Andhra beat Delhi by 9 wickets in Ranji Trophy
Ongole: Medium pace duo of K V Sasikanth and Cheepurapalli Stephen returned with five wickets each as Andhra Pradesh notched up a comprehensive nine-wicket win over Delhi in their Group A Ranji Trophy match on Friday.
Sasikanth claimed three wickets to go with his two on day 3, while Stephen, who broke Delhi's back with four wickets on Thursday, picked up another one as the visitors folded for 169.
Resuming Delhi's second innings at 89 for 6, Lalit Yadav went on to complete his fifty but once he was out in the 61st over, the visitors were all out in 72.2 overs, leaving Andhra just 17 runs to win on the final day.
Andhra then overhauled the target, scoring 20 for one in 2.3 overs with Manish Golamaru hitting 15 not not, which was laced with three fours.
Overnight batsman Yadav was the first to go when he was trapped LBW by Stephen in the 61st over.
Simarjeet Singh (10) was caught by KS Bharat off Sasikanth's bowling in the 70th over as Delhi slipped to 156 for 8.
Sasikanth then removed Navdeep Saini (7) in the 72nd over, while overnight batsman Vikas Mishra (36) was the last one to fall in the next over.
In reply, Andhra opener C R Gnaneshwar (0) retired hurt early and skipper Hanuma Vihari was sent packing by Simarjeet Singh.
However, Manish came out with all cylinders blazing, blasting 15 off 7 balls to end the contest.
Andhra got got six points for the win.
In another Group A match at Nagpur, Vidarbha inflicted an innings and 60 runs defeat on Rajasthan after dismissing the visitors for 190 on Friday.
Aditya Sarwate claimed four wickets for 35, while Akshay Warkhare took three and Akshay Karnewar accounted for two as Rajasthan's second innings folded in 77.5 overs after resuming at 12 for 3.
Brief Scores:
At Ongole: Delhi: 215 and 169 (Lalit Yadav 55; KV Sasikanth 5/41, CV Stephen 5/91) lost by nine wickets to Andhra: 368 and 20/1 (G Manish 15 not out; Simarjeet Singh 1/12).
At Nagpur: Vidarbha: 510 for 8 declared beat Rajasthan: 260 and 190 all out in 77.5 overs (R Bishnoi 58, AL Menaria 49; A Sarwate 4/35) by an innings and 60 runs.
K'taka take first innings lead in drawn game against UP
Hubli: Hosts Karnataka took the first innings lead against Uttar Pradesh, as their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy game ended in a draw.
After bundling out Uttar Pradesh for 281 in the first innings, courtesy a valiant half-century by all-rounder Shreyas Gopal (58), Karnatka posted 321 on the board to take a slender 40-run lead.
In their second essay, Uttar Pradesh resumed the fourth and the final day at 29/1.
Uttar Pradesh had to bat the entire day to salvage a draw and opener Almas Shaukat (103 not out) scored an unbeaten ton to ensure that the visitors don't end up losing the game.
Shaukat had to bat as long as possible and he exactly did that.
Shaukat remained on the crease for 210 balls, hitting 14 fours and a lone six, to ensure that Karnataka bowlers did not get the upper hand.
One-down Madhav Kaushik (45 off 83 balls) and two-down Aksh Deep Nath (38 off 75 balls) gave perfect support to Shaukat, who was cynosure of eyes at the KSCA Hubli cricket ground.
After Kaushik was caught by Devdutt Padikkal off David Mathias, Nath also played with caution. Their knocks helped Uttar Pradesh to play out the day and ensured that the match was drawn.
In the second essay, for Karnataka, pacer Ronit More (1-52), spinner Shreyas Gopal (1-51) and Mathias (1-27) picked a wicket each.
Karnataka grabbed three points on the basis of their first innings lead, while Uttar Pradesh had to be content with a lone point.
Meanwhile, in a cliff-hanger at Indore, Baroda won against Madhya Pradesh by one wicket, while Saurashtra thrashed Railways by an innings and 90 runs.
Their skipper Jaydev Unadkat, who was bagged by IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals for Rs 3 crore, celebrated the moment by taking six wickets and played a key part in the team's win at Visakhapatnam.
In the next round starting from December 25, Karnataka take on Himachal Pradesh in Mysuru, while Uttar Pradesh play against Saurashtra at Rajkot.
Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 281 and 204/3 Declared (Almas Shaukat 103 not out; Madhav Kaushik 45, David Mathias 1-27) vs Karnataka 321. Match Drawn. Karnataka 3 points, UP 1 point.
At Visakhapatnam: Railways 248 and 141 (Arindam Ghosh 38, Jaydev Unadkat 6-23, D Jadeja 2-18) vs Saurashtra 479/9 Declared. Saurashtra won by an innings and 90 runs. Saurashtra 7 points, Railways O points.
At Indore: Madhya Pradesh 125 and 270 versus Baroda 222 and 174/9 (Kedar Devdhar 48, Abhimanyu Singh Rajput 27 not out; Avesh Khan 4/54, Kuldeep Sen 3/28). Baroda won by 1 wicket. Baroda 6 points, MP 0 points.
Jammu and Kashmir down Maharashtra
Pune: Debutant Digvijay Deshmukh's gritty 83 while batting at number 8 went in vain as Jammu and Kashmir beat Maharashtra by 54 runs on the final day of their Ranji Trophy Group C match on Friday.
In his debut first class match, the 21-year-old Deshmukh was the lone Maharashtra batsman who made a semblance of a fight as his 83 came from just 71 deliveries from which he hit seven boundaries and five sixes but his effort came too late in the day and he did not get support from the other end.
Set a big target of 364 for a win, Maharashtra resumed at their overnight score of 192/5, requiring 172 more runs, but they were bowled out for 309 in 86.1 overs in their second innings.
For Jammu & Kashmir, right-arm medium-pacers Mohammed Mudhasir (4 for 83) and Umar Nazir (4/86) did most of the damage. Nazir finished with match figures of 9 for 116. He got the crucial wicket of experienced Ankit Bawane (32), who could add only one more run to his overnight score.
The home team could not build on the century partnership of the first wicket between Ruturaj Gaikwad (78), who is part of the Chennai Super Kings squad in the IPL, and MS Trunkwala (54).
However, the fall of three wickets in the space of 13 runs pegged Maharashtra back from which they could not recover.
J & K took their tally in Group C to 12 points after Friday's win.
In other matches of the group, Chhattisgarh thrashed Uttarakhand by an innings and 65 runs while Odisha also outplayed Services by an innings and 31 runs.
Brief Scores:
At Pune: Jammu & Kashmir 209 all out in 63.5 overs (Ahmed Banday 76, Abid Mushtaq 50; A Sanklecha 4/56, DR Deshmukh 2/15) and 263 all out in 71.3 over (Suryansh Raina 83, Abdul Samad 78, Fazil Rashid 43; DR Deshmukh 4/46, SS Bachhav 3/35) beat Maharashtra 109 all out in 41.1 overs (MS Trunkwala 31; Umar Nazir 5/40, Abid Mushtaq 2/23) and 309 all out in 86.1 overs (Digvijay Deshmukh 83, Ruturaj Gaikwad 71, MS Trunkwala 54, Ankit Bawane 32; M Mudhasir 4/84, Umar Nazir 4/86).
At Raipur: Uttarakhand 120 all out in 37.5 overs (D Negi 29; AJ Mandal 3/17, PM Datey 3/42) and 335 all out in 132.4 overs (D Negi 69, SA Rawat 61, Tanmay Srivastava 58; AJ Mandal 5/60, Omkar Verma 3/40) lost to Chhattisgarh 520 for 7 declared for 6 in 122 overs (AN Khare 192, Ajay Mandal 241 not out, Pradeep Chamoli 4/95).
At Cuttack: Services 271 all out in 66.1 overs (NH Verma 53, RS Paliwal 58, Rahul Singh 55; Basant Mohanty 6/69) and 238 all out in 81.1 overs (VS Hathwala 71, AM Bamal 40; Rajesh Mohanty 3/44, AS Raut 3/47) lost to Odisha 540 in 160.2 overs (Debasish Samantray 195, Biplab Samantray 73, Suryakant Pradhan 64, Debrata Pradhan 57, AR Sarangi 37; AM Bamal 4/116).
