Report

Delhi and UP top respective groups

A round-up of the final day's play of the seventh-round matches of the Ranji Trophy Super League, 2007-08

Cricinfo staff
28-Dec-2007


Gautam Gambhir's 40 meant there were no hiccups as Delhi secured a place in the semi-finals © Cricinfo Ltd
Delhi and Uttar Pradesh finished their league engagements with outright wins over Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad respectively to top their groups. Saurashtra and Baroda duly played out draws in their final games to end up second in their groups. The top two teams in each group ended tied at the same number of points, and were separated on the basis of outright wins and better quotient. UP had won one more match than Baorda, while Delhi had a better quotient than Saurashtra. In the semi-finals, UP will face Saurahstra in Vadodara while Delhi will take on Baroda in Indore.
Delhi 338 and 105 for 2 (Gambhir 40) beat Tamil Nadu 268 and 174 by 8 wickets
Scorecard
With Delhi needing 95 runs to win the match, the only contest in Chennai was whether Delhi would get a bonus point. That contest ended when Aakash Chopra got out in the 11th over of the day, even as Delhi cruised to an eight-wicket win over Tamil Nadu. With Saurashtra drawing their match against Mumbai, the bonus point proved immaterial as Delhi still ended at top of Group A. Gautam Gambhir scored 40, and Mithun Manhas a quick 32 off 21 balls.
Uttar Pradesh 336 and 294 for 3 dec beat Hyderabad 193 and 305 (Ravi Teja 133*, Praveen Kumar 6-65) by 132 runs
Scorecard
Coming in at No. 7, Dwaraka Ravi Teja scored an unbeaten 133 off 112 balls, including a last-wicket partnership of 84 with Vishal Sharma who contributed 12, but could only delay the inevitable as Uttar Pradesh won by 132 runs with time to spare. Teja came in to bat at 121 for 5, after Praveen Kumar and Sudeep Tyagi had taken three quick wickets in the morning. But Teja took the attack to the bowlers, scoring his highest first-class score and his second century.
Praveen Kumar, though, kept chipping away, and steadily brought Hyderabad close to their end and finished with career-best figures of 6 for 65. With the win, UP assumed the top position in Group B.
Karnataka 545 for 9 dec beat Maharashtra 276 and 140 (Vinay Kumar 6-38, Joshi 4-18) by an innings and 129 runs
Scorecard
A season that had started brightly ended in gloom for Maharashtra as they folded meekly in the second innings to lose to Karnataka by an innings and 129 runs in Ratnagiri. R Vinay Kumar, who had rattled Maharashtra with a hat-trick yesterday, took three more wickets to extend his lead in the wicket-takers' list, the 6 for 38 being his best bowling figures. Vinay Kumar, who has 40 wickets at an average of 18.52, will take no further part in the Ranji Trophy, though, as Karnataka had been knocked out even before the start of the match. The other four wickets went to Sunil Joshi, who is currently the third-highest wicket-taker with 34 wickets.
Resuming the day at 18 for 3, needing another 251 to make Karnataka bat, Maharashtra never looked like they would make a fight of it. Although there was a fifth-wicket partnership of 68 between Venugopal Rao and Yogesh Takawale, once Takawale fell at the team score of 107, the rest added only 33. Rao scored 56.
Saurashtra 484 drew with Mumbai 463 (Muzumdar 187, Rahane 149, Jobanputra 5-116)
Scorecard
The match between Mumbai and Saurashtra ended for all competitive purposes the moment Delhi completed their chase against Tamil Nadu in Chennai. Only a first-innings result was possible in Saurashtra - not that it would make any difference in the semi-final line-up - and Saurashtra grabbed that lead after Mumbai collapsed from 426 for 4 to be bowled out for 463. Overnight batsmen - not out in the eighties - Amol Muzumdar and Ajinkya Rahane scored big hundreds, but the rest of the line-up got out cheaply. Muzumdar scored 187, Rahane 149 and Sandeep Jobanputra took his third five-wicket haul of the season, as Saurashtra made it to the semi-finals.
Baroda 255 and 424 for 9 (Shah 148, Pawar 91) drew with Orissa 294 (Das 114, Pawar 6-66)
Scorecard
Baroda opted for batting practice in another inconsequential draw, as only an outright result between Baroda and Orissa could have altered the table standings. With three days gone and only a lead of 81 to Baroda's credit, going for a win was always going to be improbable. Pinal Shah made his first century of the season, to go with two half-centuries, as he scored 148. Rajesh Pawar scored 91 as Baroda had reached 424 for 9 when play was called off.