Ranji Trophy: Delhi go on top with innings win, Bengal and Karnataka secure victory

Ishant Sharma’s Delhi team went on top of the Ranji Trophy table with an innings and 105-run win over Railways while Ashok Dinda and Mohammed Shami guided Bengal to a memorable win over Chattisgarh.

Delhi spinners Manan Sharma and Vikas Mishra took an hour to grab the remaining four wickets as the Ishant Sharma-led team beat Railways by an innings and 105 runs in their second Group A league match of the Ranji Trophy.

Mohammed Shami and Ashok Dinda gave Bengal a thumping win over Chhatisgarh while Delhi went on top of the group in the Ranji Trophy with a win over Railways(AFP)

With seven points including a bonus by virtue of innings victory, Delhi are now on top of Group A with 10 points from two games.

Ashok Dinda, Mohammed Shami shine

Ashok Dinda made it a memorable 100th first-class game for himself with figures of 10 for 47, overshadowing India star Mohammed Shami’s match-haul of eight wickets as Bengal walloped Chhattisgarh by an innings and 160 runs in a Ranji Trophy Group D encounter.

Following on, Chhattisgarh started the final day at 229 for 5 but lost the final five wickets for only 30 more runs as they were all out for 259 in their second innings.

The match was over in less than 12 overs as Shami and Dinda shared the spoils between them.

Gujarat win thriller

Defending champions Gujarat started their Ranji Trophy group B encounter on a winning note against Kerala despite some anxious moments during their low-scoring chase.

Chasing a target of 106, Gujarat started the day at 22 for 1 with the Parthiv Patel-led side needing only 83 runs on the final day.

Overnight not out batsman Chintan Gaja (4) was out with an addition of nine runs. Opener Priyank Panchal then added 24 runs for the third wicket along with Bhargav Merai (21) in 11.3 overs but the former then ran himself out with Gujarat still needing 50 runs.

Manprit Juneja was the fourth batsman to get dismissed at the team total at 75. Jalaj Saxena and Sachin Baby the increased opposition’s woes with couple of quick wickets, leaving Gujarat reeling at a score of 81/6. They still needed 24 runs to get past the target.

It was the captain, who played small but crucial knock in company of Chirag Gandhi as they shared 27 runs for the seventh wicket to finally end the game on a winning note.

Rain plays spoilsport

Tamil Nadu had to settle for three points from its drawn Ranji Trophy Group “C” match against Tripura here as rain and bad light played spoilsport on the last two days.      

Tamil Nadu declared at overnight total of 357 for 4, a lead of 99 runs, in an effort to push for a victory and maximum points. However, only 34 overs of play was possible on the final day today and the visitors lost three wickets to finish at 91 for three.

Karnatake thrash Assam

Karnataka began their 2017 Ranji Trophy campaign with a bang without their big guns like Manish Pandey and K L Rahul, defeating Assam by an innings and 121 runs in the Group A match here.

With this win, Karnataka are placed second in the points table with seven points, next to Delhi who have 10 from two matches.

Sent into bat, Assam were skittled out for 145 in their first innings. In reply, Karnataka declared their first innings at 469 for seven, riding high on centuries by Ravikumar Samarth and Krishnappa Gowtham.

Brief scores

Delhi 447 vs Railways 110 & 206 (Nitin Bhille 73, Vikas Mishra 4/37, Manan Sharma 3/67, Ishant Sharma 1/34). Delhi won by an innings & 105 runs.

Points: Delhi 7; Railways 0.

Hyderabad vs UP. Match abandoned. Points: Hyderabad 1 UP 1.

Assam 145 & 203 (Gokul Sharma 71, R Vinay Kumar 4/31, K Gowtham 3/39) vs Karnataka 469/7 dec. Karnataka won by an innings and 121 runs. Points: Karnataka 7; Assam 0.

Group B

Gujarat 307 & 108/6 (Jalaj Saxena 2/16, Akshay Chandran 2/ 37) vs Kerala 208 & 203. Gujarat won by four wkts.

Points: Gujarat 6 Kerala 0.

Jharkhand 265 & 332/6 (Ishank Jaggi 103*, Nazim Siddiqui 100, Pankaj Singh 3/53) vs Rajasthan 423. Match drawn. Points: Rajasthan 1; Jharkhand 3.

Group C

Tripura 258 & 91/3 v Tamil Nadu 357/4 decl. (W Sundar 159, B Indrajith 89*). Match drawn. Points: TN 3; Tripura 1.

Madhya Pradesh 409 & 145/6 (Ankit Sharama 52*) Mumbai 440 (Jay Bista 135, Surya Kumar Yadav 91, S Lad 82).

Points: Mumbai 3; Madhya Pradesh 1.

Baroda 373 & 195/6 (V Solanki 68) vs Andhra Pradesh 554 (Hanuma Vihari 150, Ricky Bhui 145, B Sumanth 86, A Sheth 5/91).

Points: AP 3; Baroda 1.

Group D

Bengal 529/7 decl. vs Chhattisgarh 110 & 259 (Abhimanyu Chauhan 115, Ashutosh Singh 71, Mohammed Shami 6/61, Ashok Dinda 3/26). Bengal won by an innings and 160 runs.

Points: Bengal 7; Chhattisgarh 0.

Himachal Pradesh 625/7 vs Goa 255 & 426/2 (Swapnil Asnodkar 167, Sumiran Amonkar 137). Match drawn.

Points: Himachal Pradesh 3; Goa 1.

(With inputs from agencies)