A representational image of cricket bat
Manipur skipper Yashpal Singh's century went in vain as Sikkim cruised to an innings and 27-run win against Manipur in a Ranji Trophy Plate Group encounter here on Saturday.
Sikkim, who lost all their eight matches in the National One Dayers, showed remarkable turnaround with their three outstation recruits, as they secured seven points, including a bonus, wrapping up the match inside three days.
Uttarakhand and Nagaland also registered bonus point victories over their respective opponents while Meghalaya secured full points against Arunachal Pradesh as all the Plate Group matches got over inside three days.
Having shot out for a paltry 79, Manipur resumed day three with 170 runs in arrears in their second innings as Yashpal and Lakhan Rawat made Sikkim wait for their maiden Ranji win with a 112-run third wicket partnership.
But once Lakhan was trapped leg before by Padam Limboo, it all went downhill for Manipur as they folded for 266 in 80.2 overs with outstation recruits -- left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma (4/55) and pacer Ishwar Choudhary (3/52) running through the middle order.
In Dimapur, former Karnataka all-rounder Arbar Kazi was the star as he followed up his unbeaten double century with a five-wicket haul (5/13) to help the hosts post huge innings and 33-run win over Mizoram.
Kazi, who finished with a match tally of nine wickets, broke the back of Mizoram middle-order to bundle them out for 91 in their second essay.
Brief Scores
In Kolkata: Sikkim 372. Manipur 79 and 266 (Yashpal Singh 132, Lakhan Rawat 70; Bipul Sharma 4/55, Ishwar Chaudhary 3/52). Sikkim won by an innings and 27 runs. Points: Sikkim 7, Manipur 0.
In Dehradun: Bihar 60 and 169. Uttarakhand 227 and four for no loss. Uttarakhand won by 10 wickets. Points: Uttarakhand 7, Bihar 0.
In Shillong: Arunachal Pradesh 166 and 131; 55.1 overs (Kshitiz Sharma 41, Kamsha Yangfo 40; Gurinder Singh 4/21, Abhay Negi 4/39). Meghalaya 141 and 157/3; 32 overs (Punit Bisht 66, Yogesh Nagar 55 not out). Meghalaya won by seven wickets. Points: Megahalaya 6. Arunachal Pradesh 0.
In Dimapur: Mizoram 106 and 91; 41.4 overs (Taruwar Kohli 48 not out; Arbar Kazi 5/13, Rachit Bhatia 2/12, Tahmeed Rahman 2/19). Nagaland 530/8 declared. Nagaland won by an innings and 333 runs. Points: Nagaland 7, Mizoram 0.
In the Elite Group C Ranji Trophy Game in Jaipur, Rajasthan set a target of 395 for Jammu and Kashmir. After putting up 379 in the first innings, Rajasthan bundled out Jammu and Kashmir for 204 and later declared the second innings for 219/4, putting together overall lead of 394.
Jammu and Kashmir started from their overnight score of 186/7 but were able to add only 18 runs to their tally and eventually were bowled out for 204.
For Rajasthan, leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (5-59) starred with the ball as he picked up a five-wicket haul and spun his web around Jammu and Kashmir at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here.
In their second innings, Rajasthan opener A V Gautam top-scored with 68, while middle-order batsman Robin Bist (44) and Tajinder Singh Dhillon (49 not out) made notable contributions.
However, their first innings hero Chetan Bist, who had scored 159, fell cheaply in the second outing.
At stumps on day 3, Jammu and Kashmir were 34/0, but itwill be an arduous task for the visitors who need another 361 runs for outright victory.
Brief Scores: At Jaipur Rajasthan 379 and 219/4 declared (A V Gautam 68) vs Jammu and Kashmir 204 and 34/0.
Jammu and Kashmir need 361 runs to win.
At Bhubaneswar: Odisha 324 and 50/1 (Govinda Poddar 22 batting) versus Haryana 442 all out (Himanshu Rana 164, Chetan Bishnoi 75).
Odisha trail by 68 runs.
At Agartala: Tripura 360 and 110/0 (U U Bose 64 batting, Bishal Gose 44 batting) vs Services 238 all out (Aanshul Gupta 62, Vikas Hathwala 51).
Tripura lead by 232 runs.
At Ranchi: Jharkhand 344 and 44/1 (Ishan Kishan 31 batting) versus Assam 298 all out (Gokul Sharma 92, Sibsankar Roy 70).
Jharkhand lead by 90 runs.
At Kanpur: Goa 152 and 123/8 (Snehal Kauthankar 28, Saurabh Kumar 4-31) against Uttar Pradesh 564/4 Declared (Aksh Deep Nath 194, Mohammed Saif 126, Priyam Garg 117 not out).
Goa trail by 289 runs.
In the Elite Group 'B' match between Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh in Dindigul, rain played spoilsport.
The play was called off at 3.45 PM after several inspections without a ball being bowled.
Tamil Nadu was zero for no loss in two overs at stumps on Friday in reply to Madhya Pradesh's first innings score of 393, built on Ranjit Patidar's brilliant 196.
Test spinner R Ashwin and paceman M Mohammed, who took a hat-trick, scalped four wickets each to restrict MP, who looked set for a huge total at one point.
Mohammed's hat-trick included the wickets of Yash Dubey, Patidar and Mihir Hirwani.
Brief scores: Madhya Pradesh 393 in 157.4 overs (Rajat Patidar 196, Aryaman Vikram Birla 51, Naman Ojha 45, R Ashwin 4 for 85, M Mohammed 4 for 98) vs TN 0 for no loss.
(No play on third day).
At Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala 495 for 6 declared in 164 overs (Sachin Baby 147, V A Jagadeesh 113 not out, Jalaj Saxena 58, Sanju Samson 53, Saketh 3 for 110) vs Hyderabad 30 for 1 in 21 overs.
At Amtar: Bengal 380 all out in 116.1 overs (Manoj Tiwary 55, Anustup Majumdar 52, Abhishek Kumar Raman 48, PP Jaswal 5 for 81, RR Dhawan 2 for 56) vs Himachal Pradesh 302 for 9 in 107 overs (A K Bains 86, S L Verma 46, Pradipta Pramanik 4 for 54).
At Vizag: Punjab 414 all out in 156.2 overs (Sanvir Singh 110, Mayank Markande 68 not out, Mandeep Singh 68, Shubman Gill 56, B Ayyappa 3 for 78, Karn Sharma 3 for 115) vs Andhra Pradesh 327 for 5 in 116 overs (Ricky Bhui 150 batting, K S Bharat 76, B Sumanth 54, Mayank Markande 3 for 96).
In the Ranji trophy group A encounter young pacer Tushar Deshpande recorded his career-best figures of 6 for 70 to help Mumbai earn a sizeable first innings lead against Railways on the third day. Deshpande's second five-wicket haul in first-class cricket saw Mumbai dismiss Railways for 307 in their first innings thereby taking a 104-run lead.
At stumps, Mumbai were 57 for 2, consolidating their overall lead to 161 going into the final day of the opening round clash.
However, credit should be given to Railways lower-order batsmen, who were instrumental in taking the team past 300-run mark and eating into Mumbai's time to register an outright win.
It will be interesting if Mumbai captain Dhawal Kulkarni opts for a sporting declaration in his bid to get full points from the match.
Starting the day at 115 for six, Arindam Ghosh (71, 197 balls) and Harsh Tyagi (39, 142 balls) added 58 runs in 28.4 overs for the seventh wicket.
However, Ghosh was trapped leg-before by left-arm spinner Karsh Kothari (1/42 in 15 overs), leaving Railways reeling at 173 for 7.
However Avinash Yadav (48) and Tyagi added another 65 runs for the eighth wicket before both batsmen were dismissed in quick succession by Deshpande, who completed his five-wicket haul after the second new ball was taken.
At 241 for 9, Madhur Khatri (29) and Anureet Singh (38) added 66 runs for the final wicket to take Railways past the 300-run mark before Deshpande wrapped up the innings with his sixth wicket.
Having ensured at least three points by virtue of first innings lead, Mumbai didn't force pace in their second innings reaching 57 in 25 overs. Left-handed opener Akhil Herwadkar (24 batting, 71 balls) took his time and now has Siddhesh Lad (13 batting) for company.
Brief Scores
Mumbai 411 and 57/2 (Akhil Herwadkar 24 batting). Railways 307 (Arindam Ghosh 71, Avinash Yadav 48, Tushar Deshpande 6/70)
Maharashtra 343. Vidarbha 120 and (f/o) 287/3 (Faiz Fazal 116 batting, Wasim Jaffer 63).
Baroda 290 and 161/7 (Pinal Shah 71, Rush Kalaria 4/29). Gujarat 1st Innings 302 (Rujul Bhatt 76, Manprit Juneja 47, Samit Gohel 63).
Saurashtra 475. Chhattisgarh 315/8 (Harpreet Singh 60, Jaydev Unadkat 7/66).
