ADSA Railways Cricket Ground: Day Three of the third round in the 2023/24 Ranji Trophy saw defending champions Saurashtra, as well as previous winners Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan emerge victorious. But previous champions Delhi’s nightmarish time continued with an 86-run defeat to Madhya Pradesh.Elite Group A
At the VCA Stadium, in Civil Lines, Nagpur, medium-pacer Chirag Jani bagged a five-wicket haul as Saurashtra defeated Vidarbha by 238 runs inside three days. Resuming day three at 205/3, veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara reached the landmark of 20,000 first-class runs, becoming the fourth Indian to do so, during his innings of 66, before being trapped lbw by Harsh Dubey.
After Pujara, who also shared an 87-run partnership with Vishvarajsinh Jadeja, got out, Saurashtra suffered a quick collapse, losing their last six wickets for 18 runs to be bowled out for 244 in their second innings. Chasing a steep target of 373, Vidarbha, were unable to come close to it. Their batting, barring Atharva Taide’s 54, failed to rise to the occasion as Jani picked 5-51 to bowl out Vidarbha for 134.
At the Barkatullah Khan Stadium in Jodhpur, Rajasthan beat Maharashtra by 10 wickets, which also earned them a bonus point. Fast bowlers Khaleel Ahmed (4-19) and Aniket Choudhary (3-32) bowled electrifying spells to bundle out Maharashtra for 184 in their second innings. Requiring only 104 runs to win, Rajasthan reached the target with ease, thanks to unbeaten knocks of 53 and 52 from Abhijeet Tomar and Yash Kothari, respectively.
At the ADSA Railways Cricket Ground in Ahmedabad, Haryana won by an innings and 338 runs over Manipur. Batting first, Haryana posted 508/3 before declaring their innings. Himanshu Rana slammed 250 not out, while Nishant Sindhu slammed 119 and Ankit Kumar made 56. Rahul Tewatia and Jayant Yadav took three wickets each as Manipur were bowled out for 77 in the first innings. Forcing Manipur to follow on, Tewatia took three wickets again to bowl the side out for 93, thus securing an easy win for Haryana.
Elite Group C
At Sri Ramakrishna College of Arts and Science Ground in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu thrashed Railways by an innings and 129 runs, also earning a bonus point. Skipper R. Sai Kishore earned a match haul of seven wickets to lead Tamil Nadu to victory from the front.
Railways started the day at 126/2 and were bowled out for 246 in their first innings, with Pratham Singh top-scoring with 92. Fast-bowler Sandeep Warrier and Sai Kishore picked three wickets each for Tamil Nadu, as they enforced the follow-on over Railways. The second innings turned out to be worse for Railways as they were bundled out for 114. Sai Kishore was leading the bowling attack again, picking up four wickets for 43 runs, so as his fellow left-arm spinner S Ajith Ram, who took 4/40.
Elite Group D
At the Holkar Stadium in Indore, Delhi suffered their second defeat of this season, after slumping to an 86-run loss to Madhya Pradesh. The defeat will rankle Delhi as they had bowled out Madhya Pradesh for 171 on day one of the match.
Resuming Day Three from 157/5, Madhya Pradesh eventually made 251 in their second innings. Skipper Shubham Sharma made 73 in Madhya Pradesh’s second innings as the hosts set Delhi a target of 218 to chase. The bowlers then stepped up to produce a collective effort to bowl out Delhi for 131, with Vaibhav Kandpal waging a lone battle with 49 not out off 125, as the rest of the batters struggled. For Madhya Pradesh, Anubhav Agarwal, Kulwant Khejroliya and Saransh Jain took two wickets each.
At Abhimanyu Cricket Academy in Dehradun, Pondicherry won by 55 runs over Uttarakhand, their second win in three matches of the season so far. Pacer Deepak Dhapola took 6-32, including a hat-trick. His efforts meant that Uttarakhand bowled out Puducherry for 131 in their second innings. Requiring 213 for a victory, fast-bowler Gaurav Yadav picked 7-53 as Pondicherry bowled out Uttarakhand for 157.
At the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala, left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt took 4/32 while left-arm fast-bowler Akash Singh picked 3/86 as Baroda beat Himachal Pradesh by an innings and 18 runs.
Plate Group
At the NexGen Cricket Ground in Hyderabad, captain Tilak Varma made 103 not out as Hyderabad continued its domination, beating Sikkim by an innings and 198 runs. Hyderabad declared their innings at 463/4, with Rahul Gahlaut’s 83 and Chandan Sahani’s 54 supporting Tilak’s second century in as many games of the season.
In reply, Sikkim were bowled out for 79 in the first innings and after being made to follow-on, could make only 186 in their second innings.
At the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Anand, spinner K.C Cariappa and pacer Mohit Jangra took five wickets each as Arunachal Pradesh were bowled out for 134 after resuming their second innings on day three at 45/1. Hruaizela and Vikash Kumar hit unbeaten 39 and 26 respectively as Mizoram chased down 77 with eight wickets in hand.
