Six matches produced results and 10 ended in draws in the second round of Elite Division Ranji Trophy group league games. Haryana defeating defending champions Saurashtra and Gujarat clinching a thriller against former champions Karnataka were the most exciting results. The following are highlights:
Four teams to the fore
Vidarbha, Mumbai, Gujarat and Baroda posted their second successive wins to take the lead in Group A, B, C and D, respectively. All Elite groups have eight teams each, so every team plays seven matches. Considering that, two matches are too early to say anything. But these four have made strong starts in their bid to make the knockout stage. Mumbai have won both games with a bonus point each.
Karnataka collapse, a Haryana coup
Chasing 110 to win against Gujarat, few expected Karnataka to implode the way they did in Ahmedabad. They raced to 50 without loss and were then all out for 103. Opening the attack and bowling unchanged for 13 overs, left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai took 7-42. In a low-scoring game in Rajkot, off-spinner Jayant Yadav and left-arm orthodox Nishant Sindhu took fifers to help Haryana inflict a rare home defeat on Saurashtra.
Moderate outings for SA returnees
Of the players who were part of the recent Test series in South Africa, Shreyas Iyer made 48 in Mumbai’s innings win against Andhra. Karnataka’s Prasidh Krishna took 2-62 in the first innings against Gujarat, got injured and did not bowl again in that game. While Iyer is in the squad for the first two Tests against England, Prasidh is not.
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Mixed bag for Test discards
Saurashtra’s Cheteshwar Pujara followed up his double century with knocks of 49 and 43 against Haryana. Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane fell for a first-ball duck against Andhra, while Hanuma Vihari made 6 and 46 in the same match. Mayank Agarwal scored 109 in Karnataka’s first innings against Gujarat.
Kaushik, Mulani and Shami’s brother shine
Vasuki Kaushik and Shams Mulani were among the top performers with the ball. Karnataka’s opening bowler Kaushik followed up his 7-41 against Punjab with efforts of 4-49 and 3-16 against Gujarat. Mumbai’s left-arm spinner Mulani weighed in with 6-65 and 4-96 against Andhra.
India star Mohammed Shami’s younger brother, Mohammed Kaif, was impressive. In his second first-class outing, the Bengal fast bowler took 4-14 and 3-72 and also made an unbeaten 45 in a weather-affected draw against Uttar Pradesh.
Two with centuries in both games
After cracking the second-fastest century in first-class cricket in India, Riyan Parag came up another quickfire three-figure knock. The Assam captain’s 125-ball 116 against Kerala, however, couldn’t help his team avoid following on. Maharashtra veteran Ankit Bawne is the other batter with hundreds in both outings. After 153 against Manipur, he made 131 against Jharkhand.
Tendulkar junior hits 70 off 60
Arjun Tendulkar made a 60-ball 70 against Chandigarh. It came in Goa’s 618-7 declared, which is the highest total of the season so far. Batting at No. 8, Sachin Tendulkar’s son hit six fours and four sixes. Primarily a bowler, the left-hander’s bowling returns are not impressive yet. In two matches, he has taken three wickets.
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