Krishappa Gowtham finished with magnificent match figures of 14/171 to spin Karnataka to a thrilling last-over win against Tamil Nadu – a recurring theme through the domestic season so far — on final day of the first round Ranji Trophy fixture in Dindigul on Thursday.

Chasing 181 in a topsy-turvy match, hosts Tamil Nadu looked to be on course to chase the runs down after racing away to 49 from just nine overs with opener Abhinav Mukund taking charge. Murali Vijay’s run out sparked a collapse with Gowtham at the heart of it. Baba Aparajith and Ravichandran Ashwin (promoted to No 4) fell in quick succession later.

Karnataka were in pole position after dismissing Mukund, Dinesh Karthik and Vijay Shankar. And Gowtham picked up K Vignesh’s wicket in the final over of the match (his eighth of the innings) as Karnataka continued to get the better of their domestic rivals across formats this season.

Meanwhile, Andhra earned a creditable draw thanks to the efforts of Ricky Bhui and KS Bharat, who were involved in a mammoth 188-run unbeaten partnership. Domestic giants Mumbai and Punjab pressed advantage on day four too to get big wins.

Here is an overview of how things unfolded on day four of the first round of the Ranji Trophy:

Mumbai cruise to victory

Prithvi Shaw’s double hundred and captain Suryakumar Yadav’s quick-fire hundred on day three helped Mumbai move to a position of command at the close of play. And the 41-time champions had no trouble dismissing Baroda out cheaply to get off to a dream start in this season’s campaign.

Shams Mulani’s strikes had already dented the hosts’ top-order on Wednesday. Without first innings centurion Kedar Devdhar, who couldn’t bat after suffering an injury, Baroda’s batting didn’t offer much resistance despite good efforts from Abhimanyu Rajput (53) and Deepak Hooda (61). Mulani finished with figures of 4/72 to pick up a 10-wicket match haul. Mumbai romped home by a whopping 309 runs to get their first points on the board.

Karnataka 336 & 151 (Devdutt Padikkal 39, BR Sharath 29; R Ashwin 4/46, K Vignesh 3/31) beat Tamil Nadu 307 (Dinesh Karthik 113, Abhinav Mukund 47, K Gowtham 6/110) and 154 (Abhinav Mukund 42, M Ashwin 23*; K Gowtham 8/60) by 26 runs.

Andhra battle hard to earn draw

Champions Vidarbha looked on course for a victory at the end of day three but a defiant effort from Andhra with centuries from the experienced Ricky Bhui (100*) and wicketkeeper KS Bharat (102*) frustrated the reigning champions. CR Gnaneshwar (61) was the only wicket to fall during the day.

Bhui and Bharat built an unbeaten 188 run-stand for the fourth wicket as Rajneesh Gurbani and Co toiled away on a lifeless wicket in Vijayawada. The batsmen patiently grafted their runs to thwart any hopes that Vidarbha harboured of snatching an outright win. Andhra were in trouble at the close of play on day three after losing captain and batting lynchpin Hanuma Vihari but recovered well to salvage a point.

Karnataka’s winning run against TN continues

Krishnappa Gowtham returned with an incredible 14 wicket-haul in Dindigul to spin Karnataka to a thrilling 26-run win on Thursday in the last over of the day. Chasing 181, none of the other batsmen apart from Mukund provided stiff resistance at the top of the order with 42 as Gowtham ran through the middle-order to put Karnataka on course.

The wickets of Dinesh Karthik and captain Vijay Shankar gave Karnataka hope of pulling of a win. However, Tamil Nadu fought back through M Ashwin and M Siddarth’s patient ninth wicket stand. Gowtham came back to bowl Siddarth, his seventh and wrapped up the game with the wicket of K Vignesh when Tamil Nadu needed to block the last over out. The Karnataka all-rounder finished with 8/60 to follow up his first innings feat of 6/110. He scored handy runs with the bat to once again break Tamil Nadu hearts, after his heroics in the final over of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 title clash.

Punjab thrash Rajasthan

Shubman Gill could only show a glimpse of his immense talent but Punjab still raced away to a 10-wicket win after a collective effort from their bowlers put them in charge on day four at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

Baltej Singh, Sanvir Singh and leg-spinner Mayank Markande picked up seven wickets between them as Rajasthan crumbled in their second innings. Punjab chased down their target with ease, with Gill playing an array of eye-catching strokes. The 20-year-old was unbeaten on 36 with three fours and two sixes. Skipper Mandeep Singh was declared the player of the Match for his sparkling first innings hundred.

Chandela, Rana salvage commendable draw for Delhi

Opener Kunal Chandela and Nitish Rana salvaged a commendable draw for Delhi with gritty centuries after following-on against Kerala in their Rani Trophy opener in Thumba on Thursday.

Resuming day four at 142/1, Delhi were staring at an innings defeat, but Chandela (125 off 219) and Rana (114 off 164) ensured their team got a point out of the Group A game. Delhi, who were bundled out for 142 on a decent batting surface, put up a much improved batting effort after following-on, ending their second innings at 395/4. On day three, Anuj Rawat (87) and Chandela had put up a 130-run stand for the opening wicket.

On the fourth and final day, Chandela and Rana added 118 runs for the fourth wicket to frustrate the opposition. Kerala got a much needed breakthrough early in the day when first-innings star Jalaj Saxena removed Delhi skipper Dhruv Shorey (20). After that, it was all Delhi as Chandela and Rana held fort. Chandela hit 11 fours in his dogged knock while Rana smashed four sixes and 11 boundaries.

Big win for Haryana

Haryana skipper Harshal Patel led from the front with a five-wicket haul to set up an innings and 68 runs victory in the Ranji Trophy match Maharashtra on day four in Rohtak on Thursday.

Resuming at an overnight score of 61/5, the visitors’ second innings lasted only 10 more overs as Patel (5/12) hastened the end with some incisive bowling. Maharashtra were bundled out for 86 in their second innings after making 247 in their first essay.

The 29-year old Patel, who had taken four wickets in the first innings, was at it again and picked up the wickets of Azim Kazi (17), Pradeep Dadhe (0) and No 11 Samad Fallah (0) to take Haryana to victory.

He struck the first blow by removing Kazi, having him caught behind by Nitin Saini. Ashish Hooda got into the act and scalped the wickets of Avdhoot Bandekar (14) and Satyajeet Bachhav (10) as Maharashtra slipped to 85/8 before Patel cleaned up the tail to secure seven points for the home side.

Haryana 401 (Shivam Chauhan 117, Shubham Rohilla 142; AA Sanklecha 4/83, SS Bachhav 3/76) beat Maharashtra 247 (Naushad Shaik 60, AN Kazi 36; Harshal Patel 4/70, Ashish Hooda 3/50, Tinu Kundu 3/52) and 86 (N Shaik 27; Harshal Patel 5/12, A Hooda 4/31) by an innings and 68 runs.

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