New Delhi [India], November 19 : Indian T20I star Rinku Singh's career-best 176, a brilliant 189 from the U19 World Cup-winning captain Yash Dhull's magnificent 189 for Delhi and Abid Mushtaq's match-winning seven-wicket haul for Jammu and Kashmir were the standouts as the fifth round of Ranji Trophy action concluded on Wednesday.
At the end of fifth round in the elite league, the top two teams from each group are: Vidarbha (25 points) and Andhra Pradesh (22 points) from Group A, Karnataka (21 points) and Maharashtra (18 points) from Group B, Bengal (23 points) and Services (19 points) from Group C, and Mumbai (24 points) and Jammu & Kashmir (20 points) from Group D.
-UP vs Tamil Nadu (Group A): Uttar Pradesh started the fourth day at 339/6, with Rinku Singh (98*) and Shivam Sharma (18*) unbeaten. They were trailing TN by 84 runs, who had put up 455 runs in the first innings after TN opted to bat first, and centuries came from Baba Indrajith (149 in 188 balls, with 11 fours and five sixes) and C Andre Siddarth (121 in 205 balls, with 12 fours and two sixes).
Rinku was the ninth batter removed at a score of 443, for his career-best 176 in 247 balls, with 17 fours and six sixes and runs coming at a strike rate of over 71. Aaqib Khan (14*) and Kunal Tyagi (5) struck a brief 17-run stand, giving UP a five-run lead. P Vidyuth (4/73) and Sai Kishore (3/99) were the top bowlers for Tamil Nadu. In their second attempt, TN scored 103/2, with Balasubramaniam Sachin (59) and Narayan Jagadeesan (44) scoring the bulk of runs before hands were shaken for a draw.
Rinku took home the 'Player of the Match' prize. In both Ranji clashes he has played for UP, he has scored massive tons, currently at 341 runs in two innings at an average of 341.00. His first-class record continues to be incredible, with 3,677 runs in 52 matches at an average of 59.30, SR of over 70, nine centuries and 22 fifties in 74 innings.
UP, which has won just one and drawn three matches so far, took the fourth place in Group A with this draw, getting 17 points, one short of third-placed Jharkhand (18).
-Vidarbha vs Baroda (Group A): The defending champions Vidarbha prevailed by 144 runs in this Group A clash. Baroda, had been given 276 runs to chase and were 73/5 to start off the day four. Darshan Nalkande (5/12), Parth Rekhade (2/28) and Nachiket Bhute (2/47) wiped off the lower-order really quick as Baroda was skittled out for 131 runs, with Sukirt Pandey (37) and the skipper Atit Sheth (29*) being the top two-run-getters.
Earlier, on opting to bat first, Vidarbha posted a meagre 169 on the board, with Yash Rathod (40 in 72 balls, with two fours and a six) being the top run-getter. Ninad Rathva (5/47) had dismantled the lower-order with his fifer. Despite a half-century from Vishnu Solanki (59* in 88 balls, with five fours and two sixes), Baroda still trailed by three runs, as Bhute (3/24), Ganesh Bhosle (3/30) and Rekhade (3/50) took wickets consistently at regular intervals.
Baroda managed to gain a sizeable 275-run lead, as Yash (91 in 142 balls, with seven fours) and Dhruv Shorey (61 in 108 balls, with three fours) scored half-centuries, taking Vidarbha to 272 all-out. Skipper Atit (5/47) took a five-wicket haul, giving his team a reasonable target to chase, but his side had slumped to 73/5 at the end of day three.
Yash took the 'Player of the Match' for his knocks of 40 and 91, continuing his solid run of 474 runs in five matches at an average of 118.50, with two centuries and two fifties.
Vidarbha continues to be unbeaten, with three wins and two draws, giving them 25 points, while Baroda is at fifth in the group with just nine points after winning one, losing one and drawing two.
-Bengal vs Assam (Group C): This Group C clash ended in a draw, with Shahbaz Ahmed's all-round show being a highlight. Crushed under a massive deficit after Bengal had posted 442 in its first innings in response to Assam's first innings total of 200, Assam started the final day at 98/3. Even though Shahbaz (4/57) and Mohammed Shami (2/75) had struck consistently and bowled well, fifties from Denish Das (73 in 133 balls, with seven fours), skipper Sumit Ghadigaonkar (67 in 222 balls, with six fours) and Sibsankar Roy (52 in 144 balls, with five fours) helped Assam to 282/9, ending the match in a draw.
Bengal had elected to field first, and three-fers from Shami (3/64) and Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (3/24) reduced Assam to 200 runs, with Swarupam Purkayastha (62 in 140 balls, with seven fours and a six) and skipper Sumit (53 in 122 balls, with a four and six), scoring fifties. Bengal managed to take a massive first innings lead of 222 runs, with a century from Shahbaz (101 in 122 balls, with 12 fours and two sixes) and fifties from Sumanta Gupta (97 in 131 balls, with 14 fours), skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (66 in 111 balls, with eight fours) and Habib Gandhi (58 in 106 balls, with nine fours) taking Bengal to 442. At the end of penultimate day three, Assam was three down for 98, with Shami having removed two of their top-order batters.
Shahbaz took home the 'Player of the Match' award, with his century and four-fer. In four matches, he has scored 300 runs in six innings at an average of 60, with a century and two fifties and taken 22 wickets at an average of over 16, with a seven-wicket haul being his best figure.
Assam continues to be winless, having lost one and drawn four.
-Mumbai vs Puducherry (Group D): Siddesh Lad (170 in 285 balls, with 19 fours and four sixes) starred in Mumbai's massive win by an innings margin. After Mumbai was put to bat first by Puducherry, Lad and Akash Anand (107 in 122 balls, with eight fours) posted centuries while Musheer Khan (84 in 86 balls, with 11 fours), Akhil Herwadkar (86 in 188 balls, with 11 fours), Sarfaraz Khan (67 in 113 balls, with six fours and a six) and skipper Shardul Thakur (56 in 32 balls, with three fours and four sixes) piling up 630/5 declared for Mumbai collectively.
Puducherry could not come anywhere close to this score across both their innings, as three-fers from Shardul and Tanush Kotian wiped them out for 132 runs in the first innings. Puducherry had started the final day at 231/6, hoping for a draw. Aman Khan (86 in 44 balls, with six fours and eight sixes), Siddhant Addhatrao (54 in 60 balls, with nine fours) scored half-centuries, but Puducherry was wiped out for 276 runs, with Mumbai winning by an innings and 222 runs.
Siddesh continues his fine form with the 'POTM' award, having scored 530 runs in five matches, with three centuries and a fifty in seven innings, with his runs coming at an average of 88.33.
Puducherry is in the second last place in the group, having lost two and drawn three.
-Jammu and Kashmir vs Hyderabad (Group D): IPL star Abdul Samad's hard-hitting 125 and a seven-wicket haul by Abid Mushtaq were the point of difference as J&K beat Hyderabad by 281 runs.
In pursuit of a massive 472 runs, Hyderabad had started the final day at 169/7, with Tanmay Agarwal (47 in 81 balls, with seven fours) being the sole player to cross the 40-run mark. Abid (7/68) wiped out the tail quickly, as Hyderabad was bundled out for 190 runs.
Earlier, Hyderabad had elected to field first and bundled out J&K for 170, with a fifty coming from Kanhaiya Wadhawan (57 in 49 balls, with nine fours). Tanay Thyagarajan (3/19) and Kartikeya Kak (3/48) were the pick of the bowlers for Hyderabad. Hyderabad fared even worse, with Aquib Nabi (4/39) and Sunil Kumar (5/29) reducing Hyderabad to 121. Hyderabad was trailing by 49 runs.
Samad's 200-ball 125 (with 10 fours and six sixes) and half-centuries from Kanhaiya Wadhawan (95 in 110 balls, with 11 fours and a six) and Qamran Iqbal (50 in 64 balls, with eight fours) pushed J&K to 422, giving them a 471-run lead. At the end of the penultimate day three, Hyderabad finished at 231/6.
Samad secured the 'POTM' award for his century, putting J&K at second place, while Hyderabad slid to fourth with 13 points, having won one, lost one and drawn three. In this Ranji season, Samad has scored 394 runs in seven innings across five matches, including a century and two fifties, with an average of over 56.
-Delhi vs Rajasthan (Group D): Yash Dhull's brilliant 189 earned him the 'POTM' honours in the clash against Delhi. Delhi started their day four having bundled out for 296 in response to Rajasthan's first innings total of 570 runs, they trailed by 274 runs.
Delhi sunk to 55/3 and risked an innings defeat, Dhull and Ayush Doseja (64 in 108 balls, seven fours and two sixes) putting on a 184-run stand. Dhull (189 in 242 balls, with 27 fours and two sixes) took Delhi to 316/7, ending the match in a draw.
Earlier, Rajasthan put to field first, scored 570/7 declared, with Sachin Yadav (130), Kunal Singh Rathore (102), skipper Mahipal Lomror (128) and Kartik Sharma (120) posting a quartet of centuries. In turn, Delhi could only manage 296 runs, with fifties coming from Arpit Rana (62 in 99 balls, with nine fours), Vaibhav Kandpal (62 in 128 balls, with five fours) and Pranav Rajvanshi (57 in 128 balls, with eight fours) posting fifties. Kukna Ajay Singh and Jaideep Singh led the way for Rajasthan with their three-fers.
In five matches and nine innings, Dhull has scored 434 runs at an average of 48.22, with a century and three fifties, with best score of 189. Delhi is at the third-last spot in the group, with no wins, a loss and four draws.
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