An inspirational catch at first slip by Anushtup Majumdar off Ranadeb Bose's bowling enabled Bengal earn three points against Delhi by virtue of 14-run first innings lead in a Group A Super League match of the Ranji Trophy at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground in New Delhi on Thursday.
In reply to Bengal's first innings score of 473, Delhi were all-out for 459 in 148.1 overs. The last wicket pair of Pradeep Sangwan (23 not out) and Parwinder Awana (3)added 22 runs in 42 minutes before a magnificent effort from Anushtup gave Bengal the three points that they desperately needed for a good start.
Brief Scores: Bengal 473 & 92/3 (A Das 36 not out); Delhi 459 (V Kohli 173, R Bhatia 65, S Narwal 60, R Bose 4/137, A Dinda 4/132).
Mumbai-Saurashtra match ends in tame draw
The Ranji Trophy Super League match between holders Mumbai and Saurashtra at the MCA facility in the Bandra-Kurla Complex ended in a lame draw on Thursday.
At close of play on the fourth and final day, Mumbai had made 207 for two in their seconds innings, for an overall lead of 413, when the two captains agreed to end play an hour ahead of the scheduled close.
Wasim Jaffer remained unbeaten on 103 -- his second century of the match -- and giving him company was Rohit Sharma on 74.
Earlier Saurashtra, resuming at their overnight score of 364 for seven, managed to add just six more runs to their total thereby giving the hosts a first innings lead of 210 runs.
However, Mumbai refused to enforce the follow-on, opting to have some batting practice instead.
The hosts got three points by virtue of their first innings lead.
Railways earn draw, Gujarat walk away with three points
Half-centuries by V Cheluvaraj and Sanjay Bangar helped Services earn a draw against Gujarat but the visitors pocketed three points from the Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match on the basis of their first innings lead, in New Delhi on Thursday.
Beginning the day at 54 for one with another 108-run deficit to erase while following-on, Cheluvaraj and Bangar batted their side to safety with a 94-run for the second wicket at Karnail Singh stadium.
Cheluvaraj scored 73 off 249 balls while Bangar's 51 came off 159 balls as the Railways ended the final day at 246 for eight.
The two batsmen spent a lot of time at the crease, making sure their innings do not fell apart on the last day of the tie and get at least one point from it.
Railways will next take on Assam while Gujarat will lock horns against Saurashtra from November 10.
Tamil Nadu register easy win over Assam
Tamil Nadu started their Ranji Trophy campaign on a good note as they registered a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Assam in their opening Group A Super League match on the final and fourth day in Chennai on Thursday.
Needing just 120 for victory, Tamil Nadu's march was briefly halted by a sudden rain when they were on 84 for two in 16.2 overs. But play resumed after 33 minutes.
Openers Abhinav Mukund (32) and Man of the Match Srikkanth Anirudha (48) gave TN a solid start, chasing a small total and then R Satish (27 not out) and S Badrinath (6 not out) drove the team home in 25.2 overs.
In the bowling department, debutant medium-pacer Sunil Sam scalped four wickets (17-5-56-4) to contribute to TN's success.
Brief Scores: Assam: 184 & 281 all out (D Jadhav 38, S Sriram 121, Tarjinder Singh 99, S Sam 4/56, L Balaji 2/23 and R Ashwin 2/74). Tamil Nadu: 346 for 9 decl & 123 for 3 (A Mukund 32, S Anirudha 48, R Satish 27 not out, S Badrinath 6 not out).
Haryana-Himachal play out draw
Riding on a 139-run second wicket partnership between Sangram Singh (89) and unbeaten VA Indulkar (62), Himachal Pradesh salvaged a draw against Haryana in their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match at HPCA stadium in Dharamsala on Thursday.
At close of play, Himachal scored 168 at the loss of two wickets in 51.5 overs in their second innings after losing opener Bhavin Thakkar (13) early in the 11th over, with 29 on board. The hosts were set a victory target of 360 runs by the visitors on the final day of the four-day tie.
While Haryana earned three points from the drawn match on the basis of their first innings lead, the hosts got one.
Brief scores: Haryana: 316 and 249/5 decl (Nitin Saini 92, Manav Sharma 51, Mohinderraj Sharma 3/60). Himachal Pradesh: 206 and 168/2 (51.5 ov) (Sangram Singh 89, Sanjay Budhwar 1/36).
UP earn three points in drawn encounter
Uttar Pradesh earned three points by virtue of 74-run first innings lead against Punjab in their elite Group B Ranji Trophy match that ended in a draw on the at the Bhamashah Stadium in Meerut on Thursday.
Pankaj Dharmani scored a fine unbeaten century, while Uday Kaul and Vishwas Bhalla chipped in with valuable runs to help Punjab end the day on 354 for six in 118.1 overs and stop Uttar Pradesh from registering a win.
However, the hosts ended up getting three crucial points, while Punjab could get only one.
Brief scores: Punjab: 288 & 354 for 6 in 118.1 overs (Pankaj Dharmani 135 n.o., Uday Kaul 74, Vishwas Bhalla 76; Piyush Chawla 2/78). Uttar Pradesh: 362 (Mohammad Kaif 58, Praveen Kumar 43; Navdeep Sidhu 4/128, Rajwinder Singh 3/66).
Baroda-Orissa tie ends in draw
Ambati Rayudu scored an unbeaten 200 as Baroda put up a much better show in their second innings but it was Orissa that grabbed three points from the drawn Ranji Trophy Elite Group match on the basis of their first-innings lead, in Cuttack on Thursday.
Baroda were all out for 148 in their first innings and in reply, Orissa had scored 352.
Trailing by a huge 204-run margin, Baroda piled up an impressive 414 for six in their second essay, adding 332 runs to its overnight 82 for one, as Rayudu batted magnificently.
Brief Score: Baroda 1st innings: 148 and (Overnight 82 for 1) 414 for 6. Orissa 1st innings: 352.
