Ranji Trophy Group A: Karnataka decimate Railways by 136 runs

Pacer Abhimanyu Mithun wreaked havoc with 5/31 as Karnataka dismissed Railways for 114 in 43 overs, chasing a tricky target of 251 after the visitors declared on 174 for five.

For Mithun, the sporting declaration and going all-out for an outright win in adverse condition was a testimony to the fact that most of the Karnataka players aspire to wear the national colours.

With Delhi’s foggy conditions robbing crucial match time, Karnataka batted only eight overs on the final morning before setting a target of 251 for the hosts on a seaming Karnail Singh Stadium track.

“All the players are willing to play for India. Individually, they want to perform for themselves but at the end of the day it is helping Karnataka. Bowlers come, take wickets and batsmen want to play big innings everytime they come out to bat,” said Mithun, who himself has played 4 Tests and 5 ODIs for India.

“We are working on our individual role but we are also helping each other for success of the team,” said the 25-year-old.

It was his devastating spell that helped Karnataka clean up Railways for 114 at the Karnail Singh Stadium.

The visitors took 43 overs to take ten wickets after declaring at 174 for five at lunch, setting Railways a 251-run target.

“After lunch, we had around 55 overs left. We took a chance and delivered. I am happy with my effort too. I was bowling really well from the one-dayers. So rhythm is there and I got the result here too,” said Mithun, who was the leading wicket-taker in Vijay Hazare Trophy (one-day meet) that Karnataka defended last month.

Few would bet against Karnataka also defending the Ranji Trophy title with the way they have begun this season.

The presence of Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey and Karun Nair make them a formidable batting unit despite Lokesh Rahul being called up for India duty in Australia.

Besides Mithun, captain Vinay Kumar and Stuart Binny are the other bowlers with international experience. Medium pacer Sreeanth Aravind too has returned well from injury and not to forget was once selected in an Indian ODI squad, three years back.

Uthappa, who was Man of the Match for his 40 and 97 on a difficult wicket, had yesterday(on Tuesday) backed his team to win on the final day with a bowling line-up to boast about.

And Mithun and co did deliver.

“We now have a 10-day break after this match. We planned it that way. We needed to get an outright win,” said Mithun.

Asked how it feels to be part of the strongest domestic attack, Mithun said they all feel the pressure to perform.

“It is challening too. Whenver you get the ball, you need to deliver. Everyone is a strike bowler in our team, so there is pressure too. Having said that, everyone is putting their hundred percent,” said the new ball bowler.

“It (attack like ours) also plays on the opposition’s mind. In a situation like today, they will already be on the  backfoot,” said Mithun, adding not being part of IPL last season, helped him improve his skills.

Brief Scores: Karnataka 247 & 174/5 decl (Robin Uthappa 97, Karun Nair 63, Anureet Singh 3/67, KK Upadhyay 2/61)

Railways 171 & (target 251) 114 in 43 overs (Anushtup Majumdar 26 no, Abhimanyu Mithun 5/31, R Vinay Kumar 2/37, S Binny 1/32, S Aravind 1/8). Karnataka won by 136 runs.
Points: Karnataka 6; Railways 0.

All-round Thakur helps Mumbai thrash UP by 8 wickets
A brave all-round effort by Mumbai pace spearhead Shardul Thakur helped Mumbai register a convincing eight-wicket win against Uttar Pradesh in the Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match, in Kanpur on Wednesday.

Thakur, who recorded a match-tally of nine wickets with a six for in the first-innings, not only troubled the UP batsmen with his wicket-taking ability but also contributed with a defiant 87 while batting at No.9 in Mumbai’s first showing.

In his final flurry, the 23-year-old pacer alongwith new-ball partner Wilkin Mota (4-30) tore into the UP batting order to bundle out the hosts for 161 on the fourth day at Green Park.

Chasing a modest 98 for a win, the Suryakumar Yadav-led Mumbai achieved their target in 15.4 overs.

Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh 206 and 161 (Umang Sharma 60, Praveen Kumar 47; Shardul Thakur 3-70, Wilkin Mota 4-30)
Mumbai 270 and 98/2 in 15.4 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 47 not out, Abhishek Nayar 20 not out; Ankit Rajput 2-34)

Karthik scores a ton as Tamil Nadu get a point versus MP

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik finally found some form going his way as his 20th first-class century helped hosts Tamil Nadu earn a point against Madhya Pradesh in a Ranji Trophy cricket match, in Chennai on Wednesday.

Karthik’s whirlwind 115-ball-129 which had 12 fours and three sixes was ably complemented by Baba Indrajith (63) as Tamil Nadu put up an improved batting performance after following-on, scoring 369.

This left Madhya Pradesh chasing a target of 181 in approximately 50 overs but once left-arm spin duo Rahil Shah (3/32) and R Aushik Srinivas (1/15) reduced MP to 30 for four in 16 overs, there was very little chance for the visitors to go for the chase as they scored 112/4.

Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh 437 and (target 181) 112/4 in 47 overs (Naman Ojha 59 no)
Tamil Nadu 248 and (f/0) 369 in 84.1 overs (Dinesh Karthik 129, B Indrajith 63). Match Drawn
Points: MP 3; Tamil Nadu 1.

J&K secure three points against Baroda
Jammu and Kashmir secured three crucial points for gaining the first innings lead over Baroda in a drawn Ranji Trophy Group A cricket match on Wednesday.

Baroda, starting the day at 370 for seven, were all out for 426, 71 runs short of J&K’s first innings total.

The away team was in all sorts of trouble in second innings, ending the fourth and final day at 147 for nine.

Sagar Mangalorkar was the star bowler for Baroda, taking six wickets for 46 runs.

J&K are now on nine points from three games while Baroda at the bottom with two points from two draws.

Brief scores: J&K 497 and 147/9 (Ram Dayal 39; Sagar Mangolkar 6/46) Baroda 426 (Saurabh Wakaskar 172).