Report

Services remain on top

A round-up of the final day of the seventh round of Ranji Trophy Group C matches

Services 221 (Paliwal 120, Dayal 5-71) and 134 for 5 (Yashpal 61, Paliwal 47*) beat Jammu and Kashmir 85 (Yadav 4-35, Nishan 3-26) and 269 (Dayal 62, Gupta 58, Nishan 5-63) by five wickets
Scorecard
Services retained their position at the top of the table, knocking off the remaining 63 runs with no difficulty at the Palam A Ground. Services had lost four wickets overnight, with the experienced Yashpal Singh unbeaten on 40. Yashpal went on to score 61 and had all but taken his team past the finish line. Rajat Paliwal steered the side home with an unbeaten 47.
Kerala 400 (Prem 170, Chanda 4-77) beat Tripura (Manukrishnan 6-37, Warrier 3-33) and 196 (Murasingh 67, Warrier 5-46) by an innings and 77 runs
Scorecard
Kerala recorded their first win of the season, drubbing bottom-placed Tripura by an innings and 77 runs in Agartala. Tripura were fighting to save the game going into the final day, having lost three wickets overnight needing 203 to make Kerala bat again. Seamer Sandeep Warrier, who took five wickets in the second innings, got rid of Abhijit Dey and Ajay Ratra off successive balls. When Abbas Ali fell the following over, Tripura had lost three wickets for no runs and were staring at an imminent defeat at 85 for 6. Kerala's victory charge was delayed by Manisankar Murasingh, who made an attacking 67 at No. 9. U Manikrishnan rounded off the match when he bowled Rana Dutta to finish with nine wickets in the match. Sreesanth, returning to first-class cricket after injury, took two wickets in the match.
Himachal Pradesh 338 (Amit 86, Mukesh 73) and 237 for 4 (Dogra 119*, Mukesh 51*) drew with Goa 347 (Pinto 85, Swapnil Asnodkar 81, Rahul 5-71)
Scorecard
Goa gained first-innings points in a draw against Himachal Pradesh in Porvorim. The chance of a result seemed unlikely on the third day itself, when Goa edged past Himachal's 338 with two innings yet to be completed. Goa didn't add to their overnight lead of nine, losing their last two wickets early. Rahul Singh finished with five wickets, while Vikramjeet Malik took 3 for 61. Himachal helped themselves to some batting practice, as Paras Dogra scored his fifth century of the Ranji season. Mukesh Sharma made an unbeaten 51. Both teams are yet to register a win in the tournament.
Jharkhand 257 (Tiwary 119, Nadeem 51, Sahabuddin 4-39) and 295 for 9 dec (Tiwary 99, Verma 82) drew with Andhra 410 (Muzumdar 180, Shivkumar 57) and 32 for 4
Scorecard
The match at Dhanbad too ended in a draw with Andhra picking up first-innings points. Akash Verma and Saurabh Tiwary scored half-centuries to take Jharkhand to 295 for 9 before the declaration. Verma fell for 82, while Tiwary fell just one short of scoring two tons in the same match. Shaik Basha, the offspinner, took 6 for 74. With little time left in the game to force a result, it was up to Jharkhand to muster as much as they could. They declared, setting a target of 143, and Andhra lost four wickets inside ten overs.