Bihar 331/8; 130.5 overs (Ayush Loharuka 76, Bipin Saurabh 71, Sharman Nigrodh 42; Saransh Jain 3/107).
In Thumba: Uttar Pradesh 162 and 66/2; 18 overs. Kerala 395; 124.1 overs (Salman Nizar 93, Sachin Baby 83; Aaqib Khan 3/61).
In Bengaluru: Bengal 301 and 127/3; 44 overs (Sudip Chatterjee 48). Karnataka 221; 82.1 overs (Abhinav Manohar 55; Ishan Porel 4/54, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 3/65).
Mumbai close in on big win against Odisha after imposing follow-on in Ranji Trophy
Mumbai closed in on a big win despite Odisha's stoic resistance with the bat as the defending champions reduced the visitors to 126/5 at stumps on Day Three after imposing follow-on, in their Ranji Trophy Group A encounter in Mumbai.
Odisha were trailing by another 191 runs as a defeat by an innings loomed large despite their stoic resistance making Mumbai toil here at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy Ground.
Resuming at 146 for five in reply to Mumbai's massive 602 for four declared, Odisha made the Mumbai bowlers work hard for nearly 95 overs in the first innings, and after Ajinkya Rahane asked them to follow-on as the hosts took a 319-run lead, the response was no different.
Sandeep Pattanaik led the fight for Odisha in the first innings with a fine 187-ball 102 laced with 11 fours and four sixes and he was ably supported by the lower-order batters after the specialists disappointed.
However, the right-handed Pattanaik could only make 39 (45 balls, 6 fours, 1 six) in the second essay before being dismissed by left-arm spinner Shams Mulani (1/26), who took 6/115 in the first innings.
On a pitch assisting turn and bounce but largely favourable to batters due to grass cover, young right-arm off-spinner Himanshu Singh, who copies R Ashwin's bowling action, claimed 3/45 in the second essay with great control after his 3/53 in the first innings.
At stumps, wicketkeeper-batter Aashirwad Swain (46 not out) was holding one front.
While the 27-year-old Mulani expressed delight on taking his 14th five-for in First-Class cricket, he admitted his disappointment in not getting a chance with the India A side currently playing in Australia.
“It is disappointing. But that is how life is, a lot of people don't get selected who should get selected. My job is to keep on bowling and help my team and keep (up) the standards,” he told media after stumps.
“There is a storm inside me but not many can see it. I have to keep grinding over here, on tough tracks to bowl on, bowling 30-35 overs so that I can showcase my fitness as well."
“It feels really good to pick up a fifer after a very long time. Normally it was not the case; I was taking 3-4 wickets and finally I have got a fifer. It was very important for me personally and for the team as well, we need this (win) outright and we are moving in the right direction,” he said.
In Pune, Maharashtra were placed precariously as they reached 52 for three chasing 339 to win, needing another 287 against Services.
The visitors had folded for 230 in the second innings after earning a 108-run lead, thus setting a stiff target for the hosts at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Gahunje.
In Agartala, Tripura were leading by 210 runs at the close of play in the second innings after declaring at 482 for seven in their first essay, with visitors Baroda reaching 37 for no loss.
Tripura took a huge lead of 252 runs in the first innings as each of their top five batters made fifties, which included Bikram Kumar Das (97), Jiwanjot Singh (94), Tejasvi Jaiswal (82), Sridam Paul (73) and Mandeep Singh (74 not out). For the record, Tejasvi is India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal's younger brother.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir defeated Meghalaya by seven wickets at the MCA Ground in Shillong and claimed six points.
The visitors, who dominated from the word go and had bowled out Meghalaya for paltry scores of 73 and 195, chased the 75-run target in 15.4 overs reaching 77 for three.
Auqib Nabi was named the Player of the Match for his spells of 5/14 and 5/60.
Brief Scores:
At Mumbai: Mumbai 602/4 decl. lead Odisha 285 in 94.3 overs (Sandeep Pattanaik 102; Shams Mulani 6/115) & 126/5 in 42 overs (F/O) (Aashirwad Swain 46*; Himanshu Singh 3/45) by 191 runs.
At Pune: Services 293 & 230 in 73.5 overs (Amit Shukla 51; Satyajeet Bachav 5/80) lead Maharashtra 185 & 52/3 in 20 overs (Sachin Dhas 15*; Pulkit Narang 2/22) by 287 runs.
At Shillong: Meghalaya 73 & 195 lost to Jammu and Kashmir 194 & 77/3 in 15.4 overs (Vivrant Sharma 32*; Akash Kumar 2/36) by 7 wickets.
At Agartala: Baroda 235 & 37/0 in 16 overs (Shivalik Sharma 25*, JK Singh 12*) trail Tripura 482/7d in 120.1 overs (Bikram kumar Das 97, Jiwanjot Singh 94, Tejasvi Jaiswal 82, Sridam Paul 73, Mandeep Singh 74*) by 210 runs.
Spinner Nishunk's 12-wicket haul puts Chandigarh on course for victory over Delhi
Delhi batters, barring opener Sanat Sangwan and young Yash Dhull, continued with their no-show as Chandigarh's young left-arm spinner Nishunk Birla grabbed his second six-wicket haul of the match to put the hosts on the cusp of victory in their Ranji Trophy game in Chandigarh.
Having scored 276 in the first innings, Delhi fared worse in the second essay by getting bowled out for 250, with only first-innings centurion Dhull's 58 and opener Sangwan's 70 being the significant contributions.
On a track that offered turn and bounce, Birla took 6 for 65 in 27.1 overs and had a match haul 12 for 138 to set up an easy victory target of 203 for Chandigarh, who were 46 for no loss at stumps on the third day.
A lot will depend on how Delhi's spin troika of Hrithik Shokeen, Shivank Vashist and Sumit Mathur perform on the final day as Chandigarh would look to get six points and consolidate their position on top of the table with a possible 19 points.
Having conceded a 48-run first-innings lead, Delhi were cruising along at 138 for 1 at one point in time with Sangwan and Dhull adding 96 for the second wicket. Once Gurinder got rid of Dhull and Sangwan, who hit seven fours, Birla ran through the middle and lower-order.
Anuj Rawat (20) and Ayush Badoni (1), who are more focussed on IPL and T20 cricket, were big-time flops and so was skipper Himmat Singh (26), who hasn't played a match-winning innings in a long time. Not much was expected of Khsitiz Sharma (11) either.
It was Shokeen, whose four towering sixes in a knock of 33, saw Delhi set a 200-plus target for Chandigarh.
Brief Scores
In Chandigarh: Delhi 276 and 250 (Sanat Sangwan 70, Yash Dhull 58, Nishunk Birla 6/65).
Chandigarh 324 and (target 203) 2nd Innings 46 for no loss.
In Guwahati: Tamil Nadu 338 and 2nd Innings 8/0.
Assam Ist Innings 445 (Denish Das 109, SS Roy 69, Swarupam Purkayastha 90, PR Paul 3/45)
In Raipur: Chattisgarh 500 for 9 declared.
Railways 1st Innings 323/3 (Suraj Ahuja 135 batting, B Vivek Singh 86, Upendra Yadav 41 batting).
In Ranchi: Jharkhand 306 and 2nd Innings 74/1.
Saurashtra 1st Innings 386 (Harvik Desai 155, Arpit Vasavada 73, Vikas Kumar 3/74, Manishi 3/75).
Uttarakhand set Andhra 321-run target after bowlers dominate
Optimistic visitors Uttarakhand nosed ahead of Andhra after bowlers from both sides called the shots on an eventful third day's play by grabbing as many as 16 wickets in their Ranji Trophy Group B match in Vizianagaram.
Set a target of 321 after Uttarakhand's sporting declaration at 129/9, Andhra were 8/1 at stumps, needing another 313 runs for an improbable victory.
Resuming at overnight 92/4, Andhra were all out for a paltry 146 in reply to Uttarakhand's 338, thus giving the visiting side a massive lead of 210 runs heading into their second essay.
Out-of-favour India all-rounder Hanuma Vihari was the top-scorer for Andhra with a 43-run knock that came off 91 balls and contained six boundaries.
Opener Abhishek Reddy was the second-best scorer for Andhra, with 35 off 64 balls.
It was a complete team effort by the Uttarakhand bowlers with left-arm spinner Mayank Mishra (3/12) being their most successful bowler.
There were two wickets apiece for Deepak Dhapola (2/29), Abhay Negi (2/30) and Swapnil Singh (2/19), as the Andhra innings lasted 56.3 overs.
When Uttarakhand came out to bat for the second time in the game, they were hoping to build on their big first-innings lead of over 200 runs. However, things didn't pan out in the manner they had hoped for as Uttarakhand lost half their side with just 39 runs on the board.
At 61 for seven, they were in danger of being bowled out under 100 but Swapnil Singh, batting at number eight, stood firm and contributed an invaluable 39 off 90 deliveries while adding 41 runs for the ninth wicket with Deepak Dhapola (8).
The visitors declared their second innings with Dhapola's dismissal, giving both the Uttarakhand bowlers and Andhra batters enough time to go for an outright win.
Cheepurapalli Stephen (3/25) and KV Sasikanth (3/27), who started the proceedings for Andhra with the new ball, took six wickets between them equally, while left-arm spinner Lalith Mohan chipped in with two, after picking four in the first innings.
The stumps were drawn for the day with the dismissal of Abhishek Reddy (6) in Andhra's second innings, the opener getting bowled by Dhapola at the start of the fifth over.
The home team will have its task cut out on the fourth and final day against a determined Uttarakhand bowling unit at the Dr PVG Raju ACA Sports Complex where the bowlers have tasted plenty of success.
Brief scores:
In Vizianagaram: Uttarakhand 338 and 128/9 declared in 49 overs (Swapnil Singh 39; Cheepurapalli Stephen 3/25, KV Sasikanth (3/27) vs Andhra 146 all out 56.3 overs (Hanuma Vihari 43; Mayank Mishra 3/12) and 8/1 in 4/1 overs.
In Nagpur: Himachal Pradesh 307 and 51/2 in 15 overs vs Vidarbha 1st innings 575 all out in 140.1 overs (Dhruv Shorey 125, Yash Rathod 128, Karun Nair 85, Akshay Wadkar 67, Danish Malewar 59; Divesh Sharma 4/99).
In Ahmedabad: Puducherry 1st innings: 361 vs Gujarat 1st innings 359/9 in 118 overs (Aarya Desai 200; Sagar Udeshi 4/72).
In Jaipur: Hyderabad 410 and 36/0 vs Rajasthan 1st innings 425 all out in 108.2 overs (Mahipal Lomror 111, Shubham Garhwal 108, Abhijeet Tomar 60; Tanay Thyagarajan 3/104).
