Akshath, bowlers stud Hyderabad win
A round-up of the Group C matches on the fourth and final day of the first round in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy
ESPNcricinfo staff
09-Oct-2016
File photo: Nitin Saini struck 101 of the 136 runs Haryana scored on the final day • ESPNcricinfo Ltd
At the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, Hyderabad romped to a nine-wicket win against Goa, after being set a target of 35. Hyderabad lost Akshath Reddy for 2 after 21 runs had already been knocked off the target. Tanmay Agarwal stayed not out on 27 and took the side home in B Anirudh's company.
The day began with Goa 5 for no loss in their second innings, having conceded a first-innings lead of 224 runs. Goa had several solid contributions - Sagun Kamat (55), Snehal Kauthankar (34), Saurabh Bandekar (51), Shadab Jakati (28) and RR Singh (30) - but none managed to convert it into a century. Ravi Kiran, the new-ball bowler, led the way with 3 for 40.
Batsmen had a field day at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai as the Haryana-Services clash laboured to a draw. Haryana walked away with the first-innings honours. Services began the final day on 148 for 2. Nakul Verma, unbeaten on 54 overnight, added 24 more to top-score with 78, while Ravi Chauhan and Shamsher Yadav also raised half-centuries to help Services respond strongly with 329 for 6 declared. Nitin Saini took centrestage, scoring 101 in their chase of 279. Saini was unbeaten when proceedings ended with Haryana on 136 for 1.
Over at the Bengal Cricket Academy Ground in Kalyani, Kerala took first-innings points against Jammu & Kashmir. J&K had been reduced to 106 for 5 in response to Kerala's first-innings 306, and managed to add just 15 more to that tally before being shot out for 121, conceding a 185-run first-innings lead. KS Monish and Iqbal Abdulla, the left-arm spinners, inflicted the bulk of the damage, taking seven wickets between them.
Asked to follow on, J&K were brought down to 91 for 4, with Abdulla taking two wickets. Shubham Khajuria showed resolve, resisting with an unbeaten 39 that came off 90 balls.
The Himachal Pradesh-Andhra clash at the KIIT Stadium in Bhubaneswar ended in a draw after a 45-over final day. Play began with Andhra 47 for 1 in the first innings, trailing by 310 runs after Himachal amassed 357, courtesy centuries from Sumeet Verman (142) and Prashant Chopra (117).
Prasanth Kumar and captain Hanuma Vihari, the overnight batsmen, both raised half-centuries, finishing unbeaten on 93 and 68 respectively. Andhra were 167 for 1 in 59 overs when stumps were drawn. Both teams shared a point each.