Ranji Trophy HIGHLIGHTS, Round 5 Day 4: Kerala, Madhya Pradesh win; Punjab, HP chase down targets on final day

Upendra Yadav smashes 30 off 24 deliveries and along with Mohammad Saif takes the team home against Tripura.

Captain Mandeep Singh ends the innings with a pull shot for six runs and that completes the win. A remarkable win! It started with a J&K collapse as the team lost five wickets for 22 runs. Punjab started well with Abhishek Sharma tonking the ball all over the ground. They lost wickets in a flurry but Mandeep Singh stood resolute to complete the win.

Anmol Malhotra falls for 17. He tries to clear the long on boundary but is caught at the fence. Punjab needs 19 more and has four wickets left.

The batter remains unbeaten on 165 runs and Himachal Pradesh win by 3 wickets! The side was 10/4 at one point but a 203-run stand between Kalsi and Rishi Dhawan put the innings back on track. The team lost a couple of quick wickets but Kalsi ensured they didn’t fall short.

Kalsi has crossed 150 and the team is just seven runs away. What an innings!

Railways loses a fourth wicket but Mohammad Saif holds the innings together. He is joined by Upendra Yadav, who recently played for India A.

Punjab faces another jolt in its run chase. Nehal Wadhera is run out on 8 off 6 balls.

Kalsi is moving close to completing 150 runs. HP 277/7.

Gurnoor Brar fell without troubling the scorers. Mandeep Singh holds on end as Nehal Wadhera walks out to the middle.

A blitzkreig of an innings comes to an end. Sharma goes for 83 off 47 deliveries. Punjab 135/3 off 16 overs. Well on course to chase down the target if bad light does not play spoilsport.

Kalsi treads towards the target. He’s on 130 runs now. Galetiya, his partner at the other end, has seen 20 deliveries.

Abhishek Sharma brings up his 50 with a six. He took just 35 balls to get there. He follows it up with a boundary past the third man fielder.

Punjab loses two wickets. Prabhsimran Singh goes first. Next man in, Naman Dhir, smashed a six and a four in his six ball stay at the crease. Abhishek Sharma is batting on 43 and keeping him company on the other end is captain Mandeep Singh.

Kalsi loses another partner. P.M. Thakur is run out. Still 67 runs needed. Odisha three wickets away. 241/7

Railways is making its way to a win. Needs 110 runs more with eight wickets in hands. Sitting comfortably.

Punjab ends the second session on 57/0 in just eight overs. Both openers have played at 100+ strike rates. Needs 148 more to win the contest.

Bihar took first innings lead over Mizoram and win three points in the Plate group.

The match ends in a draw but Uttarakhand takes home three points after bettering UP’s first innings score of 142 with 172/4.

Odisha has gotten rid of Rishi Dhawan and Mayank Dagar which has brought life back to the contest. HP is 235/6 with Kalsi batting on 116 and needs 73 runs in the final session.

Chandigarh and Vidarbha match has ended in a draw with the first innings being unfinished. The match was delayed by wet outfield and bad light over the course of four days.

Defending champion Madhya Pradesh continues its winning run as it skittles Gujarat to 121 to secure a 260-run win. Gujarat skipper Priyank Panchal was absent hurt in the second innings.

J&K lost the lost its last five wickets for just 22 runs. Baltej Singh picks his second fifer of the match. The lead is 204 runs and Punjab has an outside chance to get an outright win.

The teams have agreed to call Stumps on the final day. Delhi gets three points by virtue of securing a first-innings lead. Andhra gets one.

Kasi and Dhawan are nearing their centuries and the team’s total stands at 204/4. They need 104 to beat Odisha.

The partnership for the last wicket stretched to 65 runs. And with the lead at 29 runs, Delhi has decided to declare the innings. Andhra would be ruing the missed two points.

Bawane and Kazi continue with their innings. The lead is now worth 343 runs. Surely this is going to end in a draw and there could be a decision between the teams to end play soon.

The last wicket pair of Harshit Rana and Divij Mehra has done it. Delhi is 461/9 and leads by two runs.

The defending champion has reduced Gujarat to 95/7. Saransh Jain picked four wickets while Gourav Yadav got three in the team’s defence of 382 runs.

Anukul Roy picked up the all important wicket of Amandeep Khare before Shahbaz Nadeem dismissed Vasudev Bareth to wrap up the innings and seal the win for Jharkhand. Khare’s 151 gave Chhattisgarh hopes of a win but it was not to be.

It is a fight for first-innings lead at Kotla. Delhi is 22 runs away from paring Andhra’s score. Doing so will fetch it two additonal points. Harshit Rana and Divij Mehra are at the crease, aiming to take Delhi across.

Himachal Pradesh has clawed its way back into the match. A.R. Kalsi and Rishi Dhawan with a 169-run partnership have put the team in driver’s seat. Odisha had them 4-10 at one point but what a fantastic pull back.

Amandeep Khare, unbeaten on 145, is fighting for Chhattisgarh’s win against Jharkhand. Vasudev Bareth has aided brilliantly from the other end and contributed 20 runs. What a nail biting finish!

Career-best First Class bowling figures for Jalaj Saxena (15.4-3-36-8) as Kerala beats Services by 204 runs for its third win. Poonia (13) tried to reverse-sweep Jalaj and is trapped lbw. Jalaj also claims his 7th 10-wicket match haul.

Praveen Chandran: Kerala inches closer to the win. Jalaj dismisses Rathee caught in the deep by Sijomon for one and Arpit Guleria caught by Rohan Prem for one. Services 133/9

Pranshu Vijayran falls to Lalith Mohan as Delhi loses its seventh wicket at 411. Himmat Singh is still out there, five away from a century. Andhra Pradesh leads by 48 runs.

Dipak Ragav from Pune: A prospect of an exciting final day depended on Maharashtra going for quick runs and giving TN a target that they can be tempted into chasing.

Despite skipper Ankeet Bawane’s fluent knock, the match is tilting towards a draw as the home team looks to play it safe.

Bawane started positively with three boundaries off Sandeep Warrier and go to his half-century quickly before hitting Sai Kishore over long on for a six.

There was a brief period during the first session when TN got on top after Sai Kishore removed Saurabh Nawale and Kedar Jadhav. At 167 for five, the match was in fine balance but since then Bawane and Azim Kazi patiently added 53 runs for the sixth wicket.

Maharashtra is on 220/5 and ahead by 262 runs with Bawane unbeaten on 97. With a maximum of about 55 overs left in the day, Maharashtra does not have a lot of upside in a sporting declaration now.

There is not much in it for the bowlers on the pitch. Having said that, the home team’s tactics were a bit risky. They did not look to score a lot in the first session and one more wicket in that session could have caught them in a tricky position. Thankfully Bawane and Kazi have ensured it did not happen.

Praveen Chandran: L. S. Kumar is bowled playing back to Jalaj for five. At stroke of lunch, Jalaj completes his fifer as Pulkit Narang is caught at short leg for six. Services 110/7.

This is also Jalaj’s 400th wicket in First Class cricket. He has also registered five five-wicket hauls in five rounds this season.

Praveen Chandran: Captain Rajat Paliwal is adjudged caught by Salman Nizar for zero. Services slump to 98/4. Third wicket for Jalaj. Services loses its fifth wicket as the well set Sufiyan Alam is run out for 52. Services 99/5.

Praveen Chandran: Rahul Singh offers a pad to Jalaj Saxena and is given out leg before. Services 98/3. Meanwhile, Sufiyan completes his fifty.

Skipper Manoj Tiwary hits the winning runs for Bengal as it trumps Baroda by seven wickets. Tiwary (60*) and Sudip Gharami (76*) shared an unbeaten 122-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

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Jalaj Saxena cleans up Ravi Chauhan for seven. Services 80/2

Lalith Mohan dismmisses Dhruv Shorey on 185. Huge wicket that for Andhra Pradesh, Delhi 366/5 in 111.3 overs - trails by 93 runs

Shayan: Ninth-wicket down for Assam. The long partnership between Gokul Sharma and Roshan Alam is broken.

Shubham Sharma scores a century as Madhya Pradesh declares at 280 for six to set a 382-run target for Gujarat.

Dipak Ragav from Pune: Maharashtra skipper Ankeet Bawane has got a fine half century. And then he lofts Sai Kishore for a six over long-on as the lead gets close to 200 for Maharashtra.

Praveen Chandran from Thumba: Vaisakh Chandran gets the much needed breakthrough Rohilla mistimes the sweep and is caught in the covers by Shoun Roger for 28. Services 61/1 in 18 overs

Shayan Acharya from Guwahati: Gokul Sharma, the seasoned Assam campaigner, fighting a lone battle. After a 73 in the first innings, he is batting at 69.

Mumbai two wickets away, but Gokul fighting till the end.

Praveen Chandran from Thumba: Services openers Rohilla and Sufiyan Alam have added 50 runs for the first wicket. The medium-pacers have failed to trouble them today morning. Rohilla batting on 27 and Sufiyan on 23.

Shams Mulani dismisses Mukhtar Hussain for 6 while skipper Gokul Sharma moves into the 60s, waging a lone battle. Assam 119/8 in 30.3 overs.

Odisha’s 38-year-old seamer Basant Mohanty has completed 400 wickets in First Class cricket with the dismissal of Himachal Pradesh’s Akash Vashisht. Mohanty reached the mark in his 104th First Class match.

Third 150-plus score of the season for Dhruv Shorey as he leads Delhi towards Andhra Pradesh’s 459-run first-innings total.

Royston DIas cleans up Sibsankar Roy for 17. Assam 77/7 in 21.4 overs.

Skipper Manoj Tiwary has dropped anchor with Gharami for company. They have quietly built the morning’s session with ones and twos so far, slowly ticking away reach run from the deficit.

Assam trudges past 50 with skipper Gokul Sharma and Sibsankar Roy at the crease.

Swarupam Purkayastha is run out by Mumbai skipper Ajinkya Rahane for 13. Assam slips to 39 for six.

It has been a topsy-turvy clash so far between Bengal and Baroda. After conceding a 78-run first-innings lead, Bengal made a resounding return to bundle the opposition for 98 in the second innings. Bengal then slipped to 53/3 on Day 3 in its pursuit of a 177-run target and an early wicket on the final day could just put its chase in jeopardy.

Heavyweight Mumbai has put on a clinical show so far. Can it claim the remaining five wickets soon to end Assam’s misery?

• Bengal 191 all out and 53/3 (28.3) v Baroda (2nd) 98 all out - Bengal needs 124 to win
• Haryana 229/7d v Nagaland 88 and 72 all out - Haryana won by an innings and 69 Runs
• Himachal Pradesh 258 v Odisha (2nd) 29/0 (13) - Odisha trails by 38 runs - Prashant Chopra 138
• Uttar Pradesh 142 all out (67.5) v Uttarakhand 65/2 (19) - Uttarakhand trails by 77 runs
• Maharashtra (2nd) 104/3 v Tamil Nadu 404 (118.5) - Vijay Shankar 107 - Maharashtra leads by 146 runs
• Delhi 300/4 (93) v Andhra Pradesh 459/9d (133.2) - Delhi trails by 159 runs - Dhruv Shorey 142*
• Assam 370 all out 36/5 (11) v Mumbai 687/4d - Assam trails by 281 runs
• Jharkhand (2nd) 366 (100.3) v Chhattisgarh (2nd) 139/4 - Chhattisgarh needs 218 to win
• Goa 223 and 167 all out v Puducherry 347 and 46/1 (19.1) - Puducherry won by nine wickets
• Kerala 327 all out (121) v Services 167/6 (53) - Sachin Baby 159 - Services trails by 160 runs
• Karnataka 445 and 15/0 (5) v Rajasthan 129 and 330 all out - Karnataka won by 10 wickets - Manish Pandey 101
• Railways 337 all out (109.1) v Tripura (2nd) 304/4 (104) - Tripura leads by 63 runs
• Madhya Pradesh (2nd) 189/2 v Gujarat 211/9 (79.2) - MP leads by 290 runs
• Chandigarh 16/1 (5) v Vidarbha 307/6 d - Chandigarh trails by 291 runs
• Punjab 268 all out v Jammu & Kashmir (2nd) 18/1 - J&K trails by 38 runs
• Sikkim 532 all out v Arunachal Pradesh (2nd) 61 all out - Sikkim won by an innings and 258 runs
• Meghalaya (2nd) 91 all out (34) v Manipur 29/2 (9) - Manipur won by 8 wickets
• Bihar 474 all out (165.1) v Mizoram (2nd) 144/3 - Mizoram trails by 154 runs

Murali Vijay talks to WV Raman about the ups and downs in his career, his rocky relationship with his father and why he’s almost done with the BCCI.

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The Ranji Trophy Round 5 matches got underway on Tuesday with crucial contests across all five groups. It was an eventful Day 3 as Mumbai bowled out Assam and then claimed another five wickets during the follow-on. A Vijay Shankar ton nearly handed Tamil Nadu the innings lead. Here here is a Day 3 wrap from some of the key games that are being covered by our correspondents from the respective venues.

Elite Group A: Bengal v Baroda Day 3

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Elite Group B: Assam v Mumbai Day 3

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Elite Group B: Maharashtra v Tamil Nadu Day 3

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Elite Group B: Delhi v Andhra Pradesh Day 3

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Elite Group C: Kerala v Services Day 3

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