Ishant Sharma skittles Vidarbha for 98 as Delhi post a huge win in Ranji Trophy: Day 4 Round-up

Ishant Sharma’s impeccable bowling was too much to handle for the Vidarbha batsman

Ishant Sharma followed up his spectacular performance in the first innings with another fiery spell of 11-7-11-3 which dented the Vidarbha middle-order at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. He was ably supported by Pradeep Sangwan and Manan Sharma as Vidarbha crashed to 98 all out. The Delhi batsmen completed the short target with ease as Gautham Gambhir’s side earned a bonus-point win.

Vidarbha 298 & 98 (Ishant 3-11, Sangwan 3-30); Delhi 302 & 96/0 (Chand 51*, Gambhir 45*) – Delhi won by 10 wickets

In Guwahati, Assam demolished Rajasthan XI to record an innings victory. The Assamese bowlers wreaked havoc with the new-ball as an inexperienced Rajasthan batting unit tumbled to a meagre score of 84. Earlier, KB Arun Karthik’s 151 enabled the home team to declare early and inflict a massive win over the visitors.

Rajasthan 186 & 84 (Krishna Das 5-23, Arup Das 5-39); Assam 422/9 Declared (KB Arun Karthik 151, Ajay Singh 5-116) – Assam won by an innings & 152 runs

Despite a much-improved performance by Punjab in the 2nd innings, Mumbai completed an innings victory at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Mandeep Singh scored a valiant hundred. However, Akhil Herwadkar’s six-for ensured that Mumbai collected 7 points over the Yuvraj-led Punjab team.

Punjab 154 & 403 (Mandeep Singh 116, Yuvraj 14, Herwadkar 6-52); Mumbai 569/8 Declared – Mumbai won by an innings & 12 runs

In Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh cantered to a 10-wicket victory over Jammu & Kashmir. Akash Vasisht and Bipul Sharma bowled in tandem to end any brittle hope that the Jammu & Kashmir team would have had, at the start of the day.

Jammu & Kashmir 293 & 276 (Khajuria 76, Rasool 6, Vasisht 4-71, Bipul 3-50); Himachal Pradesh 554 & 16/0 – Himachal Pradesh won by 10 wickets

Manoj Tiwary’s fighting century staved off Karnataka’s surge at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Resuming the day at 58/2, Bengal had an uphill task. But, skipper Tiwary lead from the front and produced an efficient partnership with Naved Ahmed to deny the defending champions.

Bengal 312 & 249/4 (Tiwary 103*, Ahmed 95); Karnataka 537/9 Declared – Match Drawn

Tamil Nadu bowled out Madhya Pradesh on a placid surface in Indore to claim the first-innings points. Resuming on 181/0, the home team batsmen could not capitalize and were eventually dismissed for 407. Though Naman Ojha and Jalaj Saxena batted with authority in the top-order, Aswin Crist’s disciplined spell proved to be the difference.

Tamil Nadu 596/9 Declared; Madhya Pradesh 407 (Saxena 124, Naman Ojha 87, Aswin Crist 4-88) – Match Drawn

The Gujarat batsmen performed admirably in the 2nd innings to draw the match against Andhra Pradesh in Vizianagaram. The top-order compiled useful partnerships with each other and thwarted the Andhra Pradesh bowlers.

Gujarat 308 & 254/4 (Panchal 72, Parthiv Patel 50*); Andhra Pradesh 421 – Match Drawn

Kedar Jadhav’s unbeaten century briefly raised the unlikely possibility of a result against Odisha at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Despite surviving a few nervous moments, the Odisha batsmen managed to see the rest of the day.

Maharashtra 281 & 289/4 Declared (Jadhav 100*, Gugale 71); Odisha 267 & 129/5 (Rout 31, Sanklecha 2-11) – Match Drawn

In spite of enforcing the follow-on, Kerala could not dismiss Hyderabad who survived the last day to prevent a defeat at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Though, Monish’s five-wicket haul threatened to spark a collapse, Tanmay Agarwal’s plucky half-century resisted the Kerala bowling unit.

Kerala 401; Hyderabad 218 & 176/7 (Tanmay 64, Monish 5-73) – Match Drawn

The encounter between Goa and Services ended in a stalemate at the Goa Cricket Association Academy Ground in Porvorim. The Services batsmen were content with the first-innings points as they batted well within themselves against the Goan bowlers.

Services 402 & 217/6 Declared (Chatterjee 64, Yashpal Singh 59*, Amit Yadav 3-40); Goa 285 & 3/0 – Match Drawn