Playing in his 50th Ranji Trophy match, Dhawal Kulkarni skittled Tamil Nadu out with a six-wicket haul in the second innings to finish with his maiden 10-for in first-class cricket. Experienced campaigner, Abhishek Nayar then took Mumbai to a thrilling two-wicket win against Tamil Nadu in Lahli to get the defending champions off to a winnings start.
While Suresh Raina did not bat in the first innings and was absent hurt, Madhya Pradesh enforced a follow on after bowling Uttar Pradesh out for a sub-par total. M Choudhary claimed a four-for while Karn Sharma picked two to push Punjab on the back foot. Shivakant Shukla helped Railways maintain the advantage with an unbeaten 83.
Group A, Round 1 – Day 3 Round up:
Mumbai vs Tamil Nadu in Lahli: TN 1st inn 87/10 in 45.3 overs (T Deshpande 4/25, D Kulkarni 4/31, BS Sandhu 2/14, B Indrajith 28*); Mum 1st inn 176/10 in 67 overs (A Tare 48, K Pawar 35, Vignesh K 5/41, Aswin Crist 3/51); TN 2nd inn 185/10 in 62.4 overs (B Aparajith 28*, D Kulkarni 6/47); Mum 2nd inn 97/8 in 35.3 overs (A Nayar 45*, B Sandhu 12, Vignesh K 4/29, A Crist 4/43) Win by 2 wickets
Efforts of Dhawal Kulkarni with the ball and Abhishek Nayar with the bat in the second innings helped Mumbai pull off a win a cliffhanger in Lahli.
Kulkarni claimed the remaining four Tamil Nadu wickets for the addition of 32 runs to their overnight score to wrap up the innings for 185. With his six-wicket haul in the second innings, the medium-fast finished with 10 wickets in a first-class game for the first time.
Chasing the 97-run target, Mumbai were left tottering at 35 for five by Vignesh K and Aswin Crist. Captain Aditya Tare then joined Nayar in the middle and the pair took the team to Lunch at 55 for five. However, without any addition to the score, the Mumbai skipper was dismissed by Aswin in the second session. The senior Mumbai all-rounder then worked to close in on the target with the lower order even as the TN bowlers continued to strike at regular intervals. Kulkarni was sent back by Vignesh five runs later, while Aswin accounted for Sandhu with the team on 90. With Tushar Deshpande at the other end, Nayar then took the team across the line in the following over.
Baroda vs Gujarat in Jaipur: Baroda 1st inn 544/8 decl in 155 overs (A Waghmode 142, D Hooda 118, S Singh 66*, A Patel 3/136); Gujarat 1st inn 277/4 in 105 overs (B Merai 70, M Juneja 66, K Pandya 2/50) Trail by 267 runs
After Gujarat openers – S Gohil and P Panchal - resumed the innings in the morning, Munaf Patel accounted for the latter on the fourth over of the day to leave the team on 37 for one. Bhargav Merai then took guard and held the innings together with a 134-ball 70. He had taken the team to 134 with the opener until Krunal Pandya ended the partnership by sending Gohil back. He then followed up with the wicket of Merai while Hardik Pandya sent back Parthiv Patel for 20.
With the team on 177 for four, Rujul Bhatt joined forces with Manprit Juneja to carry the innings forward. The duo saw the team through to stumps with an unbroken 100-run partnership.
Punjab vs Railways in Palam (New Delhi): Railways 1st inn 331/10 in 118 overs (S Shukla 128, A Yadav 81, S Kaul 5/68, V Choudhary 2/59); Punjab 1st inn 215/10 in 80.1 overs (G Mann 66, M Choudhary 4/56, K Sharma 2/36); Railways 2nd inn 180/2 in 67 overs (S Shukla 83*, Saurabh retired hurt 56, V Choudhary 1/54) Lead by 296 runs
Railways bowled Punjab out for 215 after the Yuvraj Singh-led side resumed their innings on 154 for 4 and seized a 116-run first innings lead in the opening game of the season. M Choudhary accounted for both the overnight batsmen in the morning to leave Punjab on 163 for six. He ended the blossoming fifth wicket stand by accounting for Gurkeerat Singh Mann on his overnight score of 66 and followed up with the wicket of Uday Kaul. Karn Sharma then chipped in with two to help wrap up the Punjab innings earlier in the day.
Building on the lead, centurion Shivakant Shukla anchored Railways’ second innings with an unbeaten 83. He was batting with Siddharth Kaul when play ended for the day.
Madhya Pradesh vs Uttar Pradesh: MP 1st inn 465/10 in 125.5 overs (HS Bhatia 216*, A Sharma 61, I Ahmed 3/58); UP 1st inn 176 all out in 63.2 overs (E Dwivedi 37, K Yadav 36, IC Pandey 3/65 G Yadav 4/44); Following on – UP 2nd inn 118/2 in 53 overs (T Srivastava 60*, G Yadav 1/11); Trail by 171 runs
Trailing by 334 runs with five wickets in hand when they resumed their first innings on the third day, UP were bowled out for addition of 45 runs to their overnight total by the Ishwar Pandey-led attack. The bowler picked two wickets while Gaurav Yadav and Chnadrakant Sakure picked a wicket each. Skipper Suresh Raina was retired out.
With a lead of 289 runs on their side, MP enforced a follow on in search of an outright win. In UP’s second outing, opener Tanmay Srivastava anchored the innings and was unbeaten on 60 at stumps with Sarfaraz Khan on 18. With Pandey and Gourav claiming a wicket each, UP were trailing by 171 runs with eight wickets in hand at the end of day’s play.
