Delhi lose to Jharkhand, all but out of Ranji knock-out race

GUWAHATI: Dhruv Shorey’s counter-attacking hundred set up a fitting final hour but old warhorse Shahbaz Nadeem’s second five-wicket haul enabled Jharkhand to push Delhi further from quarterfinal contention with a thrilling 15-run win in the final over of their Ranji Trophy group H encounter on Sunday.

While Shorey should be credited for his superb 136 off 177 balls that kept Delhi in hunt for a tough score of 335, they wilted under pressure during the final half an hour when Nadeem (5/83 in 31 overs) and fellow left-arm orthodox spinner Anukul Roy (2/71 in 20.4 overs) brilliantly closed down the run-scoring opportunities.

Nadeem’s 10-wicket match haul ensured that Jharkhand, with full six points, stay in contention for the knockouts when they face Tamil Nadu (6 points) in their last game.

However, both teams will want that Delhi at least stop Chhattisgarh (7 points and group toppers) from going beyond a point.

Tamil Nadu stayed in the hunt for a quarter-final berth with a first innings lead against Chattisgarh but they would regret the fact that only three came from the game instead of six despite them enforcing follow-on. Having scored 470 in the first innings, Tamil Nadu couldn’t get Chattisgarh all out as they ended on 172/8, getting a point and maintaining top position in the group with seven points.

It was skipper Harpreet Bhatia (43* off 162 balls), who again defied the Tamil Nadu spinners and shared the spoils with leftarmers Ravi Srinivasan Sai Kishore and M Siddharth, both of whom got three wickets each.

Brief scores of select matches: Jharkhand 251 and 307/7 decl (Kumar Suraj 131 no, Nazim Siddiqui 110, Nistish Rana 3/47). Delhi 224 and 319 all out (Dhruv Shorey 136, Jontysidhy 59, Shahbaz Nadeem 5/83). Points:

Tamil Nadu 470. Chattisgarh 304 (Harpreet Bhatia 170*) and 172/8 (R Sai Kishore 3/44, M Siddharth 3/48). Points: TN 3;

Chattisgarh 1. Punjab 444 and 45/0. Haryana: 282 and 203 in 59.5 overs (Nishant Sindhu 57; Abhishek Sharma 3/15, Baltej Singh 3/17). Points: Punjab 7, Haryana 0. Bengal 242 and 201. Hyderabad 205 and 166 (Tilak Varma 90, Ravi Teja 23; Akash Deep 4/41, Shahbaz Ahmed 3/41). Points: Bengal 6, Hyderabad 0. Chandigarh 168 and 473/7 (Ankit Kaushik 105*, Harnoor Singh 86, Arslan Khan 72, Manan Vohra 64; Bhargav Bhatt 3/133). Baroda 517. Points: Baroda 3, Chandigarh 1.