Punjab have claimed a place in the knockout phase with a thumping win against Tamil Nadu in the last round of the league phase of Ranji Trophy 2015-16. Leading from the front, captain Harbhajan Singh claimed seven for 37 to set-up the win and finished with ten wickets in the game.
While table-toppers Mumbai continue to dominate the season, Madhya Pradesh forced Andhra to follow on.
Here’s what happened on Day 2 of Round 9:Madhya Pradesh vs Andhra: MP 1st inn 279/10 (R Khan 89, CS Kishore 4/86); Andhra 1st inn 56/10 (A Hebbar 13, A Sharma 6/17, S Jain 2/7); F/o Andhra 2nd inn 159/5 (M Kaif 51, AG Pradeep 36*, A Sharma 4/65) Trail by 64 runs.
Ankit Sharma claimed 10 of the 16 wickets that fell on Day 2 in Indore. The left-arm spinner claimed six for 17 in the first innings to bowl Andhra out for 56. After MP enforced the follow on, he returned to claim four more to help MP maintain the advantage. Andhra captain, Mohd. Kaif scored a half-century in the second innings while DB Prashanth Kumar missed his by one run as the visitors strove to put up a better performance in the second innings. However, Andhra had lost half the lineup until stumps and were trailing by 64 runs.
Mumbai vs Gujarat: Mum 1st inn 531/10 (A Herwadkar 192, SKYadav 104, A Patel 3/99); Guj 1st inn 102/3 (B Neral 41*, S Thakur 2/21) Trail by 429 runs
Akhil Herwadkar's 192 helped table-toppers Mumbai to a massive 531 in the first innings. While Surya Kumar Yadav was the first to depart after adding one run to the total, Mumbai kept losing wickets at regular intervals after the third-wicket partnership ended for 208 runs. Although Herwadkar posted his highest first-class score he missed out on his maiden double-hundred by eight runs.
During the Mumbai innings, Axar Patel led Gujarat after Parthiv Patel sustained a blow to the ribs and had to leave the field. He was hurt by an RP Singh delivery while keeping wickets earlier in the day. He will be ready to bat on Day 3, Parthiv told the media after the end of day's play. After Shardul Thakur dealt early blows, Gujarat were 102 for three at stumps in the all-important match.
Tamil Nadu vs Punjab: Punjab 2nd inn 174/10 (G Khera 43*, M Rangarajan 4/53, DT Chandrasekar 4/56); TN 2nd inn (B Aparajith 32*; Harbhajan Singh 7/37, S Ladda 3/16) Punjab won by 243 runs.
Harbhajan Singh bowled Punjab to a place in the knock-outs by bundling TN out 69 runs in the second innings after setting the hosts a 313-run target. 19 wickets fell on the second day as spinners from either side once again dominated the proceedings. After Punjab resumed their innings in the morning on 36 for one, Malolan Rangarajan and DT Chandrasekar ran through the visitors’ lineup. While batsmen at the other end returned to pavilion at regular intervals, Gitansh Khera made 43* off 40 to help the team to 174.
The Punjab skipper then spun the hosts out for 69 to bowl the visitors to a 243-run win. He claimed seven for 37 to finish with 10 wickets in the match while Sarabjeet Ladda took three wickets. This was the off-spinner's eight ten-wicket haul in first-class cricket and has five ten-wicket hauls in Tests.
Uttar Pradesh vs Baroda: Baroda 1st inn 321/10 (A Rayudu 70, IK Pathan 48, P Chawla 3/41); UP 1st inn 134/5 (U Sharma 74*, M Patel 2/15, Y Pathan 2/38) trail by 187 runs
UP captain, Suresh Raina trapped his opposite number, Ambati Rayudu lbw for his overnight score of 70. Piyush Chawla then claimed three wickets including that of Irfan Pathan (48) as the hosts bowled Baroda out for 321 earlier in the day.
UP then promoted Amit Mishra to open the innings with Himanshu Asnora. However, both were sent back by Munaf Patel. Yusuf Pathan then followed up with two wickets. He caught Raina off his own bowling while Bhargav Bhatt took one. With half the UP lineup back in the dressing room the match in Noida is precariously poised.
Follow the stars:
Yuvraj Singh departed for 12 runs in Punjab's second innings against TN.
Ishwar Pandey claimed one wicket in Andhra's first innings and is yet to claim one in the second.
RP Singh claimed two wickets in Mumbai's first innings the second of which was Surya Kumar Yadav on day 2.
Praveen Kumar went wicke less on the second day after claiming two on Day 1
