Ranji Trophy: Rajasthan crush Haryana, Assam continue stellar season
Rajasthan pacer Pankaj Singh starred for his team, finishing with a total of nine wickets against Haryana.
Rajasthan completed an easy victory over Haryana by nine wickets in their Group A Ranji Trophy encounter at Lahli. Though Haryana had battled bravely to score 324 after being bowled out for a lowly 112 in their first innings, they were always playing catch-up after Rajasthan posted 279. The visitors easily chased down the target of 158. Rajasthan's tall and strapping Pankaj Singh was the star of the match, picking up nine wickets in two innings.
Towards the west in Pune, Assam stumbled in their second innings against Maharashtra to be bowled out for only 135, but did enough to ensure that they would be the happier of the two sides at the end. Maharashtra fell 35 runs short of Assam's first innings score of 298 and just did not have enough time to chase down their target of 238 in the second innings. By virtue of the first innings lead, Assam take the three points on offer.
In Group B, Punjab failed to force an outright win in Kanpur, with Uttar Pradesh digging in deeply in the fourth innings. Punjab had taken the first innings lead earlier, scoring 272 in the first innings in reply to Uttar Pradesh's 226. They declared their second innings at 295/7 but, UP managed to go through the last day without being bowled out, finishing at 204/6 chasing 342.
Other results in the Ranji Trophy:
Group A
- Delhi 301 and 290/2 (following on) drew with Karnataka 542 at Hubli. Delhi put in a good batting performance against Karnataka to ensure a drawn match, but the honours went to Karnataka who got the three points they wanted.
Group B
- Tamil Nadu 0/0 drew with Gujarat 195/2 declared at Tirunelveli. Play was finally possible after three days of incessant rain.
Group C
- Tripura 237 and 294/5 (following on) drew with Hyderabad 548/5 at Hyderabad. Tripura averted an innings defeat thanks to a sparkling century by Parvinder Singh, but they were always behind after their low score in the first innings. Hyderabad fully deserved their three points.
- Goa 552/5 declared and 79/1 drew with Jammu & Kashmir 496 at Jammu. A high-scoring game came to an end with Goa picking up the three points on offer. J&K pushed gamely for the first innings lead, buoyed by two centuries from their middle order, but a collapse at the end put paid to those hopes.