Ranji Trophy: J&K register landmark win over Delhi; Vidarbha, UP, MP, Mumbai also among winners in round 4

The fourth round of the Ranji Trophy concluded on Sunday with some major highlights, as Jammu and Kashmir sealed their first-ever win over Delhi, while Madhya Pradesh, defending champions Vidarbha and Mumbai also registered brilliant wins.

At the end of the fourth round, Vidarbha is at the top with 19 points, with two wins and two draws, followed by Jharkhand (18 points with two wins and two draws) in Group A of the Elite League. In Group B, the top two teams are MP (15 points) and Karnataka (14 points). In Elite League Group C, Bengal (20 points) is at the top, followed by Haryana (18 points). In Group D of the Elite competition, Mumbai (17 points) and Jammu and Kashmir (14 points) are at the top.

-Coming to the clash between J&K and Delhi, pacer Aquib Nabi (5/35), skipper Paras Dogra (106 and 10*) and Qamran Iqbal (133* in 147 balls, with 20 fours and two sixes) were the major stars.After J&K opted to field first, Aquib’s fifer pushed Delhi on the back foot despite fifties from skipper Ayush Badoni (64), Ayush Doseja (65) and Sumit Mathur (55*). Delhi was all out for 211 runs. Dogra’s 33rd Ranji ton, along with a superb 85 in 115 balls from IPL star Abdul Samad, took J&K to 310, giving them a 99-run lead. Simarjeet Singh shone for Delhi, taking 6/52.

In the second innings, Delhi started much better, with an 86-run stand between Arpit Rana (43) and Sanat Sangwan (34) at the top and Badoni (72 in 73 balls, with eight fours and a six) and Doseja (62 in 88 balls, with three fours and two sixes) scoring fifties. Delhi ended their innings at 277, with a lead of 178 runs and Vanshaj Sharma (6/68) taking a six-fer. Qamran ate into Delhi’s 179-run target single-handedly as J&K won by seven wickets. Aquib got the ‘Player of the Match’ award. This was J&K’s first-ever win over Delhi.

-A century and five-wicket haul from pacer Shivam Mavi was the highlight of UP’s win over Nagaland by an innings and 265 runs. UP piled up 535/6 declared after opting to bat first, with Madhav Kaushik (185 in 374 balls, with 11 fours), Aryan Juyal (140 runs in 205 balls, with 18 fours) and Mavi (101* in 87 balls, with 10 fours and five sixes) piling up centuries. Nagaland could not breach this gigantic score in their two attempts, as in their first innings, Mavi (5/18) dismantled them and bundled them out for 117 runs. While following on, spinner Shivam Sharma (5/25) got his turn to dominate as Nagaland was done for 153 runs, with their skipper Chetan Bist (53 in 98 balls, with three sixes and a four) scoring a half-century. Mavi got the ‘Player of the Match’ award.

Vidarbha and Odisha clash: Defending champions Vidarbha’s Dhruv Shorey starred with ‘Player of the Match’ winning twin hundreds. In the first innings, it was his 144 in 298 balls, with 11 fours and a six, which powered Vidarbha to 286 runs. Odisha was shot down for 160 runs, with Gaurav Farde (4/28) dominating the proceedings. Vidarbha increased their 126-run lead further as Shorey (101 in 161 balls, with eight fours) and Aman Mokhade (101* in 152 balls, with seven fours) contributed tons, declaring the innings at 218/2, leaving Odisha to chase 345 runs. A century stand came from Swastik Samal (65 in 123 balls, with nine fours and a six) and Gourav Choudhury (47 in 62 balls, with six fours), but a five-wicket haul from Parth Rekhade (5/80) bundled them out for 244 runs. Odisha lost by 100 runs.

Karnataka and Maharashtra: The clash of titans ended in a draw, but an all-round show from the veteran Shreyas Gopal (71, 4/20 and 25*) shone bright for Karnataka. Opting to bat first, Karnataka made 313, with fifties from skipper Mayank Agarwal (80 in 181 balls, with seven fours and two sixes), Ravichandran Smaran (54 in 84 balls, with seven fours) and Shreyas (71 in 162 balls, with nine fours) being the highlights. Jalaj Saxena (4/94) took a four-fer for MH. Fifties from Prithvi Shaw (71 in 92 balls, with nine fifties) and Jalaj (72 in 147 balls, with 13 fours) took Maharashtra to 300 runs, as Shreyas took a four-fer. In the second innings, Karnataka ended the match at 310/8, with a lead of 323 runs in hand. Skipper Mayank (103 in 249 balls, with eight fours and a six) and hitter Abhinav Manohar (96 in 160 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes) were top run-getters in the second innings.

-Madhya Pradesh also chased down 328 runs against Goa, with all-rounder Saransh Jain shining, with a half-century and a total of six wickets and getting the ‘Player of the Match’ honours. Goa posted 284 runs on opting to bat first, with Suyash Prabhudessai (65 in 119 balls, with seven fours) top-scoring. Saransh (4/78) and Kumar Kartikeya (3/88) were the top bowlers for MP. In their first innings, MP was trailing by 97, posting 187 runs, as Rishabh Chouhan (43) and Saransh (48) top-scored. Vasuki Koushik (5/34) shined bright for Goa with a five-wicket haul. Kartikeya (5/81) completed an eight-wicket haul as Goa posted 230 runs and extended the lead to 327 runs. MP chased down the total of 328, as MP overcame a precarious situation of 68/3, with Saransh (82 in 132 balls, with nine fours), skipper Shubham Sharma (72 in 134 balls, with seven fours) and Harsh Gawli (54 in 99 balls, with six fours) enabling MP to chase down with three wickets in hand.

Chandigarh and Punjab clash: It was pacer Ayush Goyal who shone with four wickets each in both innings, shooting down Chandigarh for 173 as skipper Manan Vohra (63 in 105 balls, with nine fours) top-scored. In turn, Punjab was skittled out for 142 as no one touched the 40-run mark. Nishunk Birla (4/18) was the top bowler for Chandigarh. The low-scoring match continued with Chandigarh being all out for 195 runs, with Ayush (4/48) and IPL star Harpreet Brar (3/56) topping the wicket charts. Punjab was set 227 runs to win, with skipper Uday Saharan (117* in 194 balls, with 15 fours) and Jashanpreet Singh (57* in 111 balls, with seven fours) leading a comfortable chase, with eight wickets in hand.

Bengal and Railways: Bengal stalwart Shahbaz Ahmed’s seven-for in the second innings paved the way for an innings and 120-run win over Railways. Batting first, Bengal posted 474 runs with Anustup Majumdar (135 in 182 balls, with 19 fours), Sumanta Gupta (120 in 153 balls, with 15 fours and two sixes) and Shahbaz (86 in 106 balls, with 12 fours and three sixes) scoring big. In reply, Railways could only manage 222 runs, dragged there by Bhargav Merai (91 in 194 balls, with 11 fours). Asked to follow on, Shahbaz (7/56) bamboozled Railways as they could manage just 132 runs. Anustup walked away with the ‘Player of the Match’ honours.

-Mumbai also scored an innings win over Himachal Pradesh, with Musheer Khan standing out with his all-round, ‘Player of the Match’ winning performance. Mumbai elected to bat first, with Musheer (112 in 162 balls, with 14 fours) and Siddhesh Lad (127 in 260 balls, with 18 fours and a six) scoring centuries, and Shams Mulani taking Mumbai to 446 with a handy 122-ball 69. Mayank Dagar (4/111) was the top bowler for HP. In reply, HP managed just 187 runs, with fifties from Nikhil Gangta and Vaibhav Arora. Himanshu Singh (3/54) was the top bowler for Mumbai, with Shams and Tushar Deshpande (two each), skipper Shardul Thakur and Musheer (one) being amongst the wickets too. HP’s follow-on attempt was even worse, as a fiver by Mulani and two wickets from Musheer bundled out HP for 139 runs. (ANI)