LIVE UPDATES
It's the end of the day's play at all other venues as well. Baroda, Delhi, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Assam face a difficult task of avoiding defeat on Day Four. Meghalaya, Manipur, Chandigarh, Puducherry, Jammu & Kashmir, Odisha, and Saurashtra have ensured a winning start to their Ranji Trophy campaign.
Day Three will of course be headlined by the double-century scored by India opener Prithvi Shaw. This was the first double-century by the 20-year-old. It follows up a good run in his preceding assignment - the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
That's all from us here. Join us for Day Four, to follow the updates from all the matches still going on. Until then, it's goodbye.
Hyderabad vs Gujarat: It's stumps, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The lead of the home team is now 159, and it has four wickets in hand in its second innings. Tanmay Agarwal, the opener, top-scored with 96. After a productive start by the top order, four wickets fell quickly; from 182 for 2, the side fell to 216 for 6.
Tripura vs Jharkhand: It's the end of the day's play, in Agartala. Jharkhand, in its second innings after following on, is 91 for 2. Virat Singh (19 n.o.) and Rahul Prasad (6 n.o.) are batting. Wicketkeeper-batsman Md. Nazim scored 40. Jharkhand needs another 62 runs to make Tripura bat again.
Goa vs Sikkim: It's stumps, in Porvorim. Goa is closing in on a big win. Sikkim, in its second innings, is 331 for 8, leading by 31 runs. Yashpal (84) and Iqbal Abdulla (99 n.o.)fought hard for Sikkim in the second dig. Darshan Misal and Felix Alemao took three wickets each.
Haryana vs Maharashtra: It's stumps, at the Chaudhri Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Lahli, Rohtak. Maharashtra needs another 154 runs to make Haryana bat again. The side is struggling in the second innings; it is 61 for 5, with Harshal Patel and Ashish Hooda having taken two wickets each.
Baroda vs Mumbai: At the Reliance Cricket Stadium in Vadodara, opener Viraj Bhosale has begun sprightly for Baroda. He has five fours and a six in his 54-ball 40 so far. However, it's a monumental task that awaits the side; it needs another 462 runs to win, after Mumbai declared its second innings closed on 409 for 4. Prithvi Shaw scored a double-century. He took 179 deliveries to score 202, an innings studded with 19 fours and seven sixes. Captain Suryakumar Yadav remained unbeaten on a 70-ball 102.
Uttar Pradesh vs Railways: It's stumps, at the Victoria Park Stadium in Meerut. UP, in its second innings, is 23 for 0, and needs another 326 runs on the final day to clinch victory. Railways was bowled out for 270, with Dinesh More scoring a century. Yash Dayal and Shivam Mavi took four wickets each.
Tamil Nadu vs Karnataka: Karnataka has suffered a second-innings collapse in Dindigul. It's 63 for 5, leading by 92 runs. K. Vignesh and R. Ashwin have two wickets each; opener Mayank Agarwal was run out for 8.
Andhra vs Vidarbha: In Vijayawada, Andhra is 83 for 2 in its second innings. Opener C. R. Gnaneswar is batting on 28; giving him company is Ricky Bhui. Andhra needs another 146 runs to make Vidarbha bat again.
Rajasthan vs Punjab: Rajasthan's batting in the second innings has crumbled at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. It's lost six wickets for 137, and leads by just 36 runs. Sanvir Sukhdev Singh has taken three of those wickets.
Assam vs Services: It's stumps at the ACA Stadium in Barsapara, Guwahati. Assam finishes the day on 74 for 5 in the second innings. It needs 167 more runs to win.
Kerala vs Delhi: A. Vinod reports — Kerala skipper Sachin Baby introduces himself into the attack and strikes on his third delivery. Anuj Rawat (87) is caught out by P. Rahul. Delhi 130 for one.
Hyderabad vs Gujarat: Another wicket's fallen. V. V. Subrahmanyam reports — Hyderabad captain Tanmay Agarwal out lbw trying to essay a reverse sweep of left arm spinner Axar Patel for 96, Hyderabad 204 for 5.
Hyderabad vs Gujarat:V. V. Subrahmanyam reports — Hyderabad loses the fourth wicket of Himalay Agarwal, mistiming a pull stroke off pacer Chintan Gaja. It's 204 for 4. Captain Tanmay batting on 96.
Haryana v Maharashtra: The collapse continues! Maharashtra has lost its fifth wicket in 13.2 overs for 41 runs. It trails by 113 runs.
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: Anuj Rawat sweeps Sijimon Joseph to help Delhi get past 100 in its second innings. Anuj is batting on 71 and Kunal Chandela is on 29.
Assam v Services: Assam loses Gokul Sharma, shortly after Riyan Parag. The side, five down now, needs 185 runs to win with five wickets and a day in hand.
Tamil Nadu v Karnataka: Our correspondent S. Dinakar reports: "Karnataka was 18 for two at Tea after grabbing a 29-run first innings lead over Tamil Nadu. Off-spinner K. Gowtham scalped six. For Tamil Nadu, Dinesh Karthik made a fighting 113 and was the last man dismissed."
Uttar Pradesh v Railways: Bad light stops play at the Victoria Park Stadium in Meerut.
Uttar Pradesh v Railways: INNINGS BREAK: Emanjot Singh Chahal takes five wickets as Railways loses all its wickets for 270.
Hyderabad v Gujarat: Our correspondent V. V. Subrahmanyam reports: "Hyderabad 178 for two at tea with captain Tanmay Agarwal on 79 and the experienced southpaw B. Sandeep on 41 after conceding 80 run lead to Gujarat on third day of the Ranji Trophy match in Hyderabad."
Nagaland v Meghalaya: And Meghalaya does it! It beats Nagaland by 110 runs to pocket six points. MoM: Punit Bisht
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: "Openers Anuj Rawat (41) and Kunal Chandela (16) by putting up 59 runs take Delhi to tea on the third day against Kerala."
Hyderabad v Gujarat: Our correspondent V. V. Subrahmanyam reports: "Hyderabad captain Tanmay Agarwal (74 not out) and southpaw B. Sandeep (40 not out) put on 50 runs for the third wicket to extend the lead to 96 runs against Gujarat on third day of the Ranji Trophy match in Hyderabad."
Assam v Services: Captain Sibsankar Roy makes his way out into the centre, following the dismissal of Rishav Das. Assam has a tough task at hand, 242 being the target.
Nagaland v Meghalaya: Nagaland, meanwhile, is in deep trouble at Sovima, as Meghalaya nears a win. The home side needs 116 runs to win in approximately a day and 13 overs, with only one wicket in hand.
Haryana v Maharashtra: Haryana strangling Maharashtra at the moment: two wickets without a run on the board and trailing by 154 runs. Opener SM Gugale and C G Khurana have made their way back to the dressing room. Maharashtra 0/2 after 0.3 overs.
Tamil Nadu v Karnataka: INNINGS BREAK: With the important scalp of Dinesh Karthik [113(235)] and Krishnappa Gowtham's six-wicket haul, we come to the end of the Tamil Nadu innings.
Bihar v Pondicherry: Set a target of 70, Pondicherry chased it down in 11.2 overs, without the loss of a single wicket. It wins by ten wickets and bags six points.
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: "Jalaj Saxena was the top wicket taker with figures of six for 63. Sijomon Joseph finished with a haul of two while Warrier and Monish shared the remaining wickets."
Hyderabad v Gujarat: Our correspondent V. V. Subrahmanyam reports: "Hyderabad loses second wickey, debutant Shashidhar Reddy caught of a mistimed pull shot off Roosh Kalaria, had reason to be disappointed with the decision as it looked the ball hit the helmet and flew off - 123 for 2 having conceded 80 run lead to Gujarat."
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: "A brief rear guard fight back by Vikas Mishra and Navdeep Saini notwithstanding, Delhi is finally all out for 143. The side trails Kerala by 383 runs and will follow on."
Bihar v Pondicherry: INNINGS BREAK: Sabir Khan has been dismissed by R Vinay Kumar for 3 runs off 25 balls, caught by S Karthik. Bihar 196/10 after 71.4 overs.
Andhra vs Vidarbha:
Tamil Nadu v Karnataka: Our correspondent S. Dinakar reports: " Tamil Nadu loses R. Ashwin bowled by V. Koushik for 11. Tamil Nadu was 253 for six shortly after lunch. Dinesh Karthik was unbeaten on a combative 73. TN needs 84 runs for the lead."
Assam v Services: INNINGS BREAK: Captain Rajat Paliwal, hero of the Services' second innings, falls to Arup Das. What a patient yet quality knock this has been! He departs, making 89 off 190 balls. Services folds for 279, establishing a lead of 241 runs.
Hyderabad v Gujarat: Our correspondent V. V. Subrahmanyam reports: "Hyderabad loses opener Akshath Reddy for 45, leaned forward yo left arm spinner Axar Patel only to be bowled through the gap, 80 for one having conceded 80 runl ead to Gujarat."
Chandigarh vs Arunachal Pradesh: Chandigarh annihilates Arunachal Pradesh. An innings and 173 runs is the winning margin. Seven points to the new Plate side.
Uttarakhand v Jammu and Kashmir: Jammu and Kashmir clinches a massive 253-run victory over Uttarakhand. 6 points to Shubham Singh Pundir and Co.
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: "It is a fifer for Jalaj Saxena as Pradeep Sangwan (17) holes out to Asif in deep mid on. Delhi 103 for eight."
Uttarakhand v Jammu and Kashmir: Wicket! Saurabh Rawat has been dismissed by Mohammed Mudhasir, while Uttarakhand continues to slip further. Uttarakhand - 96/7 after 36 overs.
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: "Sijomon Joseph, brought into the attack replacing Monish, strikes in his second over, having Shivam Sharma caught by Vishnu Vinod for 11. Delhi 101 for seven, trails Kerala by 424 runs."
Andhra v Vidarbha: Fifer for Stephen with a two-wicket maiden! First, he gets rid of Lalit Yadav, with an absolutely unplayable inswinging yorker. Next, it was Gurbani who softly edges one to KS Bharat. Vidarbha 354/9 in 124.5 overs.
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: "Jalaj Saxena is on fire, the spinner getting his fourth wicket trapping Lalit Yadav leg before. Delhi 75 for six."
Chhattisgarh v Odisha: Odisha clinches its first victory as well, by an innings and three runs. Chhattisgarh could never find the plot, and Odisha ends up bagging seven points.
Andhra v Vidarbha: Ganesh Sathish has bounced right back! A questionable form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and then the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy doesn't stop him from getting to his 150 off 294 balls in the very first Ranji Trophy match of the 2019-20 season.
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: "Delhi 73 for five as Nitish Rana is out, caught Uthappa off Monish. The former champion side is now in dire straits."
Himachal vs Saurashtra: Saurashtra did lose five wickets, including that of big man Pujara cheaply, but all's well that ends well. It beats Himachal by five wickets to register its first win of the season with six points.
Uttar Pradesh v Railways: Pace sensation Shivam Mavi has sent Avinash Yadav back to the dugout to take his wicket count to four. Railways 130/7 after 33.4 overs.
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: "Jonty Sidhu is caught by Asif in the deep off Jalaj and Delhi is reduced to 67 for four. Nitish Rana batting on 23."
Rajasthan v Punjab: INNINGS BREAK: That didn't take time... Markande's wicket is followed by Baltej Singh's, 11 balls later. Punjab - 358/10 in 98.4 overs (Ashwani Kumar n.o. 0 off 0).
Rajasthan v Punjab: S K Sharma has taken the prized scalp of Mayank Markande to complete his four-for with figures of 22.0-3-82-4. Punjab meanwhile is nine down now for 348.
Kerala vs Delhi: Our correspondent A. Vinod reports: "After having held out against the home team bowling for close to fifty minutes, Delhi loses its third wicket as Dhruv Shorey is snapped up by Uthappa off Monish. Shorey made 19. Delhi 59 for three, Nitish Rana batting on 15."
Andhra v Vidarbha: Another short delivery from Prithvi Raj Yarra sees Akshay Wakhare trying to move away from the line for cover. With no clue as to how to face the delivery, he gifts a sitter to the short leg fielder. Vidarbha 309/7 after 109.5 overs, leads by 106 runs.
Himachal v Saurashtra: That is the biggest fish in Saurashtra's net! Cheteshwar Pujara scores only 14 off 16 before taking the long walk back to the pavilion. P P Jaswal takes the wicket as Saurashtra slips to 135/5.
Manipur v Mizoram: We have the first result this season as Manipur wins by six wickets! It bags six points to jump to the top of the group.
Andhra v Vidarbha: Aditya Sarvate has been gotten rid of by Prithvi Raj Yarra: caught behind. The ball sharply zips outwards as Sarvate swings, and swings really hard. He fails to read the pace on it and KS Bharat had little to do. Easy as it goes! FOW: 307/6, 107.3 overs.
Chandigarh v Arunachal Pradesh: Gurinder makes it five with Kengo's scalp! 50.2 overs and Chandigarh is close to drawing the curtains on Arunachal Pradesh's innings. Score: 175/9 .
Uttarakhand v Jammu and Kashmir: Uttarakhand has lost four of its wickets cheaply, the side having posted just 42.
Chandigarh v Arunachal Pradesh: As Arunachal Pradesh's seventh wicket goes down, Gurinder Singh gets his four-for nabbing Rahul Dalal. It is a big wicket, with Dalal having posted 81(94). Arunachal Pradesh 171/7 after 48.5 overs.
Hyderabad v Gujarat: INNINGS BREAK: Our correspondent V. V. Subrahmanyam reports: "Gujarat all out for 313 with left-arm pacer Chama Milind sending back Roosh Kalaria but not before he carted him for two huge sixes in the same over on offside. So, Hyderabad conceded a first innings lead of 80 runs."
Nagaland v Meghalaya: INNINGS BREAK: Finally! Bohoto gets rid of L Chettri. Meghalaya folds for 142 in 48.1 overs. That is a decent score, considering it was 81/9 after 28.6 overs. Nagaland needs 292 runs to win.
Andhra v Vidarbha: Vidarbha wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar's wicket falls, courtesy a shorter delivery from Stephen which just manages to clip the top of off stump. Stephen has three wickets marked against his name now. FOW: 282/5, 100.3 overs.
Baroda v Mumbai: INNINGS BREAK: With S I Sopariya's dismissal, we have come to the end of Baroda's innings. The scoreboard reads 307/10 after 70.1 overs. Additionally, with that wicket, Shams Mulani completes his six-wicket haul. Baroda trails by 124 runs.
Manipur v Mizoram: More trouble! Rex Singh, promoted up the order, fails to deliver, as well. He has been trapped in front for 10(12) by Taruwar Kohli. Manipur 27/3 after 7.5 overs, needs 35 runs to win.
Manipur v Mizoram: Manipur finds itself in trouble, having lost its second wicket in no time now. Al Bashid is out for a duck as the side struggles at 17/2 after 5.3 overs. The Plate side needs to have a partnership at this point.
Assam v Services: Assam medium pacer Mukhtar Hussain gets Gahlaut to walk for 13 (32). Services 144/5 after 52.1 overs.
Manipur v Mizoram: First wicket of the day falls at the Videocon Ground in Kolkata. Manipur loses its opener Santosh for 16 after 4.4 overs.
Assam v Services: Rajat Paliwal and Rahul Singh Gahlaut resume batting on Day 3. Services has gone past a 100-run lead.
TODAY'S MATCHES
SEASON PREVIEW
Relevance and context. These are the oft-used terms when it comes to discussing the fate of Test cricket in an era of instant results. When it comes to the 86th Ranji Trophy, which starts on Monday with 19 matches scheduled to get underway in the opening league round, one can’t help but wonder whether the biggest edition — at least in terms of the number of participating teams — will also struggle to find relevance and context over the next three months.
With the overbearing emergence of India A tours, the Ranji Trophy is no longer the most important tournament for a domestic cricketer to knock on the doors of the national selectors and get a call-up in the Test squad. Also, India’s international fixtures are so dominated by white-ball cricket in 2020 that the Ranji Trophy performances are hardly going to matter in the larger scheme of things.
Read | Ranji Trophy in numbers: the stats you need to know
India is not scheduled to play a Test match at home until February, 2021. Besides, after the two Tests in New Zealand in February-March, Virat Kohli’s men could well wear whites only in November, in Australia. As a result, the Ranji Trophy this time around is most likely going to be about cricketers ‘playing for pride’ and to stake a claim for soon-to-be-introduced domestic contracts.
No wonder then that during the week-long gap between the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Ranji Trophy, most Ranji teams saw Indian Premier League (IPL) aspirants prefer to skip training at the cost of pre-auction trials organised by virtually all the IPL franchisees.
Hat-trick or treble?
Despite the oddities, the cricket connoisseurs will be hoping either for a rare hat-trick or the first treble in the history of domestic cricket to be achieved in March, 2020. No team except Bombay — which won 15 successive triumphs from 1958-59 to 1972-73 — has won three titles in a row. Vidarbha — with captain Faiz Fazal and coach Chandrakant Pandit at the helm — is hoping to join the domestic powerhouse to achieve the rare feat. With the core of the team having virtually remained the same for the third season in succession, Vidarbha can well continue to stamp its supremacy on the coveted trophy yet again.
Read | Ranji Trophy 2019-20 FAQs
The biggest challenge Vidarbha will face will be by Karnataka. The southern giant has already maintained a clean record, having swept the white-ball season with the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy triumphs. It will be hoping to become the first team to complete the treble of inter-State titles in a season by winning Ranji.
Only if one of these two teams emerges champion will the Ranji Trophy’s 86th edition not lack in relevance or context.
Comments
SHARE