Karnataka, Bengal made it to the quarterfinals, while Chandigarh and Meghalaya secured wins as the third day of Round IX of the Ranji Trophy 2019-20 came to an end.
Hereās how the action unfolded on Friday:
Bengal sealed a place in the quarterfinals after they beat Punjab by 48 runs in a low-scoring encounter in Patiala. While Manoj Tiwary scored fifties in both the innings, Shahbaz Ahmed picked up 11 wickets in the match.
Bengal, after scoring 138 in the first innings, conceded a 13-run lead. However, they managed to score 202 in the second innings on the back of fifties from Tiwary and Arnab Nandi, setting a 189-run target for Punjab. While Ramandeep Singh scored an unbeaten 69, Bengal bowled out Punjab for 141 to seal a win.
Karnataka too secured a berth in the quarterfinals following their eight-wicket win over Baroda. Playing on their home ground at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Karnataka chased down the 149-run target. Karnataka had taken a 148-run lead in the first innings after bowling out Baroda for 85. While Baroda scored 296 in the second innings, Karnataka rode on skipper Karun Nairās unbeaten 71 to bag six points.
Chandigarh, meanwhile, pocketed seven points following their innings and 405-run win over Manipur. Chandigarh had posted a mammoth 672/8d in the first innings and then bundled out Manipur for 63 before enforcing a follow-on. While Manipur scored 204 in the second innings, Jagjit Singh Sandhuās seven-wicket haul helped Chandigarh secure a win in under three days.
Meghalaya too completed an innings win after they beat Arunachal Pradesh by an innings and 248 runs in Dibrugarh. Meghalaya had scored 576/9d, riding on skipper Punit Bishtās 250 before the Meghalaya bowlers bowled out Arunachal Pradesh for 222 and 106 in the first and second innings respectively to seal a win.
Assam, who had resumed on the overnight score of 162/1, lost nine wickets for 121 runs and were bowled out for 283. While Assamās Rishav Das scored 132, Harmeet Singh picked up six wickets, helping Tripura secure a 214-run lead. In the second innings, Tripura were 76/5 at stumps, with an overall lead of 290 runs.
In Cuttack, responding to Odishaās 436, Jharkhand ended the day at 355/9. While Kumar Suraj and Virat Singh scored 107 and 83 respectively for Jharkhand, Suryakant Pradhan picked up three wickets for Odisha.
Bihar built onto their first-innings lead of 33 runs and ended the day at 292/5, extending their overall lead to 325 runs against Sikkim. While Babul Kumar scored an unbeaten 119, Vikash Ranjan, who had scored 95 in the first innings, scored an unbeaten 50 before stumps on the third day.
In Raipur, meanwhile, Chhattisgarh, after conceding a 219-run lead against Services, rode on Jiwanjot Singhās 152* and skipper Harpreet Singh Bhatiaās 101* to end the third day at 325/1. Anuj Tiwary, before being retired hurt, chipped in with a fifty.
Delhi, facing Rajasthan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, consolidated their position. Delhi bowled out Rajasthan for 299 in the first innings as Simarjeet Singh picked up four wickets. Delhi, having secured a 324-run lead, then enforced a follow-on following which Rajasthan ended the dayās play at 128/2.
At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, Vidarbha, who resumed the dayās play at 242/4, were all out for 333, securing a 61-run lead. In the second innings, before stumps on the third day, Hyderabad were reduced to 139/7 as Aditya Sarvate picked four wickets.
In Mumbai, the Aditya Tare-led Mumbai unit secured a 169-run lead after they bowled out Madhya Pradesh for 258. Mumbai then scored 238/5d as Hardik Tamore scored a ton and Shams Mulani scored 70. Madhya Pradesh then ended the day at 44/2.
Saurashtra, meanwhile, responded strongly to Tamil Naduās total of 424 as they ended the day at 346/6, trailing the Tamil Nadu side by 78 runs. While Arpit Vasavada scored an unbeaten 126, Avi Barot and Chirag Jani chipped in with 82 and 47* respectively.
In Lucknow, Himachal Pradesh, who had taken 101-run lead after bowling out Uttar Pradesh for 119 in the first innings, rode on Akash Vasisht's 141 and Nikhil Gangta's 102 to score 433/7d in the second innings. Vaibhav Arora then picked up three wickets as Himachal Pradesh reduced Uttar Pradesh to 77/4 before stumps.
In Jammu, Parvez Rasool-led Jammu and Kashmir tightened their grip on the game against Haryana. J & K, after taking a 49-run lead, were bowled out for 174 as Jayant Yadav scalped seven wickets. Needing 224 runs to win, Haryana were then reduced to 103/5 before stumps, with J & K skipper picking three of those five wickets.
Gujarat, who resumed the dayās play at 354/6, added 52 runs more to their overnight score to secure a 229-run lead against Andhra. While Karan Shinde scored 64 and Bodapati Sumanth chipped in with 47, Axar Patel picked up five wickets as Gujarat reduced Andhra to 216/7.
Maharashtra, having conceded a 44-run in the first innings after being bowled out for 207, scored 313 runs in the second innings as Swapnil Fulpagar, Ankit Bawane and Satyajeet Bachhav scored fifties. Uttarakhand, needing 270 runs to win, ended the third day at 103/2.
In the Plate Group clash, Pondicherry moved closer to seal an innings win. After bowling out Nagaland for 176, Pondicherry scored 625/8d. Paras Dogra, who was unbeaten on 125 on the second day, got out for 175. Pondicherry then reduced Nagaland to 230/7 as Santhamoorthy picked up three wickets.
