Ranji Trophy Wrap | Karnataka, Punjab Dominate as Sarfaraz Extends Terrific Form

Karnataka v Baroda

Karnataka shot Baroda out for just 85 before finishing with an 80-run lead and three wickets in hand at M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.

Opting to bowl first, Karnataka made good use of helpful conditions as Abhimanyu Mithun and K Gowtham got three wickets each while Prasidh Krishna got two. Baroda lasted only 33.5 overs with only two batsmen getting to double digits.



Karnataka too kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were 165 for 7 at stumps, with Karun Nair (47) and Gowtham (27 off 16) being the top contributors.

Punjab v Bengal

Left-arm spinner Vinay Choudhary got six wickets as Punjab bowled Bengal out for just 138 at Patiala.

At stumps, Punjab reached 93 for 3, trailing by only 45 runs.

Bengal opted to bat first but collapsed, with only Manoj Tiwary fighting with an unbeaten 73. Only four Bengal batsmen got to double digits.

Punjab too lost three wickets but their bowlers have put them in a good position to take a significant first-innings lead.

Saurashtra v Tamil Nadu

Abhinav Mukund made 86 but Jaydev Unadkat’s three wickets helped Saurashtra reduce TN to 250 for 7 at the SCA stadium in Rajkot.

TN opted to bat first and got a good start getting to 127 for 2 but once Abhinav was dismissed by Unadkat, they collapsed in the middle order. N Jagadeesan held one end strong and remained unbeaten on 61 at stumps.

TN need to win, preferably with bonus point, and hope for plenty more results to go their way if they are to qualify for the knockouts.

Mumbai vs Madhya Pradesh

Mumbai have no chance of qualifying to the knockouts but Sarfaraz Khan extended his superb form striking an unbeaten 169 at Wankhede in Mumbai.

At stumps, Mumbai were 352 for 4 having opted to bat first with Aakarshit Gomel also scoring a ton (122). MP reduced Mumbai to 72 for 3, Kuldeep Sen getting all three wickets.

From there, opener Aakarshit Gomel and Sarfaraz shared a 275-run stand for the fourth wicket to give Mumbai the edge. Gomel fell, but Sarfaraz remained unbeaten to continue his terrific run. His last few innings read: 301*, 226*, 78 and 25.

Uttar Pradesh v Himachal Pradesh

Medium pacer Aquib Khan got five wickets as UP bowled HP out for 220 in Lucknow.

Opting to field, captain Ankit Rajpoot and Aquib ran through HP’s batting to keep them in check. Plenty of HP batsmen got starts – four of them reached at least 30 but the highest score was 49.

UP finished the day 23/1, losing Almas Shaukat for 8.

Brief scores:

Arunachal Pradesh v Meghalaya 387/4

Assam v Tripura 387/7

Mizoram 15/1 v Goa 490/4d

Manipur v Chandigarh 352/5

Odisha 205/4 v Jharkhand

Sikkim v Bihar 286/8

Chhattisgarh 179 v Services 81/3

Delhi 389/6 v Rajasthan

Gujarat 2/0 v Andhra 177

Hyderabad 239/7 v Vidarbha

Punjab 93/3 v Bengal 138

Karnataka 165/7 v Baroda 85

Mumbai 352/4 v Madhya Pradesh

Saurashtra v Tamil Nadu 250/7

Uttar Pradesh 23/1 v Himachal 220

J & K 340 v Haryana 2/1

Maharashtra 207 v Uttarakhand 112/3

Pondicherry 92/2 v Nagaland 176