Karnataka upset Mumbai to register historic win

Karnataka still have one game left in the league stage. They will face a formidable Delhi in their last league match away from home.

Mumbai,with 23 points from seven matches,are at number three position in the table,while Gujarat are at second spot,three points ahead of the defending champions.

Mumbai will have a tough task at hands in their last league encounter when they will take on Gujarat. There is a danger of Punjab shattering Mumbai’s dreams of qualifying for the knockout stage because they have as many points as Mumbai and will be taking on an out-of-contention Jharkhand in their final league match.

Karnataka scored 251 in their first innings and in reply Mumbai were all out for 269,taking a vital 18-run lead.

In their second innings,Karnataka made a disastrous start losing two wickets for 32,but Ravikumar Samarth’s half century and Manish Pandey’s match-winning 119 helped the hosts score 299,hence setting Mumbai a target of 282 runs.

Mumbai were bundled out for a meagre 121 in their second stint to give Karnataka an historic occasion to celebrate.

Never in Ranji history did Karnataka score an outright win over Mumbai.

Karnataka’s bowling was led by pacers Vinay Kumar and Sharath,both of whom scalped three wickets each. They well very well supported by India discard Abhimanyu Mithun (2/28) and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal (2/13).

Vinay Kumar bowled his heart out,troubling the top order Mumbai batsmen with his deadly swingers just outside the off-stump. He had an astonishing first spell,where he claimed two for 10 in seven overs,which drifted the game away from Mumbai.

Mumbai got off to a poor start in their run chase as they lost eight wickets for 100 runs.

Doraiswamy Subramanian (13) and Kaustubh Pawar failed to give Mumbai a good start.

Much was expected from their captain Wasim Jaffer and Aditya Tare,who have been among runs for Mumbai this season,but they also failed to live up to the expectations.

Jaffer (3),especially was a great disappointment,getting out leg before rooted in the crease twice in the match against Sharath in the first innings and Abhimanyu Mithun in the second.

Tare,who also scored just 18 runs in the first innings,was cleaned up for zero by Vinay.

When the right-handed Siddesh Lad joined Hiken Shah,Mumbai were struggling at 50 for four but both put on a fight to take the total to 93,before they were dropped twice during their knocks.

Karnataka,with their attacking field placements and bowling,dealt three blows on the same score,sending back Shah (28),Lad (24) and Suryakumar Yadav (0) back to the pavillion.

Thereafter,the hosts skittled out the visitors by removing Saurabh Netrawalkar (0),Shardul Thakur (10) and Javed Khan (15),cheaply.

Earlier,Karnataka after resumed at an overnight second innings score of 287 for eight,could add just 12 more runs to the total before losing the last two batsmen.

Gujarat beat Odisha by 166 runs

Allrounder Akshar Patel shone with both bat and ball as Gujarat bundled out Odisha for a paltry 83 in their second innings to notch up a massive 166-run victory in their Ranji Trophy Group A match in Motera on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old top-scored with an unbeaten 54-run innings and then returned with a five-wicket haul as Gujarat grabbed six valuable points to be at the second place,behind Karnataka,in the points table.

Gadekar steers Goa to victory

Harshad Gadekar scored a half-century to steer Goa to a three-wicket win over Kerala on the fourth and final day of their Group C Ranji Trophy match and keep alive their chances of making the knockout stage.

Spinner Gadekar (57) also put on a solid 86 runs together with Ravikant Shukla (28) for the seventh wicket to achieve 179-run target after being struggling at 82 for six at one stage.

Jharkhand-Vidarbha match ends in a draw

In-form opener Faiz Fazal (91) missed out on his century even as the Ranji Trophy Group A match between Vidarbha and host Jharkhand ended in a draw on the final day at Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur on Wednesday.

Vidarbha had scored 218 runs in reply to Jharkhand¿s first innings total of 332. Jharkhand made 161 for nine in their second essay.

Chasing 276 to win,Vidarbha ended at 164 for three in 59 overs.