Ranji: Gujarat edge ahead of Delhi
NEW DELHI: Gujarat’s Roosh Kalaria, who was part of the victorious 2012 India U-19 World Cup team under Unmukt Chand, has graduated to be his state team’s main man. The left-arm seamer is Gujarat’s leading Ranji bowler this season with 29 scalps and his 5/78—second fifer this season— on Wednesday helped the secondplaced team on the table to dismiss Delhi for 293 on Day 2 of their Elite Group A tie at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground on Wednesday. Gujarat batsmen would fancy taking the first innings lead on Thursday morning itself after reaching 269/4 at stumps in the first innings.
Kalaria was ably supported by other bowlers, especially fellow left-arm seamer Arzan Nagwaswalla. Bowling has been Gujarat’s strength this season. They’ve bowled out opponents twice in a match in four of their six matches. Seamers Kalaria, Nagwaswalla and Chintan Gaja have been the drivers, each taking over 20 wickets.
Delhi had Gujarat on the mat, reducing them to 88 for four. It should have been 115/5 but a legbefore decision against Manpreet Juneja was reversed due to a no-ball call by the third umpire.
Juneja and wicketkeeper Dhruv Raval, who replaced Parthiv Patel for this match, never looked back. As the day wore on, the wicket became easy to bat.
Juneja hit 13 fours and Raval 12. Delhi’s weak link was spinner Tejas Baroka, who couldn’t be given a longer spell to give rest to the pacers as he leaked runs. Pacer Simarjeet took two wickets.
HARSHAL’S RECORD
ROHTAK: Pacer Harshal Patel’s eight-wicket haul in Haryana’s seven-wicket win over Assam in Elite Group C helped him set a record for most wickets for the state in a Ranji season. Harshal’s tally of 51 wickets took him past the record of 48, set by left-arm spin stalwart Rajinder Goel in 1983/84. “Records are meant to be broken,” said Goel, 77, who took 750 first-class wickets.
PUNJAB WIN
PATIALA: Punjab defeated Andhra by four wickets in an Elite Group A tie that ended in two days. After 24 wickets fell on the first day with Punjab taking an 11-run first innings lead, Andhra folded for 134 despite Ricky Bhui’s 61 on Wednesday. Punjab, chasing 124, were 32/5 before wicketkeeper Anmol Malhotra and Abhishek Gupta guided the team home.
SAURASHTRA IN SIGHT
Rajkot: Sheldon Jackson hit a stroke-filled 85 to put Saurashtra on the verge of securing the first innings lead against Mumbai in Elite Group B. Saurashtra dismissed Mumbai for 262 and rode on Jackson’s knock to reach 257/6, just six runs from taking the lead.
MUKUND’S DOUBLE
Baroda: Former India opener Abhinav Mukund struck 206 as Tamil Nadu took a massive 316run first innings lead against Baroda in Group B. Tamil Nadu, who dismissed the hosts for 174, racked up 490/7 declared led by Mukund’s splendid knock and his big opening partnership with L Suryapprakash (75).
RAJASTHAN TAKE LEAD
Jaipur: Rajasthan took a 118-run first-innings lead over Bengal and stretched it to 274 with two wickets in hand to grab the initiative in a battle of mid-table teams in Group A. Tanvir ul-Haq and Rituraj Singh took four wickets each to bowl out Bengal for 123 in reply to 241 by Rajasthan, who were 156/8 in the second innings.
BRIEF SCORES
At Delhi: Delhi 293 (K Bidhuri 78, Himmat Singh 56, R Kalaria 5/78 vs Gujarat 269/4 (M Juneja 88*, D Raval 83*, S Gohel 51, Simarjeet 2/53)
At Patiala: Andhra 93 and 134 (Ricky Bhui 61, Varun Choudhary 6/46) lost to Punjab 108 and 129/6 (Anmol Malhotra 51 no, Abhishek Gupta 37). Points: Punjab 6, Andhra 0.
At Jaipur: Rajasthan 241 and 156/8 (R Bishnoi 46, N Das 4/26) vs Bengal 123 (R Singh 4/30, TU Haq 4/48).
At Nagpur: Vidarbha 326 (D Nalkande 66, W Jaffer 57, G Sathish 58, M Nidheesh 5/82). Kerala 191/3 (M Azharuddeen 81)
At Rajkot: Mumbai 262 (S Khan 78; S Mulani 60; D Jadeja 5/92) vs Saurashtra 257/6 (S Jackson 85).
At Shimoga: Karnataka 426 (R Samarth 108; K Gowtham 82; R Yadav 3-61) vs Madhya Pradesh 60/2.
At Baroda: Baroda 174 and 10/0 vs Tamil Nadu 490/7 dec (A Mukund 206, L Suryapprakash 75; Yusuf Pathan 2-67).
At Delhi (Karnail Singh Stadium): Himachal Pradesh 283 vs Railways 291/5 (A Ghosh 111*, M Rawat 60; AP Vashisht 3-76)