Ranji Trophy Plate Group: Goa eyes bonus against Arunachal, no play in Chandigarh

Goa declared its first innings at a mammoth 589 for two with unbeaten centuries from Smit Patel and Amit Verma who put on a partnership of 237 runs.

Goa's Smit Patel scored 137 runs off 148 balls, which included 10 fours and three sixes. (File photo)

Skipper Amit Verma led from the front with a century and a three-wicket haul as Goa put up a dominant all-round show to tighten its grip against Arunachal Pradesh in a Ranji Trophy Plate Group fixture in Povorim on Tuesday.

Goa declared its first innings at a mammoth 589 for two with unbeaten centuries from Smit Patel (137) and Verma (122) who put on an unbroken partnership of 237 runs for the third wicket. Earlier, during the first day, openers Sumiran Amonkar and Vaibhav Govekar slammed identical scores (160), as all the top-four Goan batsmen struck centuries, toying with the Arunachal attack

Verma was back in action with his leg spin as he bowled a tidy seven overs, which included five maidens and three wickets. Apart from him, Darshan Misal also took four wickets to skittle out the opposition for just 83. Following-on, the visitor was 19 for three with the Goan skipper taking all three wickets en route to another tight spell.

Arunachal trailed by 487 runs with seven wickets in hand as second-placed Goa (30 points) looked set for a seven-point victory, jumping past Puducherry which is ahead by three points. There was no play at Chandigharh, where Puducherry was tottering at 37/4 in reply to Chandigarh’s 134. The Plate group topper qualifies for the knockouts.