Goa beat table-toppers Andhra in a thrilling contest. Spinner Shadab Jakati finished with 11 wickets as he helped tip the balance in Goa’s favour. In Cuttack, Kerala’s spinners – A Chandran and Iqbal Abdullah have given the team a shot at victory. Propelled by N Verma’s unbeaten century Services set up an engaging contest against Chhattisgarh.
In Vadodara, Hyderabad continued to dominate the proceedings against J & K. They need six wickets to win while J & K need 362 runs.
Group C, Round 8 – Day 3 Round-up:
Kerala vs Tripura in Cuttack: Tripura 1st inn 213/10 in 79.5 overs (Yashpal Singh 50, MB Murasingh 42, S Warrier 3/34, J Saxena 3/37); Kerala 1st inn 193/10 in 72.2 overs (Mohd. Azharudeen 40, A Chandran 36*, S Majumder 4/43, MB Murasingh 4/52); Tripura 2nd inn 162/10 in 70.1 overs (S Patel 54, A Chandran 4/16, I Abdullah 3/32); Kerala 2nd inn 117/0 (Mohd. Azharudeen 80*, B Thakker 37*) Need 66 runs to win
A Chandran (four for 16) and Iqbal Abdullah (three for 32) set the game for Kerala by bowling Tripura out for 162 in the second innings. Resuming on 17 on the morning, the side caved in to the Kerala spinners. Barring Smit Patel, who scored a half-century, the rest of the lineup collapsed in 70.1 overs.
Chasing the 183-run target, the openers Mohd Azharudeen (80*) and Bhavin Thakker (37*) had taken Kerala to 117 at stumps. They need 66 runs to win with a day left in the game.
Hyderabad vs J & K in Vadodara: Hyd 1st inn 328/10 in 131.3 overs (T Agarwal 119, P Rasool 4/63, S Beigh 3/77); J & K 1st inn 169/10 in 55.3 overs (S Beigh 29, Mohd Siraj 3/51); Hyd 2nd inn 244/2 decl in 57 overs (T Agarwal 103, S Badrinath 66); J & K 2nd inn 42/4 in 17 overs (A Bandy 16, M Ravi Kiran 2/14)
J & K were bowled out for 169 after resuming their innings on 156 for seven in the morning. Building on the substantial lead, Hyderabad the set the opposition a 404-run target and gave themselves an opportunity to register outright win. Opener Tanmay Agarwal scored an unbeaten century while skipper S Badrinath scored 66 as they declared their inning on 244 for two at the fall of the captain’s wicket.
M Ravi Kiran then picked two wickets while CV Milind and Mohd Siraj took one each as they let the opposition reeling on 42 for four at stumps.
Andhra vs Goa in Dhanbad: Goa 1st inn 115/10 in 52.4 overs (S Amonkar 29, B Bhatt 6/36, B Siddharth 4/52); Andhra 1st inn 159/10 in 34.3 overs (KS Bharat 68, B Bhatt 25, S Jakati 8/53); Goa 2nd inn 276/10 in 63.2 overs (S Bandekar 75, S Kauthankar 61, GH Vihari 3/17, B Siddharth 2/72); Andhra 2nd inn 198/10 in 59.2 overs (R Bhui 71, DB Ravi Teja 49, R Singh 4/24, S Jakati 3/70) Goa won by 34 runs
Andhra resumed their 233-run chase needing 134 runs with seven wickets in hand on the third morning and were bowled out 34 runs short of the target.
DB Ravi Teja and Ricky Bhui who were batting on 35 and 32 respectively had added 24 runs to the overnight score of 99 for three when the former was castled by Shadab Jakati for 49. The spinner followed up with the wicket of AG Pradeep in his next over to leave Andhra reeling on 127 for five. While RR Singh then ran through the rest of the lineup to wrap up the innings, Amulya Pandrekar accounted for Bhui (71) to bowl Goa to a thumping win in the first session.
The left-arm spinner, Jakati picked 11 wickets as the team registered their second win of the season.
Chhattisgarh vs Services in Mumbai: Services 1st inn 225/10 in 85.1 overs (N Verma 54, V Hathwala 50, S Ruikar 5/73, A Chauhan 2/24); Chhattisgarh 1st inn 281/10 in 90.4 overs (M Singh 67, A Khare 51, DG Pathania 6/78); Services 2nd inn 340/7 decl in 82 overs (N Verma 156*, G Rahul Singh 99, P Rao 3/64, AK Singh 3/69); Chhattisgarh 2nd inn 6/0 in 3 overs. Need 279 runs to win
Having conceded the first innings lead to Chhattisgarh, Services came back strongly in their second innings to set the opponents a 281-run target. Powered by Nakul Verma’s unbeaten 156 and G Rahul Singh’s 99 down the order, they set up an even contest in the penultimate round of the league phase of the tournament.
Towards the end of day’s play, Services declared their innings on 340 for seven. When play ended for the day, the openers had taken Chhattisgarh to six without loss.
Himachal vs Haryana in Valsad: Haryana 1st inn 402/10 in 132.2 overs (G A Singh 120, S Rohilla 64, RP Sharma 50, KD Singh 6/84, R Dhawan 3/138); Himachal 1st inn 233/10 in 88.4 overs (S Verma 66, S Pahal 5/71, M Sharma 3/25); F/0 2nd inn 142/1 in 29 overs (P Chopra 89*, R Thakur 45) Trail by 27 runs
After resuming on 101 for the loss of three wickets, Himachal were bowled out for 233 and asked to follow on by Mohit Sharma. The Haryana captain claimed three wickets while S Pahal picked a five-for to bowl the opposition out. As Haryana looks to book themselves a place in the knock-outs, they forced Himachal to follow on after securing three points.
Led by P Chopra, Himachal look salvage the game and were 142 for one at stumps. The opener was batting on 89 as he saw the team through to the end of day’s play with Robin Bist on two.
