Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Review of all the 1st round of matches

Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Review of all the 1st round of matches: The domestic season has begun in style. Gurkeerat Singh has hit a double ton while Jadeja and Sehwag chipped in with vital 90’s. On the bowling front, Jadeja again spinned a web, while Khanna and Syed Mohammed has been instrumental for their respective teams. Assam and Rajasthan hanged in for 3 points each while Punjab topped the charts. Let’s have a quick look at what all happened at the end of 4th days play.

Group A

1.Defending Champions left stranded:

Assam drew their Group A tussle against defending champions Karnataka but more importantly gained three points by virtue of a first-innings lead. Set a target of 388, Assam managed their way to 259 for 5 to earn a draw.

Assam 194 (Amit Verma 57) and 259 for 5 (Arun Karthik 115*, Gokul 55) drew against Karnataka 187 (Bhavane 65, Syed Mohammad 7-44) and 394 (Samarth 131, Purkayastha 3-78).

Assam’s left-arm spinner J Syed Mohammad, who finished with game figures of 7 for 135, was adjudged the Man of the Match.

2.Woes for Delhi:

Rajasthan capitalized from the start and floored Delhi to 138 in the first innings. Delhi made a strong comeback in the second innings, mainly thanks to Narwal (106*) and Gambhir (92), but that turned out to be too little too late.Setting up a target of 336, Delhi could not pave a way furth, though, as an unbroken 150-run stand ensued between Saxena and Yadav, helping the home team play out a draw.

Deepak Chahar, who played an all round role with 5 for 60 along with a 48-ball 50 in Rajasthan’s first innings, was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Rajasthan 240 (Chahar 50, Narwal 3-47) and 186 for 3 (Yadav 75*, Saxena 80*) drew against Delhi 138 (Chahar 5 -60) and 437 for 9 declared (Narwal 106*, Gambhir 93, Nathu Singh 7-87)

3.Vidarbha’s strong start:

The home team put up a great show with the bat and gripped the visitors with splendid bowling. Akshay Wakhare was the pick of the bowlers for the home side, as he picked up 9 in the match, but Odisha stayed strong and earned a draw to their credit.Odisha pressed the panic button, as they slipped from 54 for 0 to 65 for 3, but Sarangi and captain Samantray (34 off 113 balls) combined for an 88-run partnership which blocked Vidarbha’s chance to grab seven points.

Wakhare was adjudged man of the match for his terrific performance with the ball.

Odisha 274 (Podder 148, Wakhare 4-84) and 230 for 6 (Sarangi 92, Wakhare 5-77) (f/o) drew with Vidarbha 467 (Yadav 128, Shanware 119)

4.Maharashtra exhibits confidence:

Twin centuries from Ankit Bawne and Chirag Khurana ensured a first-innings lead for Maharashtra in their Ranji Trophy opener against Haryana in Gahunje. For Haryana, Rana made a strokeful 157, while India discard Sehwag found his old touch, scoring a stylish 92.

AR Bawne picked up the player of the match trophy for his fruitful 172.

Maharashtra 570 for 6 (Bawne 176, Khurana 132, Gugale 91) drew with Haryana 335 (Rana 157, Sehwag 92)

Group B

1.Punjab starts the season on the right note:

There is no stopping for Gurkeerat, as he notched up a double hundred for Punjab. Mandeep, Kaul, and Khera scored their respective tons to put a mammoth score of 604. Railway’s lack of application turned out to be a bane, as Varun Khanna picked up his career-best figures of 8-97.Punjab grabbed all 7 points and now sits pretty at the top.

B Brainder Sran received the man of the match award for his 6 wickets in the first innings.

Punjab 604 for 5 dec (Gurkeerat 201*, U Kaul 112, Mandeep 109, Khera 102*) beat Railways196 (Ashish 90, Wakaskar 69, Sran 6-61, S Kaul 4-53) & 282 (Ghosh 98*, Awasthi 44, Khanna 8-97) by an innings and 126 runs

2.Andhra puts up a good show:

Mohammed Kaif and Bhui did well to guide Andhra to 244 while Sandhu picked up 5 wickets for the bowling team. Mumbai failed to topple the score and bundled out for 237, 7 shy of 1st innings lead, thanks to Ayyappa’s 6-71. Mohammed Kaif scored an unbeaten 49 to carry his bat through the end of days play.

B Ayyappa was adjudged the man of the match for his efforts with the ball.

Andhra 244 (Bhui 103, Kaif 90, Sandhu 5-53) & 176 for 3 (Prashanth Kumar 59, Kaif 49*) drew with Mumbai 237 (Lad 86, B Ayyappa 6-71)

3.Strong batting tosses one point each:

Saif, Sarfaraz, and Shaukat made sure UP stays in safe hands, as they posted marathon 686-7. In reply, Shrivastava and Ojha lifted Madhya Pradesh to 531-7. Moradabad witnessed a strong display of batting, as both sides shook hands with one point each.

Mohammad Saif missed out on a double century by just 2 runs. He was declared the man of the match for his gritty batting.

Uttar Pradesh 686 for 7 declared (Saif 198, Sarfaraz 155, Shaukat 128) drew againstMadhya Pradesh 531 for 7 (Shrivastava 169, Naman Ojha 88, Rajpoot 4-87)

4.Tamil Nadu wins a thriller:

Rahil Shah produced a match winning spell to see his team through to a thrilling win. The Chennai wicket turned out to be a tricky one, and tough day for the batter’s on the fourth day was expected. For the visitors, Bharghav Bhatt’s match haul of 10 wickets pushed them up and close, but Tamil Nadu had the final laugh. Baba Aparajith was consistent with the bat, scoring 44 and 39 respectively on an uneven bouncy track. Tamil Nadu couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season, as they picked up 6 points from the game.

RS Shah turned out to be the difference between the two sides, as he picked up the man of the match award.

Tamil Nadu 125 (Aparajith 44, Bhatt 4-32, Yusuf 4-29) and 155 (Aparajith 39, Bhatt 6-58) beat Baroda 159 (Yusuf 41, Rahil 4-38, Chandrasekar 4-50) and 114 ( Hooda 32, Rahil 5-43) by seven runs.

Group C

1.Kerala runs out of time:

In the end, it all came down to a target of 71 from 8 overs. Kerala fancied their chances, but time ran out from their hands, as the visitors had to settle down for 3 points. J&K did well to scalp 4 victims, as the host pulled out a draw on time. Earlier Kerala scored 485/8 in reply to Jammu and Kashmir’s 330. Bandeep batted well for the hosts, as Sanju Samson and Baby celebrated their centuries.

Sachin Baby received the man of the match award for his sublime 151.

Jammu & Kashmir 330 (Bandeep 82, Monish 3-63) and 225 (Reshi 54, Ian Dev 50, Gomez 3-8, Prem 3-48) drew against Kerala 485 for 8 declared (Baby 151, Samson 101) and 44 for 4.

2.Goa fetches 3 crucial points:

Kamat’s 109 turned out to be vital for the hosts, as Goa successfully took a lead against Hyderabad. Put into bat first, the visitors scored 325, while Ahmed went back to the pavilion injured. In reply, Goa took the lead on their way to 425/7. The hosts will be happy to pocket 3 points and get off the mark in style.

SK Kamat received the man of the match award for his stroke full century.

Hyderabad 325 for 9 declared (Vihari 82, Rituraj 3-74) drew against Goa 425 for 7 (Kamat 109, Misal 67, Vishal Sharma 3-93)

3.Services win it easy:

The hosts won the toss and elected to field. Putting Jharkhand into bat, Pathania rolled over the visitors and send them packing for just 45. In reply, Services struggled early on, as the Jharkhand bowlers got wickets at regular interval. The hosts finally got out for 161. Jharkhand in the second innings did a little better, as Virat Singh’s and Tiwary’s half century lifted the visitors to 191. The first innings horror didn’t leave Jharkhand, as Services chased the target of 77 with the loss of only one wicket.

DG Pathania won the man of the match for his match winning 13 wickets in the game.

Services 161 (Paliwal 26,Poonia 24,Shukla 3-61) and 78 for 1 ( Chatterjee 37, Gupta 34) beat  Jharkhand 45 (Shukla-13,Pathania 6-19) and (Tiwary-56,Virat-51, Pathania 7-64)

4.Jadeja stars in big win:

Shah called the toss right and elected to bat. Jackson and Jadeja missed out on a ton respectively, but the duo lifted the side to 307.In reply, Tripura had no answer to Jadeja’s spin web, as the visitors fell for a partly 103. Following on, Tripura’s poor form continued, with Jadeja picking up 5 more to take his scalp to 11 wickets before the visitors backs were broken to an innings defeat.

Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round was adjudged the man of the match for his all-round show.

Saurashtra 307( Jackson 97, Jadeja 91, Saha 4-72) beat Tripura 103(Arindam 24, Jadeja 6-27) and 86 (M Murasingh 36, Ravindra Jadeja 5-45, Dharmendra Jadeja 4-12).