Delhi on top vs Punjab in Ranji tie
MOHALI: Shubman Gill’s dismissal was again in focus as Delhi snared four quick wickets after taking a handy first innings lead of 26 to take control of their Ranji Trophy match here on Sunday.
Gill, who is trying to cement his place in the India side, had a decision overturned after an argument on Day 1, was again caught behind on Day 3 in Punjab’s second innings.
Gill was adjudged caught behind off Subodh Bhati for four by umpire Mohamed Rafi, who unlike the first day stuck to his decision this time.
Even though Gill, the India A skipper, and Punjab camp weren’t happy, he walked off without a fuss.
“We leaked many runs in the first session, which hurt us. We still managed to keep the lead. But towards the end of the day one bad decision (referring to Gill) turned the match around. For a player who is auditioning for an India berth these types of decisions can break his momentum,” said a Punjab official on condition of anonymity.
After Delhi got the first innings lead by finishing on 339, the overcast conditions when Punjab walked in for the second essay, gave their bowlers movement and bounce.
Led-by Simarjeet Singh,
Delhi made use of the last session to force the match wide open, reducing Punjab to 44 for 4, before bad light stopped play.
Earlier, Delhi started Sunday trailing by 118 runs but Nitish Rana (92), Jonty Sidhu (41) and Lalit Yadav (39) ensured they can hope for three points from the match.
Trying to defend a total of 313, Punjab leaked too many runs in the first 13 overs before the new ball helped them make some headway.
Rana’s wicket at 257 meant Delhi’s low order had the task cut out. Sidhu and Yadav responded well but once Punjab managed to see them off, Delhi were bundled out.
Simarjeet then removed Punjab’s Sanvir Singh and Gurkeerat Singh Mann in quick succession to put Punjab under pressure.
BRIEF SCORES: Punjab 313 & 44/4 (Simarjeet 2/21) vs Delhi 339 (Shorey 96, Rana 92; Arshdeep 3/73) at stumps on Day 3.
SERVICES THRASH MAHARASHTRA
NEW DELHI: Medium-pacers Diwesh Pathania and Sachidanand Pandey took five wickets each as Services thrashed Maharashtra by an innings and 94 runs in a Ranji Trophy Group ‘C’ match in the national capital on Sunday.
Resuming at their overnight score of 93 for five, Maharashtra’s second innings folded for just 147. The visitors lost Naushad S Shaikh (41) for the addition of just one run when Pandey (5/56) induced an edge, taken by wicket-keeper Nakul Verma.
Opener Murtaza Trunkwala, who had retired hurt on Saturday returned to the crease but didn’t last long, falling to Pathania (5/49) for 9 after hitting two boundaries. Vishant More, who was batting on 33 overnight, added only three runs to his score before being bowled by Pandey.
There was brief resistance from the lower-order but eventually Maharashtra were bundled out in 48.1 overs. Number 11 batsman Manoj Ingale (14 not out, 5 balls) helped himself to two fours and a six before Pathania finished things off with the wicket of Mukesh Choudhary (14).
BRIEF SCORES: Karnataka 218 &
129/5 (Padikkal 50; Attarde 4/52) beat Mumbai 194 & 149 (Sarfaraz 71*; Prateek 4/11) by 5 wickets.
KARNATAKA BEAT MUMBAI
MUMBAI: Putting up an all-round show, Karnataka defeated Mumbai by 5 wickets in their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy game here on Sunday, inside two-and-half days. This was Mumbai’s second consecutive loss at home, following their defeat against Railways.
Chasing 126 for an outright win, Karnataka openers R Samarth (34; 2x4) and Devdutt Padikkal (50; 5x4, 2x6) gave the team a solid start and the visitors were racing towards the target as they were 77/0 at lunch.
Samarth was batting on 27, while Paddikal was the more aggressive one, being unbeaten on 50. However, post lunch offie Shashank Attarde (4-52) pegged back the visitors by taking two wickets. He trapped Padikkal in front of the wicket and then dismissed Abhishek Reddy (4) as Karnataka were 84-2. It became 91/3 as Shams Mulani cleaned up Samarth. Debutant Rohan Kadam (21) and skipper Karun Nair (10) brought the side on the cusp of a win when Attarde removed Kadam. Karnataka needed eight more runs.
In the same over, Attarde sent back Nair. Shreyas Gopal (5 not out) and B R Sharath (4 not out) took the side home without any further damage.
BRIEF SCORES: Services 285 beat Mumbai 44 & 147 (Shaikh 41; Pathania 5/49, Pandey 5/56).