The unstoppable Yash Dhull hogged Ranji Trophy Day 4's limelight with a record back to back ton for Delhi against Tamil Nadu, however, the match ended in a draw on Sunday (February 20). Another big thing that grabbed everyone's eyeballs was Cheteshwar Pujara's gritty 91, which marked his comeback after a long rut with the willow. Pujara's teammate Shams Mulani also impressed with a sensational spell of 7/114. Meanwhile, Akash Vasisht and Praveen Thakur slammed tons as Himachal eked out a hard-fought draw against Punjab.
Dhull caps off dream debut with consecutive hundred
India U-19 star Yash Dhull capped off a dream first-class debut by scoring his second hundred of the game as the Ranji Trophy Group H match between Delhi and Tamil Nadu ended in a draw here on Sunday.
With his unbeaten 113 off 202 balls on the fourth and final day, Dhull became only the third batter after Nari Contractor (1952/53) and Virag Awate (2012/13) to score a hundred in each innings on Ranji Trophy debut.
After Shahrukh Khan got Tamil Nadu the all-important first innings lead with a sensational 194 off 148 balls on day three, Dhull and his senior opening partner Dhruv Shorey (107 off 165) batted for 60.5 overs to take Delhi to 228 for no loss in the second innings before the players shook hands for a draw.
Dhull, who came into the game straight from the U-19 World Cup triumph in the Caribbean and with no recent red ball cricket under his belt, instantly showed that he belonged to the first-class level. His second hundred of the match came in easier batting conditions. With Delhi under pressure at seven for two on day one, the 19-year-old showed remarkable skill and maturity to bail the team out of trouble and help them to 452 along with Lalit Yadav.
Courtesy Shahrukh's display of brutal hitting, Tamil Nadu gained three points compared to Delhi's one after reaching 494 in their first innings. Delhi face Jharkhand in their second game from February 24.
Pujara slams 91 to bail out Saurasthra against Mumbai
Less than 24 hours after being dropped from the India Test squad, Cheteshwar Pujara struck an uncharacteristic 83-ball 91 for Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy match against Mumbai.
The Elite Group D match ended in a draw with Saurashtra making 372 for nine in their second innings on the fourth and final day.
Saurashtra were only 48 runs ahead when the stumps were drawn but the lack of time meant Mumbai could not go for an outright victory.
So the record 41-time winners settled for three points from the game for taking the first-innings lead while defending champions Saurashtra bagged one.
Bowling his slow left-arm spin to good effect, Shams Mulani returned career-best figures of 7/114, adding to his four wickets in the Saurashtra first innings.
On the final day of the match, Pujara played freely and found the fence at will while maintaining a strike rate of over 100, something very rare when it comes to the man from Rajkot, who is known for his solid defensive game. In all, Pujara struck 16 fours and a six during his stay in the middle.
Wicketkeeper-opener Snell Patel (98) missed out on a century by just two runs, out caught by Shams Mulani off the bowling of experienced seamer Dhawal Kulkarni.
Vasisht, Thakur slam tons, Himachal eke out hard-fought draw vs Punjab
Himachal Pradesh showed strong fightback lower down the order with centuries from Akash Vasisht and Praveen Thakur to salvage a draw against Punjab in their Ranji Trophy group F opener at the Kotla here on Sunday.
Having conceded a 172-run first innings lead, Himachal Pradesh resumed the final day on 151/5 with left-handed all-rounder Vasisht on overnight 36 as he along with Praveen Thakur stitched a match-saving 172 run partnership for the seventh wicket to eke out a hard-fought draw.
Vasisht slammed 15 boundaries en route to his career-best 140 from 196 balls, while wicketkeeper-batter Praveen Thakur struck a fine 103 not out batting at number eight.
Punjab settled for three points by virtue of their first innings lead, while Himachal Pradesh returned with one point.
Karnataka-Railways match ends in a draw; J&K starts with win over Pondicherry
Karnataka and Railways played out a draw in a Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match while Jammu and Kashmir began on a winning note, trouncing Pondicherry by eight wickets.
Resuming at 63 for one, Karnataka slipped from 179/2 to 223/9 before skipper Manish Pandey declared, leaving the opponent with a 278-run target from 41 overs for an improbable victory. The Railways finished at 69/4.
With Mayank Agarwal batting on 39, the focus was on how much the India Test batter could get. Having missed out in the first innings, the right-hander played with a lot of restraint and reached a half-century.
It took a good catch by Akshat Pandey to see the back of Agarwal for 56.
R Samarth batted fluently for his 83 (170 balls, 8 fours) and was involved in a half-century stand for the third wicket with K Siddharth, who hit a ton in the first innings.
After the exit of Siddharth at 179 and then Samarth at 192, the Karnataka innings saw wickets fall quickly and slid to 223 for 9 before Pandey declared. For Railways, medium-pacer Amit Mishra finished with 4 for 58 while captain Karn Sharma took three wickets.
Railways, in the second innings, slumped to 14/3 with debutant Vijayakumar Vyshak (2/16) sending back Mrunal Devdhar (20) and Arindam Ghosh (0).
Karnataka picked three points for their efforts while Railways earned one point.
In the other match of the day, veteran spinner Parvez Rasool finished with a six-wicket haul, dismissing the last Pondicherry batsman to star in Jammu and Kashmir's win.
Resuming at the overnight score of 113 for 9, Pondicherry added 11 runs to the score before Sagar Trivedi (37) became Rasool's sixth victim in the second innings.
Needing 42 runs to begin the season with a win, J&K lost the openers - Qamran Iqbal (8) and Jatin Wadhwan (9) before Shubham Pundir (21 not out) and Ian Dev Singh (6 not out) saw the team home.
Bengal bounce back to stun Baroda after Shahbaz, Abhishek's fifties
All-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed and debutant wicketkeeper Abhishek Porel struck unbeaten fifties as Bengal bounced back after their first-innings debacle to secure a dramatic four-wicket win over Baroda in their Ranji Trophy Group B opener here on Sunday.
Chasing 349 on the fourth day after being shot out for a paltry 88 in the first innings, Bengal rode on the duo of Ahmed and Porel, who stitched an unbroken 108-run partnership for the seventh wicket to steer their team home.
Resuming on 146/2, Bengal received an early jolt when skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran got out without any addition to his overnight total of 79 in the fourth ball of the day.
There were familiar jitters in the middle with Bengal losing three quick wickets including the duo of Sudip Chatterjee (18) and overnight batter Anustup Majumdar (33) in the space of four balls to be 176/5.
Medium pacer Abhimanyusingh Rajput (3/73) revived Baroda's hopes with the double blow.
But Bengal's deputy sports minister and former skipper Manoj Tiwary, who made a return to cricket after his foray into politics last year, arrested the slide with a fighting 37 from 61 balls before becoming Rajput's third victim.
Tottering at 242/6, Bengal unearthed a future star in the 19-year-old Abhishek, who showed utmost maturity and matched his senior partner, Shahbaz.
Abhishek hit seven boundaries en route to his maiden fifty. Shahbaz also hit an identical seven fours - all through the off-side region - as the pair sealed the issue in 91.3 overs.
In another match, Hyderabad defeated Chandigarh by 217 runs on the fourth day. Ravi Teja stood tall with his exceptional spell of 6/41 to sum up Chandigarh's innings to mere 183 after Hyderabad declared their innings for 269/8.
Bist stars with all-round show as Nagaland defeat Sikkim
Nagaland rode on veteran wicketkeeper-batter Chetan Bist's all-round show to down Sikkim by six wickets in their Ranji Trophy plate group opener here on Sunday.
The former Rajasthan glovesman slammed 115 and took eight catches behind the stumps as Nagaland chased down 174 in 40 overs to pocket six points.
Earlier, Shrikant Mundhe was the wrecker-in-chief with 3/46, while Abu Nechim and Nagaho Chishi claimed two wickets each as Nagaland bundled out Sikkim for 283 in 82 overs after they resumed the final day on 197/6 in their second essay.
Top-scorer Bist, who guided Nagaland to 412 in their first innings, was exceptional behind the stumps and took five catches in Sikkim's second innings.
In their chase, Nagaland lost their opener Sedezhalie Rupero (13) cheaply inside 11 overs, but Mundhe took charge with a 96-ball 59 not out to seal the issue in his team's favour.
In another match Bihar drew match with Mizoram but was awarded three points against opponents' one point. Mizoram were reeling at 199/4 after Bihar restricted Mizoram to 328 and forced a follow-on on them. Earlier, Bihar posted a humungous score of 685/5 dec, riding on Sakibul Gani's record breaking triple century.
Kartikeya's fifer helps Madhya Pradesh rout Gujarat by 106 runs
Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya Singh returned a five-wicket haul after Shubham Sharma hit a gritty unbeaten ton as Madhya Pradesh recorded an emphatic 106-run win over Gujarat in their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy game, here on Sunday.
Madhya Pradesh had conceded first innings lead to Gujarat but the central team then fought back with gusto, putting 251 in their second essay with Shubham scoring an unbeaten 103.
Kartikeya Singh (5/34) then spun the web around the Gujarat batters, as the team was shot out for a meagre 88 in their second essay in just 37.5 overs.
Gujarat chased a 195-run target for an outright win but none of their batters could make a substantial contribution as they made a beeline to the changing room at the Saurashtra Cricket Association stadium in Khandheri.
Skipper Priyank Panchal (5) became Kartikeya Singh's first victim and he soon removed one-down Bhargav Merai (0).
Experienced Ishwar Chandra Pandey (2/28) played his part to perfection as he sent back Karan Patel and Manprit Juneja.
Patel's patient 27 only delayed the inevitable but an all-round show from the Aditya Srivastava-led side fetched them six points.
Shubham (2/7) and Gaurav Yadav (1/17) also shared the spoils.
Gujarat next take on Kerala, who thrashed Meghalaya, while MP will square off against Meghalaya, beginning February 24.
Bachhav stars as Maharashtra thrash Assam by innings and seven runs
Experienced left-arm spinner Satyajeet Bachhav snared seven wickets to help his team Maharashtra thrash Assam by an innings and seven runs in their Elite Group G Ranji Trophy match here on Sunday.
Asked to follow on after being shot out for 248 in their first innings, Assam were bundled out for a meagre 160 in their second essay, as Bachhav (7/45) spun a web around the opposition batting line-up to give his side a bonus-point win.
Bachhav took 11 wickets in the match and played a key role in the victory alongside debutant Pawan Shah, whose double hundred propelled Maharashtra to a mammoth 415 in their first innings.
Assam started on their overnight score of 82/3, with Riyan Parag (56; 6x4) and Sarupam Purkayastha (38; 6x4) holding fort. The duo tried to take the game deep by adding 72 runs for the fourth wicket, but the task facing them was very difficult as Maharashtra pegged Assam back by removing both the set batters in quick succession.
First, Manoj Ingle (2/29) sent back Parag, and then, Bachhav removed Purkayastha as Assam slipped to 144/5.
Then it was the Bachhav show, as he ran through the tail at the Chaudhary Bansilal Stadium.
Bachhav was ably supported by Ingle and Divyang Hinganekar (1/7), who played their roles to perfection.
Rajasthan, Uttarakhand begin Ranji Trophy campaign with victories
Rajasthan opened their campaign in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group E with an emphatic 158-run win over Andhra on the fourth and final day of the match here on Sunday.
Chasing 368 for victory, Andhra were bowled out 209 in 53.3 overs with Shubham Sharma (4 for 32) and Aniket Choudhary (3 for 50) doing most of the damage.
Resuming at 100 for four on the final day, Andhra's slim hopes of salvaging the match evaporated quickly as Ricky Bhui fell to Choudhary after having added eight runs to his overnight score.
Yara Sandeep, the other not-out batsman, fell on the same score of 120 when Anirudh Singh had him caught by Tanveer Ul-Haq for 43.
It was all over for Andhra who slipped to 120 for six. Pinnati Tapaswi (44, 6 fours, 1 six) and Manish Golamaru (29) put on 67 runs for the seventh wicket to delay the inevitable.
The last three wickets including that of Tapaswi fell for just one run as Sharma picked up two more scalps while Ul-Haq finished things off by dismissing C V Stephen (0).
In the group's other match, Uttarakhand, who won the toss and sent their opponents Services into bat, bowled them out for 176 in the first innings before making 248 in their outing. Batting a second time, Services only managed 204, leaving their opponents with a victory target of 133.
Skipper Jay Bista remained unbeaten on 87 to guide Uttarakhand to a comfortable nine-wicket win.
