Ranji Trophy Group A: Mumbai take three points after no play on final day

There were five inspections in the day and match referee Sunil Chaturvedi took the final call at 1.30pm local time.

It was a blessing in disguise for Bengal who were 129 for no loss in their second innings after being followed on, still trailing by 75 runs as a loss was looming large.

Mumbai now have 10 points from four matches to be in the second place behind Karnataka, while Bengal (4) are all set to slip to the bottom of the Group A table.

“The outfield was wet and soggy and there were some damp patches in the bowling run-up… We can’t risk injury so we had to abandon the day’s proceedings,” Chaturvedi said.

The local curator however said there was nothing wrong in the drainage system and went on to blame gloomy conditions.

“We needed at least two hours of sunshine to make the ground to be ready. But the conditions were overcast and I couldn’t help,” Mukherjee said.

As a matter of fact, the entire ground can be put under the giant cover, something that could have avoided the field being wet but the curator thought otherwise.

“Unless there’s rain no one covers the entire ground at night,” Mukherjee said.

In fact, the players had given up hope for the play to start and Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwary was seen in his denims and not in the team jersey as the India hopeful made use of the time discussing batting with Mumbai coach Praveen Amre.

The Mumbai coach readily obliged and was seen demonstrating a few techniques and the duo were engaged in a one-on-one for about 15 minutes.

The day brought back the memory of Bengal’s last season’s match against Baroda (October 27-20) which was called off after the groundsmen could not make the ground ready after two days of rainfall.

Admitting that their bowlers could not capitalise after winning the toss, Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla said full credit should go to Mumbai batsmen.

“We’re never in the match for two in half days so we conceded the lead. We have to be more determined while batting as getting a first innings lead is very crucial,” Shukla said.

“We’ve to do a lot of thinking before Tamil Nadu match (from January 5).”

Shreyas Iyer, who scored a magnificent 153 in Mumbai’s commanding 414, was adjudged man of the match.
Brief Scores: Mumbai 414. Bengal 210 and f/o 129 for no loss (Arindam Das 80 not out,  Rohan Banerjee 44 not out).
Points Mumbai 3, Bengal 1.
Bad weather robs Baroda of an outright win against MP
As fog and bad light allowed only seven overs to be bowled on the final day on Wednesday, Baroda were robbed off registering an outright win over Madhya Pradesh and had to settle for three points from an drawn encounter in their Ranji Trophy Group A cricket match in Gwalior on Wednesday.

Madhya Pradesh, who needed 83 more runs with just three wickets in hand to avoid an innings defeat, were saved by the bad weather.

On the other hand, Baroda missed out on a chance of not just posting an outright victory but also a bonus point.

Responding to Baroda’s first innings score of 358, Madhya Pradesh were earlier bundled out for a meagre 178 in their first essay.

Brief scores:
Baroda: 358 all out (Saurabh Wakaskar 94, Deepak Hooda 85; Puneet Datey 5/101).

Madhya Pradesh: 178 & 119 for six (f/o) (Jalaj Saxena 34, Gagandeep Singh 3/64).

Points: Baroda 3, Madhya Pradesh 1.
Ton-up Chauhan helps J&K share point with UP in drawn game
Jammu and Kashmir batsman Ian Dev Singh Chauhan struck an unbeaten 103 to pull Jammu and Kashmir out of a tight spot and help the side share a point each with Uttar Pradesh after the weather-hit Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match ended in a draw at Green Park on Wednesday.

Reeling at 76 for eight in response to UP’s 299 for five declared in the first innings, Chauhan, striking his ninth first-class century, and No.10 batsman Samiullah Beigh (45 not out) stitched a 123-run ninth-wicket partnership to take the Parvez Rasool-led side to safety at the end of the fourth and final day’s play.

With only 78 overs possible on the first two days of play, the Piyush Chawla-led side declared its first innings early on the final day after the third day’s play was lost due to dense fog and inclement weather in the industrial city.

Brief Scores:
Uttar Pradesh 299/5 in 82 overs (Tanmay Srivastav 99, Arish Alam 41 not out, Eklavya Dwivedi 52 not out; Waseem Raza 2-43)
Jammu and Kashmir 199/8 in 65 overs (Ian Dev Singh Chauhan 103 not out, Samiullah Beigh 45 not out; RP Singh 4-37).
Points: Uttar Pradesh 1 Jammu and Kashmir 1.
All-round Ashish Yadav helps Railways earn three points

Ashish Yadav’s all-round show helped Railways earn three points against Tamil Nadu on the basis of their first-innings lead after the rain-hit Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match ended in a draw at Chepauk on Wednesday.

Left-arm spinner Ashish bagged six wickets to help bundle out the Ramaswamy Prasanna-led Tamil Nadu for 213 in the first innings and then hit a well-made 51 to take his team to 236.

Incessant rain washed off Day 2 of the four-day encounter as Tamil Nadu declared their second innings on 133 for three on the final day but was not enough to get them more than a single point.

Railways were tottering on Day 3 at 101 for six when Yadav and Arnab Nandi (50) stitched together a 75-run seventh-wicket partnership to help get a vital 23-run lead.
Brief Scores:
Tamil Nadu 213 and 133/3 dec (Abhinav Mukund 67, Dinesh Karthik 35 not out; Avinash Yadav 2-40)
Railways 236 (Ashish Yadav 51, Arnab Nandi 50; Malolan Rangarajan 4-93, Aushik Srinivas 3-72).
Points: Tamil Nadu 1 Railways 3.