Mumbai, Dec 16: Sumit Mathur ran through Saurashtra's batting order to help Rajasthan win by 229 runs in their Ranji Trophy Elite match at the Sawai Man Singh stadium on Friday. Chasing 373, Saurashtra could not cope with Mathur's spell (6/33) and were bundled out for a modest 143 in their second innings.
Pankaj Singh (2/49) and Rituraj Singh (2/44) were thye other wicket-taking bowlers. Rajasthan earned five from this outing, taking their tally to 10 points and also rekindled their hopes for a knockout berth.
Mumbai vs. Uttar Pradesh: Ramesh Powar claimed a five-for to help Mumbai dismiss Uttar Pradesh for 312 and take a valuable 102-run first innings lead in the drawn Elite Group A match. Powar finished with figures of 5-69.
Punjab vs. Karnataka: Uday Kaul smashed an unbeaten century as the Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match between Punjab and Karnataka at the M Chinnaswamy stadium ended in a draw.
Resuming at their overnight 119 for three, Punjab declared their second innings at 274 for eight, moments after Uday Kaul completed his hundred. Kaul scored 100, consuming 248 deliveries. He struck eleven boundaries. Chasing 351, Karnataka reached 157 for one before the stumps were drawn for the day.
Tamil Nadu vs. Gujarat: Manprit Juneja's unbeaten double century on debut went in vain as Tamil Nadu emerged with three points by virtue of their first- innings lead on the fourth and final day. Juneja's monumental knock of 201 not out, Gujarat made a strong 539 all out after Tamil Nadu had piled up a mammoth 698/8 (d).
Tamil Nadu made 100 without loss in their second innings.
Bengal vs. Delhi: Manoj Tiwary slammed a century as Bengal logged home three points against Delhi from their penultimate Elite Group B match of the Ranji Trophy. Tiwary's made 187 (380 balls, 24x4) played over nine hours helped Bengal to a slender yet important three run-lead against Delhi which took their points tally to eight.
Railways vs. Orissa: Railways' chances of making it to the knock-out stage of the Ranji Trophy were alive after ensuring three points against Orissa by virtue of first innings lead of 48 runs. KK Upadhyay (2-69) and M Kartik (3-73) claimed four of the five wickets as Orissa were all out for 331 in pursuit of Railways first innings score of 379.
Orissa with only two points from six games will be playing in the Plate Group next year as a six points against Rajasthan in the last game can only take them to a maximum eight points. Railways, on the other hand now have 13 points and an outright win against Saurashtra in their last game can ensure a safe passage to the last eight.
Other Matches:
Madhya Pradesh vs. Haryana
