Defending champions Madhya Pradesh and Punjab qualify for quarter-finals.
A summary of Friday's action in the Ranji Trophy matches across the country.
Saurashtra, despite losing their final round game to Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh advanced to the knock-out stage of the Ranji Trophy from Group B after the Mumbai-Maharashtra game ended in an exciting draw on Friday.
Though Saurashtra, Andhra and Maharashtra finished level on 26 points after the seven rounds in the league phase, the first two teams made it to the quarter-finals.
Maharashtra missed out because it did not gain any bonus point.
Andhra, which was on 19 points before the final round match against Assam, routed their opponent by an innings to gain a bonus point which helped them pip Maharashtra.
Mumbai, which was in the reckoning but needed to win or secure a first innings lead to grab three points and reach 26, managed only one after a tie with Maharashtra on the first innings score of 374 in their final round match.
In Chennai, left-arm spinner S Ajith Ram came up with a six-wicket haul to propel Tamil Nadu to a 59-run win over Saurashtra.
Needing 266 for victory, the visiting team was bowled out for 206 in 68.2 overs as Harvik Desai's marathon knock of 101 (205 balls, 10 fours, 3 sixes) went in vain.
Resuming at the overnight 4 for 1, Saurashtra slumped to 18 for 4 in the 12th over with Ram picking up the scalps of night-watchman Chetan Sakariya (1) and Sheldon Jackson (1).
M Siddharth, another left-arm spinner, removed Chirag Jani (13).
The experienced Arpit Vasavada (45) forged an 89-run stand for the fifth wicket with Desai to frustrate the home team’s bowling attack.
With the pitch offering turn and some deliveries keeping low, the two batters -- Desai and Vasavada chose to be circumspect. Desai did not miss out on the opportunity to score when the TN bowlers erred in line and length.
Siddharth ended the partnership by bowling Vasavada.
Comeback man Ravindra Jadeja walked in with the team's hopes of salvaging the game resting on him.
After making just 15 in the first innings, the left-handed batter would have been looking to make amends. He played watchfully and was involved in a 51-run stand with Desai.
Having started with a reverse sweep for four, Jadeja played watchfully for some time. His dismissal by Ajith Ram to a catch by B Aparajith handed Tamil Nadu the advantage.
Despite Desai's stiff resistance, Ajith Ram ran through the lower order. Desai's defiant knock ended when Sandeep Warrier (1/5) castled him, signalling the end of the match.
Ajith Ram finished with impressive figures of 6 for 54 as he ended his debut season with a bang.
It was TN's second win of the season and helped them finish with 25 points and in fifth spot.
Mumbai, Maharashtra bow out; Andhra sneak in
In Mumbai, the match between the home team and Maharashtra saw a topsy-turvy final day. After the two sides scored 384 each in the first innings, Maharashtra were bowled out for 252 in the second innings.
Needing 253 in 28 overs for an outright win, Mumbai batters went on the offensive from the start but the dismissal of skipper Ajinkya Rahane (35) to Pradeep Dadhe and Divyaansh (63) to Satyajit Bachhav pegged them back.
Mumbai were 58 runs short when the game ended.
The drawn match enabled Andhra (26 points) to sneak into the knockouts ahead of Mumbai and Maharashtra along with Saurashtra.
Hyderabad succumbed to a nine-wicket defeat to Delhi to end a dismal season with six straight defeats after a draw against TN in the opening game. Hyderabad will be relegated to the Plate group next season.
Brief scores:
In Chennai: Tamil Nadu 324 and 133 beat Saurashtra 192 and 206 all out in 68.2 overs (Harvik Desai 101 (205 balls, 10x4, 3x6), Arpit Vasavada 45, S Ajith Ram 6/54, M Siddharth 3/71) by 59 runs.
Tamil Nadu 6 points, Saurashtra 0.
In Hyderabad: Hyderabad 355 all out and 124 all out in 37.4 overs (K Rohit Rayudu 32, Harshit Rana 7/45, Divij Mehra 3/34) lost to Delhi 433 all out in 100.5 overs (Ayush Badoni 191) and 47 for 1 in 8.4 overs by 9 wickets.
Delhi 6 points, Hyderabad 0.
In Mumbai: Maharashtra 384 all out and 252 all out in 83.5 overs (Azim Kazi 75, SS Nawale 47, S A Veer 38, Shams Mulani 4/81) vs Mumbai 384 all out in 116 overs (Prasad Pawar 145, Tanush Kotian 93, Pradeep Dhade 3/80) and 195 for 6 in 27.3 overs (Divyaansh 62, A Rahane 35). Mumbai 1 point, Maharashtra 1.
Roul takes six wickets as Odisha thrash Bengal by seven wickets
Odisha created a huge upset, defeating Bengal by seven wickets on the final day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match on Friday, with pace bowler Sunil Roul wrecking the hosts' batting line-up by taking six wickets.
Though Bengal secured a quarter-final berth in the previous round itself, Friday’s defeat at the Eden Gardens ahead of the knock-out round will dampen their spirits somewhat.
Uttarakhand finished second behind Bengal (32 points) and moved into the quarter-finals after their match against Haryana ended in a draw. Uttarakhand earned three points, owing to their first-innings lead which took their tally to 29 points.
Bengal will take on Jharkhand in the first quarter-final, while Uttarakhand will play Karnataka on January 31.
Odisha first dismissed Bengal for 276 in 79 overs, thanks to 24-year-old Roul's six-wicket haul. The visitors' batters then returned for the second innings to quickly overhaul the 112-run winning target in the 23rd over.
Much of Bengal's woes in the match were on account of their paltry first-innings score of 100 and they couldn't recover from that, despite their opener Abhimanyu Easwaran making amends and scoring a century in the second innings.
Bengal's second innings folded at 276, with Roul playing the role of wrecker-in-chief as he accounted for almost the entire top order, including the well-set Easwaran for 101 runs.
Easwaran, who was unbeaten on 94 overnight, added just five runs on the morning of the final day, while the other overnight batter, skipper Manoj Tiwary, was consumed by Basant Mohanty for the addition of just two runs to his Thursday's score of 50.
With the two mainstays departing, Roul kept chipping away, dismissing wicketkeeper Abhishek Porel (38), Pritam Chakraborty (1) and Geet Puri (0), thus bringing an end to Bengal's innings.
Odisha seemed in a hurry to complete the job and Sandeep Pattnaik (28 n.o.) and Rakesh Pattnaik (20 n.o.) scoring at a quick rate after opener Anurag Sarangi (37) had given them a confident start.
Brief scores:
In Kolkata: Odisha 265 and 112 for 3 in 22.2 overs (Anurag Sarangi 37, Sandeep Pattnaik 28 n.o.) beat Bengal 100 and 276 in 79 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 101, Sudip Gharami 50, Manoj Tiwary 52; Sunil Roul 6/96) by seven wickets.
In Rohtak: Haryana 233 and 168 for 7 decl (Yuvraj Singh 77 n.o., Mayank Mishra 4/44) drew with Uttarakhand 269 and 61 for 5 in 23 overs (Jayant Yadav 3/50).
In Nadaun: Himachal Pradesh 92 for 2 in 26 overs drew with Uttar Pradesh.
Holders MP, Punjab make it to quarters
Ahmedabad: Defending champions Madhya Pradesh and Punjab qualified for the quarter-finals after finishing in the top two positions in Group D following a draw in their respective matches.
While holders MP folded for 331 to concede a first-innings lead to Tripura, Punjab did not get to bat, as Vidarbha ended their first innings on the fourth day at 273 for 6 following loss of play time due to bad weather.
The draw, however, couldn’t hurt MP as they finished on top of Group D with 33 points from seven matches. Punjab (27) and Railways (22) placed second and third respectively.
On Day 4, medium pacer Rana Dutta completed a five-wicket haul as Tripura dismissed holders Madhya Pradesh for 331 in their first innings to grab three points on the basis of the first-innings lead.
The 33-year-old emerged the most successful bowler as MP added only another 172 runs to their overnight score of 159 for 2 to hand Tripura a crucial 31-run first-innings lead.
After cleaning up Himanshu Mantri (16) and Shubham Sharma (55) on Day 3, Dutta returned to pick up the wickets of Yash Dubey (64), Harsh Gawli (47) and skipper Adity Shrivastava (6).
He also ran out Mihir Hirwani (11) and was named ‘Player of the Match’. Dutta also scored a crucial 33 in the first innings for Tripura.
Manisankar Murasingh (1/102), Abhijit Sarkar (1/810) and Rajat Dey (1/23) also accounted for one wicket each.
MP's innings would have folded up much earlier had it not been for number 10 batter Kumar kartikeya, who came up with a 110-ball 61 laced with 9 fours and 2 sixes.
Brief scores:
In Indore: Tripura 362 drew with Madhya Pradesh 331 all out in 114.1 overs (Yash Dubey 64, Kumar Kartikeya 61; Rana Dutta 5/82).
Match drawn. Tripura 3 points, Madhya Pradesh 1.
In Mohali: Vidarbha 273/6 in 86 overs drew with Punjab.
Vidarbha 1, Punjab 1.
In Chandigarh: Chandigarh 18 for no loss in six overs drew with Jammu and Kashmir.
Chandigarh 1, Jammu & Kashmir 1.
Jharkhand cruise into quarter-finals from Group C
Puducherry: Jharkhand became the second team behind Karnataka to sail into the quarter-finals from Group C after the match between Kerala and Puducherry ended in a draw and Services thrashed Rajasthan by 183 runs.
While Karnataka had already secured a last-eight berth following the penultimate round of Ranji matches, Jharkhand had to wait till the last day of the seventh and final round of group matches, which concluded on Friday, to know their fate.
On Thursday, Jharkhand had lost to Karnataka by nine wickets and their players would have been edgy all day long on Friday as their fate was to be decided by the Kerala-Puducherry and Services-Rajasthan matches.
Luckily for Jharkhand, both results went in their favour and they will take on Bengal in the quarter-finals, while Group C toppers Karnataka will play Uttarakhand in the last-eight.
On Friday, Rajasthan needed to score an outright win against Services to enter the quarters, but suffered a huge loss.
Rajasthan, who were chasing an improbable target of 319 to win, were bundled out for 135, with Services pacer Poonam Poonia and off-spinner Pulkit Narang taking five wickets each.
Rajasthan opener Yash Kothari tried to keep the innings intact with a workman-like 72 but his departure opened the floodgates and a steady procession to the dressing room ensued.
Kerala's chances of making the quarters hinged on either the team taking a first-innings lead or beating Puducherry. Both didn't happen, and they earned just one point from the draw, making Jharkhand's entry into the quarter-final easy.
Brief scores:
In Jodhpur: Services 178 and 276 beat Rajasthan 136 and 135 (Yash Kothari 72; Poonam Poonia 5/36, Pulkit Narang 5/22) by 183 runs.
In Puducherry: Puducherry 371 and 279 for 5 in 74.3 overs (Jay Pande 102, Paras Dogra 55, Krishna Pandey 94; Suresh Vishweshwar 3/58) drew with Kerala 286.
In Raipur: Chhattisgarh 531 for 9 decl and 52 for 2 beat Goa 359 and f/o 223 in 86 overs (Ishaan Gadekar 59, Ravi Kiran 3/12, Ajay Mandal 3/61) by eight wickets.
