Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Review of all the 5th round matches

Ranji Trophy 2015-16: Review of all the 5th round matches: The 5th round of the Ranji trophy turned out in emphatic fashion, as the defending champions registered their first win.

Paras Dogra played a gem of an innings, while Robin Uthappa made his century count. Bengal picked up the first innings honour, while Vidarbha wrapped up a 82 run win. Tamil Nadu got the better of Railways, as Madhya Pradesh floored Baroda. Let’s have a look at how the teams fared in the 5th round.

Group A

1. Defending Champions Karnataka registered their first win of the season against Rajasthan.

Robin Uthappa’s brilliant 160 overshadowed Rajat Bhatia’s 99, as Mathias picked up three wickets for Karnataka.

Resuming on 42 for 3, Rajasthan’s chase of 358 was steady enough, with Pranay and Tanveer-Ul-Haq adding 60 runs initially  before Stuart Binny had Tanveer lbw.

The hosts were then rocked by the wickets of Rajat Bhatia and Puneet Yadav inside the next two overs, and defeat looked imminent at 116 for 6.

R Uthappa (Karnataka) received the man of the match award

Karnataka 281 (Agarwal 66, Samarth 65, Gopal 48, Choudhary 5-77) & 318 for 5 dec (Uthappa 160, Reddy 69) beat Rajasthan 242 (Bhatia 99, Vinay 3-42, Aravind 3-42) & 265 (Pranay 114, Yagnik 71, Mathias 3-53) by 92 runs

2. Vidarbha sinks Maharashtra

Offspinner Akshay Wakhare and left-arm turner Aditya Sarwate shared all the wickets to fall in Maharashtra’s second innings as Vidarbha notched up an 82-run win in Nagpur.

Chasing a tricky 245, Maharashtra were in totters at 3-1, but Harshad Khadiwale steadied the ship with his half century, along with Ankit Bawne.

Maharashtra’s batting collapsed  as they slipped from 110 for 3 to 137 for 7 inside 13 overs, and eventually 162 all out. While Wakhare picked up six wickets in the second innings, Sarwate, playing his second first-class game, finished with match figures of 7 for 115.

FY Fazal (Vidarbha) was awarded the man of the match for his gritty 120 in the first innings.

Vidarbha 332 (Fazal 120, Shrivastava 63, Mundhe 3-60, Sanklecha 3-60) & 149 (Ubarhande 47, Darekar 5-78) beat Maharashtra 237 (Khurana 74, Gugale 42, Sarwate 3-41) & 162 (Khadiwale 55, Wakhare 6-58, Sarwate 4-74) by 82 runs

3. Bengal picks up first innings honours

Bengal bowled out Haryana for 225 after putting on 329 in the first innings. Mukesh Kumar picked 4 wickets in the first innings for Bengal.

Haryana got off to a poor start in the chase of 316, losing their openers Rahul Dewan and Nitin Saini with only 14 on the board. Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma led the fightback with a 65-run alliance, but seamer Sayan Mondal eventually had him caught behind for 46 off 52 balls.

Rohit and Sachin Rana then put together 63 runs, but once both the batsmen were dismissed Haryana ensured they emerged out of the game with one point. Ashok Dinda picked up three wickets for Bengal.

PP Shaw (Bengal) was awarded the man of the match award

Bengal 329 (Chandila 65, Shaw 54, Ojha 51, Dinda 45, Rana 5-46) & 211 for 8 dec (Shaw 61, Chatterjee 49) drew with Haryana 225 (Rohit 78, Chahal 42, Mukesh 4-53) & 195 for 6 (Rohit 50, Rana 50, Sehwag 46, Dinda 3-52)

4. Delhi bags 3 points

Left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan’s seven-wicket haul tickled Odisha’s collapse, enabling Delhi to secure the first-innings lead in Bhubaneswar.

Odisha were cruising in on their way to Delhi’s total when they resumed on 195 for 4 in the morning. Sangwan, however, struck with the fourth ball of the day, having Anurag Sarangi caught behind.

Sangwan then went on to pick up four more wickets of the five that Odisha lost inside eight overs, adding a mere 22 runs to their overnight total.

PJ Sangwan (Delhi) was awarded the man of the match

Delhi 311 (Milind 59, Shorey 42, Gambhir 41, Narang 41*, Pradhan 4-119, D Behera 3-46, Mohanty 3-80) & 193 for 9 dec (Shorey 62, Gambhir 54, Rana 52, Mohanty 6-39) drew withOdisha 217 (Sarangi 76, N Behera 62, Sangwan 7-38) & 88 for 3

Group B

1. Tamil Nadu gets the better of Railways

Left-arm spinner Rahil Shah’s four-wicket haul triggered Railways’ collapse at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi to set up an eight-wicket win for Tamil Nadu.

Resuming on 200 for 4, Railways lost their last six wickets for 40 runs inside 19 overs. Christ spread his magic too, by picking up 6 wickets in the first innings.

B Indrajith (Tamil Nadu) was adjudged the man of the match for his stroke-filled 151.

Tamil Nadu 328 (Indrajith 151, Abhinav 49, Anureet 5-104) & 77 for 2 (Karthik 43) beatRailways 164 (Cheluvaraj 66, Ghosh 48, Crist 6-60, Kousik 3-9) & 240 (Cheluvaraj 88, Rawat 78, Rahil 4-38) by eight wickets

2. Madhya Pradesh thumped Baroda

MP clinched the first win of the season by beating Baroda by 87 runs.

The win was set up by a hundred from debutant Rajat Patidar – to follow up on his first-innings half-century – and  fifties from Harpreet Singh and Rameez Khan.

Rameez’s 50 came off 52 balls with six fours and a six, as the team looked to declare. They finally did on 288 for 6, setting the hosts 262 for the win.

Baroda in reply were struggling at 31-5. Yusuf Pathan lifted Baroda to a certain extent, but MP turned out to be the winners.

MN Hirwani (Madhya Pradesh) earned the man of the match award.

Madhya Pradesh 269 (Patidar 60, Swapnil 4-61) and 288 for 6 dec (Patidar 101, Swapnil 4-94) beat Baroda 296 (Waghmode 68, Hirwani 5-60) and 174 (Yusuf 86, Datey 4-20, Hirwani 4-41) by 87 runs

3. Punjab thrashes Andhra

Gurkeerat Singh scalped 4 wickets, as Andhra were bundled out for 80.

Punjab too struggled while batting, as they were packed for 147, with Prasanth taking 4 wickets.

Gurkeerat Singh once again found himself among wickets. This time picking up 5 wickets. Punjab were left to chase mere 67 runs, but they struggled initially. Mandeep Singh’s gritty 22 ensured a win for Punjab.

Gurkeerat Singh (Punjab) picked up the man of the match award.

Punjab 147 (Jiwanjot 59, Prasanth 4-14) and 67 for 3 (Mandeep 22*) beat Andhra 80 (Gurkeerat 4-14) and 133 (Bharat 39, Gurkeerat 5-38) by seven wickets.

4. Uttar Pradesh wins it big

Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar’s second five-wicket haul of the match helped Uttar Pradesh seal a 155-run win over Gujarat in Valsad. Manpreet Juneja (91 off 101 balls) and Axar Patel (80 off 89) played gritty late-order knocks and added 142 runs off 153 balls for the seventh wicket, but couldn’t avoid defeat.

Set a target of 431, Gujarat were reduced to 6 for 2 inside five overs by Saurabh and Praveen Kumar. Gujarat rebuilt via a 60-run stand between Bhargav Merai, who scored 54 off 77 balls, and captain Parthiv Patel.

But, after Praveen dismissed Parthiv, Gujarat slid from 66 for 3 to 110 for 6 with left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza picking up two of the three wickets to fall.

Saurabh Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) received the man of the match award.

Uttar Pradesh 273 (Asnora 57*, Dwivedi 50, Bumrah 3-35) & 257 (Umang 66, Chawla 62*, Axar 5-90) beat Gujarat 100 (Praveen 5-16, Saurabh 5-37) & 275 (Juneja 91, Axar 80, Merai 54, Saurabh 5-106) by 155 runs

Group C

1. Paras Dogra lifts Himachal to big win

Dogra’s double century lifted Himachal to 561, while Tripura were bundled out for 285 and 270, resulting in an innings defeat.

Tripura’s last-wicket pair of Nirupam Sen Chowdhary and Abhijit Sarkar held off Himachal Pradesh for nearly 20 overs, but could not prevent an innings defeat in Dharamsala.

Tripura, who started at 88 for 3 following on, continued to lose wickets at regular intervals, with Udiyan Bose (60) the only top-order batsman to produce a score of note.

Ankush Bedi and Akash Vasisht picked up three wickets apiece to reduce Tripura to 175 for 9, but had to wait for more than an hour for the last wicket, as Chowdhary and Sarkar strung together a 95-run partnership.

P Dogra (Himachal Pradesh) was named the man of the match.

Himachal Pradesh 561 for 5 declared (Dogra 209*, Bains 114, Prashant 104) beat Tripura285 (Bose 95, Chauhan 3-55) and 270 (Chowdhary 66, Bedi 3-50, Vasisht 3-63) by an innings and six runs

2. Saurashtra wins four on a trott

Ravindra Jadeja’s 57, along with half-centuries from Mohsin Ahmedbhai Dodia and Arpit Vasavada, helped Saurashtra chase down a target of 302 with four wickets to spare against Services in Palam. The win is Saurashtra’s fourth in a row and puts them on top of the Group C table.

Services, who had built a lead of 301 on the third day, declared overnight. Saurashtra lost opener Avi Barot early but a 71-run partnership between Dodia and Sagar Jogiyani steadied them. Services fought back with three quick wickets but the 101-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Jadeja and Vasavada lifted Saurashtra closer to victory.

RS Paliwal (Services) was awarded the man of the match.

Saurashtra 264 (Barot 66, Jani 47, Khalid 5-74) and 302 for 6 (Dodia 65, Vasavada 57, Jadeja 55) beat Services 254 (Paliwal 121, Yashpal 55, Unadkat 6-80) & 311 for 6 dec (Yashpal 115*, Paliwal 103, Sanandiya 3-54) by four wickets

3. Goa grabs 3 points

Goa declared their second innings at 102 for 5 and set Jharkhand a target of 196 late on the final day, but the hosts held out for a draw. Jharkhand, who had resumed on 159 for 4, lost their last six wickets for 50 runs, with left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati (5 for 72) and offspinner Amit Yadav (3 for 59) doing most of the damage.

Yadav was among the wickets once again during Jharkhand’s chase, when the batting side slid from 49 for 1 to 62 for 5 before stumps were called.

SA Asnodkar (Goa) bagged the man of the match award.

Jharkhand 209 (Sumit Kumar 51, Deobrat 49, Jakati 5-72) and 105 for 6 (Gautam 41, Amit Yadav 3-47) drew with Goa 302 (Asnodkar 71, Jadhav 63, Quadri 6-97) and 102 for 5 dec (Misal 39)

4. Jammu & Kashmir takes innings points

Half-centuries from Hanuma Vihari, K Sumanth, Danny Dereck Prince and B Anirudh helped Hyderabad amass 329 after they were asked to follow-on on the third day. Set a target of 150, Jammu & Kashmir drew the match, ending the day at 56 for 2 in Uppal. The visitors had already taken first-innings points after they bowled Hyderabad out for 280 and gained a lead of 180 runs.

M Manhas (Jammu & Kashmir) was adjudged man of the match

Jammu & Kashmir 460 (Manhas 150, Ian Dev 83, Rasool 75, Ahmed 5-92) and 56 for 2 drew with Hyderabad 280 (Agarwal 71, Anirudh 68*, Rohit 4-78, Sofi 4-37) & 329 (following-on) (Sumanth 78, Vihari 65, Dayal 5-55)