Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand registered wins in round two of 2021/22 Ranji Trophy to solidify their chances of making the knockouts stage.
Delhi, despite a brave attempt to chase 335, fell short by 15 runs to Jharkhand and are virtually out of contention for the knockouts.
Elite Group E
Uttarakhand made themselves overwhelming favourites to be group toppers as they thrashed Rajasthan by 299 runs in Thiruvananthapuram. Resuming the final day from 58/3 to chase 455, Rajasthan never seemed to be in the chase and were all out for 155. In the other match, Andhra Pradesh took the first innings lead over Services. Andhra’s C R Gnaneshwar made 125 while Shaik Rasheed, India’s vice-captain in U19 World Cup winning campaign, made 43.
Elite Group F
Punjab eased to being table-toppers after defeating Haryana by ten wickets in New Delhi. Mandeep Singh made an unbeaten 159 with Anmol Malhotra’s century helping Punjab reach 444. Despite a 149 from Himanshu Rana, Haryana were 282 all out. Punjab imposed the follow-on and Haryana were dismissed for 203. Punjab then cruised to 45/0 and earned a bonus point with the ten-wicket win.
In the other match, Himachal Pradesh defeated Tripura by an innings and 30 runs. A 147 from Ankit Kalsi took Himachal to 365. Tripura’s batting never stepped up to the challenge, dismissed for 202 and 133 in both innings. Himachal’s left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar took 5/55 and 4/30 to bamboozle Tripura batters. In the standings, Punjab have 10 points while Himachal are second with eight points.
Elite Group G
Vidarbha grabbed three points from their drawn match against Maharashtra at Gurugram, thanks to their first-innings lead. On the back of veteran batter Ganesh Satish’s career-best 275, Vidarbha had posted a massive 570/5 in their first innings. Left-arm spinner Aditya Sarvate took 6/79 to dismiss Maharashtra for 328. Asked to follow-on, Maharashtra were 60/4 before the match ended with them taking just one point.
In the other match at Lahli, Uttar Pradesh defeated Assam by six wickets. After taking a slender lead of nine runs, Yash Dayal and Ankit Rajpoot took 4/37 and 4/56 respectively to bowl out Assam for just 120. Uttar Pradesh chased down the target of 111 easily with first-innings top-scorer Samarth Singh making 51 not out. In the points table, Maharashtra are on top with eight points followed by Uttar Pradesh at seven and Vidarbha at six.
Elite Group H
A counter-attacking 136 off 177 balls from opener Dhruv Shorey wasn’t enough for Delhi to avoid a 15-run loss to Jharkhand in Guwahati. Chasing 335 after Jharkhand declared at 307/7, apart from Shorey, Jonty Sidhu made 54 while Lalit Yadav and Pradeep Sangwan tried to keep Delhi in the hunt. But Yadav’s run-out turned the situation in Jharkhand’s favour with left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem taking 5/83, following up from the 5/58 he took in the first innings.
In the other match, Tamil had to be content with a first innings lead against Chhattisgarh. Having declared at 470/9 in the first innings, Tamil Nadu got Chhattisgarh out for 304. In Chhattisgarh’s second essay, they were 172/8 and managed to steal a point with skipper Harpreet Singh Bhatia unbeaten at 43. As per the points table, Chhattisgarh are on top position with seven points with Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu having six points each.
Plate Group
Nagaland are on top with 13 points after defeating Arunachal Pradesh by an innings and 83 runs. Sikkim captain Kranthi Kumar’s magnificent 287 meant the team took a first innings lead against Bihar despite an unbeaten 101 from Saikbul Gani and 112 from Yashaswi Rishav. Manipur are second with ten points in the group standings after taking first innings lead against Mizoram.
