Ranji Trophy 2021-22 Round-up: Shahbaz Nadeem's 10-wicket haul overpowers Dhruv Shorey's century
Ranji Trophy 2022 Updates: Jharkhand beat Delhi, Kerala beat Gujarat and Mumbai beat Goa.
The second fixtures of the group stage of Ranji Trophy 2021-22 kicked off at various venues across the country. Here is a brief round-up of the top performances of the day.
Delhi Vs Jharkhand: Jharkhand trounced Delhi in a nail-biting finish by 15 runs
Delhi and Jharkhand battled out on Day 2 of the elite group H match at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday. While chasing a modest target of 335 runs against Jharkhand, Delhi started the chase positively. Opener Dhruv Shorey (136) hit a phenomenal knock of 136 runs off 177 deliveries and gave the momentum to his side. Shorey added 60 runs with his opening partner Yash Dhull and later 87 runs with Jonty Sidhu (59) for the fifth wicket.
However, Jharkhand’s most successful bowler of the game, Shahbaz Nadeem dismissed Sidhu, when the latter was batting at 59 runs and changed the course of the game. Delhi was 289/6 and needed just 46 runs for victory. But the downfall of their batters accelerated as the rest of the batters surrendered and got bowled on 319 runs. Delhi gave away the last five wickets in just 30 runs and ended up losing the game by 15 runs. Right-arm orthodox spinner Shahbaz Nadeem picked the second fifer in the game to help his side to steamroll Delhi. He bagged vital wickets of Shorey and Sidhu to turn the match upside down and took the Player of the Match award.
Before that Jharkhand had made 307/7d in their second innings owing to the phenomenal century by Kumar Suraj, who remained unbeaten on 131* off 162 deliveries.
Gujarat Vs Kerala: Kerala won by eight wickets on Day 4
Gujarat and Kerala took the field on Day 4 of the elite group A match at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Sunday. While chasing a modest target of 214 runs, Kerala lost the opener Ponnam Rahul (7 runs off 21 balls) cheaply early at the beginning of their chase. On contrary, opener Rohan Kunnummal remained unbeaten on 106* and got into a crucial 143-run partnership with Sachin Baby (62), and outsmarted Gujarat bowlers completely. Kunnummal slammed a century and propelled his side to victory by eight wickets in the final session.
Earlier, Gujarat posted 264 in their second innings after failing to stand the Kerala bowlers Jalaj Saxena (57/4) and Sijoman Joseph (48/3), who accounted for the side’s seven wickets.
Read More: Ranji Trophy 2021-22 Round-up: Saurashtra’s Chirag Jani's 235 helps his side post 501
Karnataka Vs Jammu & Kashmir: Karnataka vanquished Jammu & Kashmir by 117 runs
Karnataka had posted a daunting target of 508 runs for Jammu & Kashmir, which was anchored by Karun Nair in both the innings (175 & 71* runs). Although J&K were bundled at 93 runs in their 1st innings, they put up a battle in their second innings. J&K managed 390 runs in their 2nd innings, wherein their skipper Ian Dev Singh scored a century (110 runs off 188 balls), followed by Abdul Samad (70 runs), and Parvez Rasool (46 runs). J&K fell short of 117 runs as they succumbed to the strong bowling attack of Karnataka.
For Karnataka, Prasidh Krishna bowled yet another fiery spell and bagged 4/59 in the final innings. Thus, Krishna completed his ten-for in this game. Spinner Shreyas Gopal bagged four wickets for 155 runs. Karun Nair took the player of the match award for his knocks in both the innings that helped his side defeat J&K by 117 runs.
Tamil Nadu Vs Chhattisgarh: Chhattisgarh steals draw despite Baba Aparajith’s all-round show
Tamil Nadu (TN) resumed Day 4 with Chhattisgarh at Nehru Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday. Tamil Nadu had posted 470 runs in the first innings against Chhattisgarh on the back of century knocks from Baba Aparajith (166 runs off 267 balls) and Indrajith (127 runs). Chhattisgarh had responded with 304 runs in their 1st innings, with their skipper Harpreet Singh Bhatia batting on 149* at the stumps yesterday added another 21 runs to his 170-run knock. Sai Kishore (4/68) and Baba Aparajith (3/55) bagged wickets for TN.