Saurashtra's veteran left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja bagged his 22nd five-wicket haul as the defending champions scored an innings and 243-run victory against Manipur to move into the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals from Group A in Rajkot on Sunday.
Saurashtra's victory was a foregone conclusion on day two itself when they had reduced Manipur to 55/3 in their second innings on Saturday, and the task was completed by the 33-year-old Jadeja, who bagged a five-for on day three as the visitors slumped to a big defeat at the Sanosara Cricket Ground.
Manipur had made 142 in the first innings batting first, and following that Saurashtra had declared their lone innings at a mammoth 529/6.
Manipur then folded up at 144 in 51.5 overs in their second essay to hand over the hosts the victory with a bonus point.
Besides Jadeja (5/55), Yuvrajsinh Dodiya (3/51) and India white-ball pacer Chetan Sakariya (2/28) too contributed the big win.
The difference in class between Saurashtra and Manipur was all too visible from the opening day of the seventh and concluding round of the Ranji league matches.
After dismissing Manipur for a paltry 142, with Jadeja taking four wickets, Saurashtra piled up tons of runs with stand-in skipper Arpit Vasavada (148), Prerak Mankad (173) and Cheteshwar Pujara (103) scoring centuries as the home team batters declared at 529/6.
Then, Saurashtra bowlers Sakariya, Jadeja and Dodiya picked up a wicket each in the final session on Saturday to put the hosts in a commanding position.
The home team bowlers continued the good work on Sunday bagging the remaining seven wickets.
Saurashtra, with 29 points from seven games, are the only team from the Group A so far to have secured a place in the quarterfinals, while Vidarbha (27 points, six games) and Haryana (24, six games) too are in with a chance to make the grade.
A clear picture will emerge at the conclusion of the seventh round of matches on Monday.
Brief Scores:
In Rajkot: Manipur 142 and 144 in 51.5 overs (Ronald Longjam 32, Bikash Singh 64 not out; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 5/55, Chetan Sakariya 2/28, Yuvrajsinh Dodiya 3/51) lost to Saurashtra 529/6 decl, by an innings and 243 runs.
In Jamshedpur: Jharkhand 188 and 269 in 76 overs (Aryaman Sen 38, Aditya Singh 72; Aniket Choudhary 3/38, Kukna Ajay Singh 3/61) lead Rajasthan 210 all out and 120 for 6 in 51 overs (Mahipal Lomror batting 30; Shahbaz Nadeem 3/46, Anukul Roy 3/26) by 127 runs.
In Delhi: Maharashtra 225 trail Services 430 for 9 in 189 overs (Shubham Rohilla 72, Vineet Dhankhar 43, Rajat Paliwal 51, Nakul Sharma 87, Arjun Sharma batting 43; Taranjitsingh Dhillon 4/129, Arshin Kulkarni 2/41) by 205 runs.
In Nagpur: Vidarbha 423 and 113 for 4 in 38.2 overs (Dhruv Shorey 43, Atharva Taide 49) lead Haryana 333 by 203 runs.
Karnataka set for comfortable win
Sharath Srinivas and Vysakh Vijaykumar notched up stroke-filled unbeaten hundreds as Karnataka placed themselves in a prime position to push for an outright win against Chandigarh on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Group C match in Hubli on Sunday.
Wicketkeeper batter Srinivas (100, 160b, 11x4) and Vysakh (103, 141b, 10x4, 2x6) stitched together 198 runs for the sixth wicket stand as Karnataka declared their first innings at 563 for five.
It gave the home side a lead of 296 runs and at close Chandigarh have reached 61 for no loss.
Karnataka started the day at 268 for three, ahead by just one run with veteran batter Manish Pandey, overnight 102, having young Hardik Raj (49) for company.
They batted with purpose as Pandey motored to 148 and Hardik reached 82.
But their 239-run association for the fourth wicket ended when Hardik succumbed to left-arm spinner Karan Kalia, the most successful Chandigarh bowler (3/143).
Karnataka were 354 for 4 then.
Kalia trapped Pandey leg before 11 runs later but the hosts found two more willing soldiers in Srinivas and Vysakh as both of them went on to make their maiden First-Class hundreds.
Karnataka are now second in Group C with 24 points behind Gujarat (25 points) and they will be looking for an outright win to top the group.
As things stand now, Karnataka can finish the group engagements with 27 points by virtue of their first innings lead. But an outright win, if it is by innings, will swell their tally to 31.
At Salem, Tamil Nadu are battling for a quarterfinals berth against Punjab. TN have 22 points and they have taken the first-innings lead over Punjab.
If the match ends in a draw TN will have 25 points, same as Gujarat, but they can go through to knockouts after logging a better Net Run Rate of 1.78 as against the Western side's 1.11.
But if they manage a win, then Tamil Nadu can have 28 points.
Brief scores: At Hubli: Chandigarh: 267 and 61/0 in 11 overs vs Karnataka: 563/5 declared (Manish Pandey 148, Sharath Srinivas 100 not out, Vysakh Vijaykumar 103 not out, Hardik Raj 82; Karan Kalia 3/143).
At Salem: Tamil Nadu: 435 vs Punjab: 274 all out and 180/4 (Nehal Wadhera 103 batting; S Ajith Ram 3/42).
At Agartala: Tripura: 149 and 333 all out vs Railways: 105 and 270/4 (Pratham Singh 113 batting, Mohammad Saif 106, M Murasingh 2/41).
At Porvorim: Goa: 317 and 143 vs Gujarat 346 and 117/3 (Aditya Patel 38 not out, Het Patel 46 not out) lost by 7 wickets.
Dhull hits a hundred to end season on a high
Yash Dhull scored his first century of the season before Jonty Sidhu hit an unbeaten ton to help Delhi take a slender 11-run first innings lead against Odisha in their Ranji Trophy Group D match in New Delhi on Sunday.
Starting day three at 187 for two, Delhi ended up with 451 all out in response to Odisha's 440 in the first innings.
Dhull, who did not have the best of times opening the batting, made 112 off 167 balls batting at number three to end the season on a high. The inconsequential Ranji game is heading towards a drab draw.
In the middle-order, Jonty (105 not out off 218) got the big runs and ensure Delhi got the first innings lead. Debutant Gagan Vats made 66 at the top of the order while Kshitiz Sharma struck 64 while batting alongside Jonty.
Both Delhi and Odisha have not progressed to the knockout stage of the competition.
Delhi's two wins of the season came against Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, helping them avoid relegation after a poor start to their campaign.
Brief Scores:
In New Delhi: Odisha 1st Innings 440 (Subhransu Senapati 111, Biplab Samantray 110, Sumit Mathur 4/97). Delhi 1st Innings 451 all out in 130.3 overs (Gagan Vats 66, Yash Dhull 112, Jonty Sidhu).
In Puducherry: HP 1st Innings 463 (Nikhil Gangta 108, Mukul Negi 55, Gaurav Yadav 2/123, Sidak Singh 4/155). Puducherry 1st Innings 202 all out and 198 (f/o) in 43.3 overs. Himachal Pradesh won by an innings and 63 runs.
