Pitch remained the centre of attention at the Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi as the ball kept the batters on tenterhooks after the Ranji Trophy group D match between Punjab and Railways had to be restarted on Thursday. Reduced to a two-day affair, Railways batters found the going tough and ended the day at 59/5 from 32 overs after Punjab opted to bowl. The match was finally restarted at 2pm after match referee Youraj Singh gave a go ahead following a long discussion with both team skippers Mandeep Singh and Karn Sharma.
Karnail Singh Stadium has been notorious for producing some of the worst tracks in the country for years and the venue had also been suspended on earlier occasions.
It is understood that BCCI could take action once it receives report from the on-field umpires and the match referee. Railways debutant opener Rahul Rawat (12) was also hit on the helmet by Siddarth Kaul who returned with 3/19 from his 12 overs. Few balls stayed below the knee height, while some flew off the pitch. The umpires were seen in long discussion just fourth over into the innings but it went on as Railways managed to see through the day.
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At stumps, wicketkeeper-batter Upendra Yadav (10; 29b) was at the crease with skipper Sharma (1). Their fixture had to be suspended after the surface was deemed “dangerous and unfit for play” by the match officials on Wednesday as it got off to a fresh start on an adjacent pitch.
{{/usCountry}}At stumps, wicketkeeper-batter Upendra Yadav (10; 29b) was at the crease with skipper Sharma (1). Their fixture had to be suspended after the surface was deemed “dangerous and unfit for play” by the match officials on Wednesday as it got off to a fresh start on an adjacent pitch.
{{/usCountry}}As many as 24 wickets tumbled in 103 overs with fast bowlers accounting for 20 of them when play was stopped by the match officials. Punjab were at 18 for 4 in their second essay after taking a 12-run first innings lead.
Meanwhile, in Ahmedabad home team Gujarat rode on left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai's 14-wicket match haul to thrash Jammu and Kashmir by nine wickets. Their first win of the season took Gujarat (seven points) to second spot behind defending champions Madhya Pradesh (14). Following on, Jammu and Kashmir were bundled out for 182 with Desai claiming 8/66 to add to his first innings tally of 6/38.
Brief Scores At Delhi: Railways 59/5; 32 overs (Siddarth Kaul 3/19) vs Punjab.
At Ahmedabad: Gujarat 307 and 11/1; 2.5 overs. Jammu and Kashmir 135 and following on 182; 58 overs (Henan Nazir 43, Vivrant Sharma 41; Siddharth Desai 8/66, Hardik Patel 2/55). Gujarat won by nine wickets. Points: Gujarat 6, Jammu and Kashmir 0.
At Nagpur: Vidarbha 264 and 348/6; 79 overs (Ganesh Satish 142 not out, Akshay Wadkar 88; Parvez Sultan 3/96). Tripura 299; 95.3 overs (Sudip Chatterjee 83, Wriddhiman Saha 66, Sridam Paul 47; Yash Thakur 5/44, Aditya Sarwate 4/86). Vidarbha lead by 313 runs.
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