DLF League

Wednesday 19, November 2008

Mumbai remain top of Group A whilst Karnataka record an impressive victory in round three of the Ranji Trophy Super.


GROUP A


Delhi v Mumbai at Delhi
An unbeaten double-century from Sahil Kukreja saw the match between Delhi and Mumbai end in a draw on day four at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium. Content to secure three points rather than push for an improbable win, Mumbai batted all day, with Wasim Jaffer falling two short of a deserved century as the visitors put on 178 for the first wicket. Ajinkya Rahane and Vinayak Samant added half-centuries as Delhi were left to toil all day in the field, Sumit Narwal the pick of the bowlers with 2-75. Kukreja’s knock occupied just 315 balls, and it proved the high point of a pedestrian day’s play in Delhi.

Mumbai 330 (AM Rahane 160, AA Muzumdar 83; S Narwal 4-43) & 468-4 (SO Kukreja 229*, W Jaffer 98, AM Rahane 78, VR Samant 53*); Delhi 295 (M Manhas 98, R Bhatia 81; SV Bahutule 3-44, RR Powar 3-54).

Match Result: Match drawn
Points: Mumbai 3, Delhi 1


Gujarat v Hyderabad at Ahmedabad
Hyderabad dug in on day four to secure an improbable draw against Gujarat at Ahmedabad. Starting the day on 45-3, the visitor’s hopes of saving the game seemed bleak and whilst Tirumalsetti Suman and Arjun Yadav added 75 for the fourth wicket, at 147-5 the writing was on the wall. However, with the magic of the previous day deserting Siddharth Trivedi, Gujarat’s attack looked an increasingly tame outfit as the day progressed, and by the time Yadav had completed a watchful hundred (his unbeaten 118 occupying more than six hours and 300 balls) the game was back in the balance. Useful contributions from Syed Quadri (32) and Munagala Arjan (34) further held up the frustrated hosts and when the latter fell to Mohnish Parmar, a 27-ball rearguard from Shoaib Ahmed ensured that Yadav’s efforts were not in vain.

Gujarat 520-9dec (ND Modi 250*, NK Patel 76; TS Suman 3-63, SM Shoaib 3-72); Hyderabad 225 (SA Quadri 57; SK Trivedi 4-44, MB Parmar 3-44) & 287-7 (AS Yadav 118*; SK Trivedi 3-60, MB Parmar 3-79).

Match Result: Match drawn
Points: Gujarat 3, Hyderabad 1


Orissa v Rajasthan at Sambalpur
Rajasthan produced a tremendous effort in the field but were unable to force victory on day four at Sambalpur. The day began with the draw looking inevitable, but the departure of Shiv Sunder Das – the opener having added just four to his overnight score – precipitated a collapse that saw Orissa slump from 113-3 to 197-8. Vivek Yadav was the destroyer in chief, claiming four wickets in quick succession to dispose of the home side’s middle-order, and in the final analysis, Niranjan Behera’s half-century was a match-saving knock. Rajasthan’s target for victory was just 221, but disciplined bowling from Debasis and Sameer Mohanty ended the possibility of a grandstand finish.

Orissa 281 (BS Pati 72, SS Das 74, H Das 59; Vivek Yadav 4-45, SO Mathur 3-63) & 209 (SS Das 61, N Behera 54; Vivek Yadav 4-38); Rajasthan 270 (GK Khoda 127; Dhiraj Singh 7-83) & 131-4 (R Bist 60*).

Match Result: Match drawn
Points: Orissa 3, Rajasthan 1


Saurashtra v Punjab at Rajkot
Saurashtra opted for some batting practice on day four as the game at Rajkot petered out into a draw. With the share of points all but decided at the start of the day, Jaydev Shah capitalised on some tired bowling to rack up 178 from just 199 deliveries, his achievement all the more impressive in comparison to some of the turgid batting of his team-mates. Only debutant Varun Khanna, who bowled 48 overs across the innings, made significant inroads into the Saurashtra line-up, his slow left-arm proving the most effective weapon on a pitch beginning to take spin, but he found little support as Punjab piled on the runs.

Punjab 482 (R Inder Singh 114, S Sohal 103; RA Jadeja, 5-106, KR Makvana 3-115); Saurashtra 679-8 (CA Pujara 189, JN Shah 178, SH Kotak 102, RA Jadeja; V Khanna 3-161).

Match Result: Match drawn
Points: Saurashtra 3, Punjab 1



TABLE

 


GROUP B


Karnataka v Andhra at Mysore
Karnataka took just over two hours of the fourth day to wrap up their first victory of the season. Andhra entered the day with four wickets down and with little hope of scoring the 292 runs they required for victory. Thus they desperately needed their skipper and most resolute batsman, Gnaneshwara Rao, three not out overnight, to produce a substantial innings, but he fell to a stunning catch by Robin Uthappa off the bowling of Vinay Kumar during the fourth over of the day. The Karnataka spinners then went to work on the Andhra middle-order, Sunil Joshi (2-47) and KP Appanna (4-24) exploiting a crumbling pitch to extract prodigious turn. A brief flurry from AG Pradeep (41) briefly raised Andhra’s spirts, but when he played on to hand Appanna his second wicket, Andhra knew their day was done.

Karnataka 366 (RV Uthappa 133, SB Joshi 65; D Kalyankrishna 4-85) & 171 (R Dravid 50; DP Vijaykumar 6-51); Andhra 218 (VM Sai 70, M Suresh 54; SB Joshi 5-41) & 117 (KP Appanna 4-24; R Vinay Kumar 3-27).

Match result: Karnataka won by 202 runs
Points: Karnataka 5, Andhra 0


Railways v Baroda at Delhi
Resolute half-centuries from Amit Pagnis (67), Mahesh Rawat (57*) and Sanjay Bangar (55) ensured this hard-fought match ended with honours even. An overnight declaration by Baroda captain Connor Williams set up the possibility of a result on the final day, but despite the best efforts of Rajesh Pawar, who bowled 35 overs and claimed figures of 3-62, the visitors were unable to force home their advantage. The Railways batsmen will no doubt be pleased to have made amends following their below-par performance in their first innings, whilst the national selectors will be heartened by the performance of Irfan Pathan, whose match-figures of 5-88 from 46 overs was scant reward for an excellent performance.

Railways 224 (Karan Sharma 79, M Rawat 67; IK Pathan 4-42) & 240-5 (Amit Pagnis 67, Mahesh Rawat 57*, Sanjay Bangar 55); Baroda 460-8 (AA Bilakhia 157, CC Williams 137; Karan Sharma 3-55, M Kartik 3-78).

Match result: Match drawn
Points: Baroda 3, Railways 1

TABLE