With a day to spare in the Ranji Trophy, the Madhya Pradesh bowlers, led by Avesh Khan, secured stunning innings and a 17-run win over Jammu and Kashmir.
The bowlers for Madhya Pradesh, led by Avesh Khan, turned up yet another stellar performance on Thursday in Jammu, allowing their team to post mammoth innings and a 17-run win over Jammu and Kashmir with a day to spare in their Group D Ranji Trophy encounter. After following on for the third day, MP bowled out J&K for 193 in 60.5 overs, with Khan taking three wickets for 53 runs. In their first innings on Wednesday against MP’s 308, J&K were bowled out for 98 runs.
Khan, a veteran of five One-Day Internationals and fifteen Twenty20 Internationals for India, led the destruction as he helped the state of Madhya Pradesh bowl out the state of Jammu and Kashmir for 98 runs in their opening innings.
J&K’s second innings collapsed to 45 for 7 in the 22nd over, but Yudhvir Singh (30), Sahil Letra (66), and Aqib Nabi (44) kept the game interesting for a while.
Also claiming two wickets apiece for MP were Saransh Jain, Kumar Kartikeya, and Anubhav Agarwal.
MP improved their record by seven points thanks to the victory. Six points are awarded to the side that wins by innings or ten wickets, while seven points are awarded to the team that wins by outright.
Bengal is only 101 runs away from an outright victory over UP.
As Bengal edged closer to an outright win against Uttar Pradesh in their Group A Ranji Trophy match in Kolkata, opener Koushik Ghosh scored an unbeaten 69 and Anustup Majumdar also remained not out on 44. At the end of the third day, Bengal’s second innings stood at 156 for 2, leaving them requiring another 101 runs to win on Friday. During his 121-ball undefeated knock, Ghosh smashed 10 fours, while Majumdar hit 6.
Sudip Kumar Gharami, who wasn’t part of the duo, also scored 22. Both wickets were taken by right-arm bowler Shivam Mavi (2/46).
At 122 for 4, Uttar Pradesh’s second innings resumed the next day, and Rinku Singh contributed 45 runs before being bowled for 89. Akashdeep Nath also batted well, scoring 53.
Only the opener, Madhav Kaushik (19), scored in the teens for Uttar Pradesh.
With 105 runs scored to their overnight score and six wickets lost, UP was bowled out for 222 in 65.3 overs.
Right-handed Bengali Medio-fast runner Three wickets fell to Akash Deep (52) and two apiece to Sayan Mondal (2/24), Pritam Chakraborty (2/48), and Ishan Porel (2/70).
For Uttar Pradesh, Rinku was the best hitter, with 79 and 89 runs.
Ahead of Delhi, Maharashtra has the upper hand.
On the third day of their Ranji Trophy Group B encounter in Pune, Maharashtra has the upper hand as their spinners held the Yash Dhull-led Delhi team to 233 for 5. When Delhi started day four with a lead of 100 runs and five batters in the dugout, things could get dicey if they lost the remaining wickets quickly.
On the final day, Maharashtra’s bowlers will use the newness of the wicket to limit Delhi’s lead to below 200 runs before making an all-out effort to win.
As day three began, Maharashtra had only added 19 runs to their overnight total before losing their last three wickets and being bowled out for 324.
Ashay Palkar, 33, was on 94 when play ended on the second day, but he batted through to his first first-class century before being caught by Lalit Yadav off Simarjeet Singh for 100.
Delhi’s most effective bowler was pacer Simarjeet, who finished with four scalps for 69 runs, followed by Mayank Yadav with two, and Vikas Mishra with two.
The bowlers for Maharashtra soon applied pressure on Delhi after gaining a 133-run lead in the first innings, removing Dhruv Shenoy for a duck and Anuj Rawat for five runs.
Newcomers Dhull (57) and Nitish Rana (40) helped get Delhi back on track with their cautious but assured play.
By the time he was out in the 35th over, Rana had put Delhi in a strong position for the middle order to take control.
Delhi was in trouble at 109 for 4 when skipper Dhull departed 10 runs later.
After Delhi had lost two wickets on day three, Vaibhav Rawal (55) and Himmat Singh (67 not out) kept the scoreboard moving. However, Delhi’s score dropped from 213 to 5 after Rawal’s bat-edged pacer Ashay Palkar straight to the wicketkeeper. After an additional 20 runs, the innings were called.
Sachin and the Malay celebrate after Bihar thrashes Arunachal Pradesh.
Bihar defeated Arunachal Pradesh by an innings and 221 runs in their Ranji Trophy Plate Group match played in Patna thanks to an outstanding performance from all-around batsman Sachin Kumar and a five-for from bowler Malay Raj (5/35).
Bihar took a commanding 305-run lead in the first innings, thanks in large part to the efforts of left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Sachin, who took 3/29 and then hit 156 off 198 balls, including three sixes and 17 fours.
The next day, Sakibul Gani’s score was still 66, therefore he had to withdraw early. However, Sachin took charge in the lower order and was the last wicket to fall as Bihar reached 517.
Medium pacer Malay Raj dominated with 5/35 to bowl out Arunachal Pradesh for 84 in 29.4 overs in their second innings, with only three batters reaching double digits. Bihar earned a total of seven points, one of which was a bonus point.
