Leading from the front, skipper Mohit Sharma bowled Haryana to a resounding win against Chhattisgarh on the last day of the round three Ranji Trophy match. Andhra too pulled off a thrilling win against Jammu and Kashmir in Mumbai.
Although they enforced a follow on, Kerala, Goa and Tripura’s matches finished in draws with the three teams getting three points each from drawn encounters.
Group C, Round 3 – Day 2 Round-up:
Hyderabad vs Kerala in Bhubaneshwar: Kerala 1st inn 517/9 decl in 181 overs (I Abdullah 159*, M Hassan 3/134); Hyderabad 1st inn 281/10 in 97.3 overs (M Hassan 58, K Monsih 3/56, S Warrier 3/57); F/o Hyderabad 2nd inn 220/3 in 69 overs (B Anirudh 120*, I Abdullah 1/37) Match drawn. Kerala took first innings lead
Resuming on 231 for seven, Hyderabad lost their remaining three wickets for the addition of 50 runs to their overnight total in reply to Kerala’s 517 for nine declared and were asked to follow on. K Monish, Basil Thampi and S Warrier picked a wicket each on the fourth morning to bowl Kerala out with a deficit of 236 runs. However, B Anirudh ensured Hyderabad a drawn with an unbeaten century in the second innings. When the match was called off, Hyderabad were 220 for three.
Haryana vs Chhattisgarh in Guwahati: Haryana 1st inn 178/10 in 54.1 overs (RP Sharma 45, A Mandal 4/26, Pankaj Rao 2/47, A Tamrakar 2/54); Chhattisgarh 1st inn 189/10 in 78.2 overs (S Gupta 78, J Sharma 5/32, Harshal Patel 4/40); Haryana 2nd inn 289/10 in 92 overs (R Paliwal 59, M Sharma 22, P Rao 5/74); Chhattisgarh 2nd inn 117/10 in 44 overs (A Chauhan 46, M Sharma 5/27, H Patel 3/34) Haryana won by 161 runs.
Captain Mohit Sharma and Harshal Patel claimed the remaining four Chhattisgarh wickets on the fourth day to bowl Haryana to a 161-run win. Chasing 279 runs, Chhattisgarh resumed their innings on 50 for six and were bowled out for 117 by the Haryana pacers.
Mohit finished with a five-for while Harshal claimed three wickets in the innings to bowl the side to a convincing win.
Himachal vs Tripura in Kalyani: Tripura 1st inn 549/10 in 162.2 overs (MB Murasingh 84, G Singh 79, M Dagar 5/138); HP 1st inn 311/10 in 97.2 overs (R Bist 88, R Dhawan 62, R Dutta 6/58, B Roy 2/45); F/o HP 2nd inn 349/5 in 80 overs (A Bains 113, N Gangta 64*, R Dhawan 54*) Match drawn. Tripura took first innings lead.
Following on, Himachal resumed their second innings on 19 for one with a deficit of 219 runs. Opener Ankush Bains then anchored the innings with a 113-run knock. Coming together at 242 for five after the departure of Bains, N Gangta and Rishi Dhawan took HP to stumps with an unbroken 107-run stand and helped the team to a draw.
Services vs Goa in Cuttack: Goa 1st inn 606/6 decl in 165 overs (S Kamat 304*, D Pathania 3/111); Services 1st inn 279/10 in 107.1 overs (M Khalid 48, F Alemao 4/56, S Jakati 3/47); F/o Services 2nd inn 188/4 in 68 overs (G Rahul Singh 70*, A Gupta 64*, S Bandekar 3/30) Match drawn. Goa took first innings lead.
The F Alemao-led Goa attack wrapped-up Services’ first innings for the addition of 12 runs after they resumed on 267 for seven on Day 4.
Having seized a solid 327-run first innings lead, Goa enforce a follow on, but G Rahul Singh and Anshul Gupta kept the Services innings afloat and took the team to a draw.
Goa claimed three points from the match on the basis of first innings lead while Services picked one.
267/7 in 103 overs (GR Singh 89, M Khalid 43*, D Pathania 29*, S Jakati 3/47, F Alemao 3/52) Trail by 339 runs
Jammu & Kashmir vs Andhra at CCI in Mumbai: J & K 1st inn 334/10 in 153 overs (B Singh 63, R Dayal 42, Siva Kumar 4/49, B Bhatt 4/122); Andhra 1st inn 255/10 in 99.3 overs (DB Ravi Teja 81, A Pradeep 47, A Aziz 5/62); J & K 2nd inn 111/10 in 55 overs (S Khajuria 49, B Bhatt 5/60); Andhra 2nd inn 194/6 in 49.3 overs (DB Ravi Teja 50, AG Pradeep 27, A Hebbar 27, P Rasool 4/55) Andhra won by 4 wickets
Having extended their lead to 110 runs until stumps on Day 3, J & K resumed their second innings on the fourth morning on 31 for two.
Captain Mithun Manhas was the first to be sent back by P VijayKumar with the side on 47, who also drew and edge from P Rasool to the wicketkeeper to leave J & K on 73 for four. Wickets continued to perish as the Andhra bowlers attacked in the first session. At lunch J & K were 111 for seven. And in two overs after lunch they were bowled out for 111. In the space of 12 balls they lost their last three wickets without adding to the score line.
Bhargav Bhatt’s three wickets on the fourth day including that of opener Shubham Khajuria helped set up the match for Andhra. Speaking about the spinner’s contribution, Ashwin Hebbar, who played a crucial knock in both innings for Andhra said, “Bhargav Bhatt did it for us. That helped to set up the game.”
“It was the bowling part that has actually helped us win the game,” he said appreciating the efforts to bowl the opposition out. “In the first innings we had to restrict them, today in the first hour the plan was about attacking them,” he explained while speaking about the strategy when the game resumed in the morning.
Chasing the 191-run target in a minimum of 52 overs later in the day, Andhra too kept losing wickets at regular intervals as the Parvez Rasool-led attack struck vital blows. However, once again DB Ravi Teja played a crucial knock, this time a half-century while Hebbar too once again played a vital innings. With the team on 149 for five in 39.2 overs at the fall of Teja’s wicket, the middle-order batsman took the team across the finish line in 49.3 overs with an unbeaten 27 off 33 balls.
Speaking about his effort in the closely fought game until the final moments of the game he said, “I repeated myself here. I have played such innings in Under 19 and Under 23. I am known in the team for being able to play under pressure. In the first innings we lost wickets early so I had to chip in (38 off 134 balls) and defend a lot and take my team through, (so I) played a bit defensively which is not really my game. This (what I played in the second innings) is my game, playing the reverse sweep and all.”
“There was pressure but it worked out. The plan was mostly to rotate the strike more than hitting the big shots because at any point they would bowl loose deliveries and we could capitalise on it. The best thing was to get singles and make it easier (by keeping the scoreline moving),” he elaborated.
“We went for a kill , never thought about draw or playing safe,” he added when asked if they considered playing for a draw at any point with wickets falling at regular intervals.
When asked about his method of coping with pressure he said, “I have a set of routines that I do each and every ball which helps me handle the pressure.”
Although they had conceded the first innings lead, Andhra came back to pull off a thrilling win, their first of the season.
