Ranji round-up

A century from skipper Yuvraj Singh saw Punjab take the upper hand in their Ranji Trophy league match against Haryana at Gurgaon.

Haryana, winning the toss, could not take full advantage of it, being bowled out for 204 in their first innings. Only Jitender Singh came to terms with the wicket and the bowling, making 89 off 244 balls and forming the anchor for Haryana. He finally fell as the last wicket, unable to extend his side's total due to lack of support.

Punjab, in their own batting effort, lost their openers early. Yuvraj Singh and Ankur Kakkar put on 140 runs for the fourth wicket, however, stabilising the innings. Yuvraj, making his runs faster, got to his century first and then fell with the score on 191.

At the close of play on Day Two, Punjab were 258/7, with Kakkar still at the crease on 81. For Haryana, Sumit Narwal took 5-69.

A steady rather than excellent batting display from Tamil Nadu's top order saw the home side gain a slight edge over Goa in their Ranji Trophy league match at Chennai on Sunday.

Managing to bowl Goa out for 238, Tamil Nadu had a definite upper hand. MR Shrinivas took 5-57, playing a vital role in the collapse of the visitors' batting line-up.

Sadagopan Ramesh, opening the Tamil Nadu innings, must have been hoping to impress the selectors with a sterling display and regain his position in the Indian team. He managed, however, to make only 35 off 94 deliveries. His partner, Somasetty Suresh, made 65 off 130 balls, top-scoring in his side's innings.

Suresh fell with the score on 114, and Hemang Badani and Hemanth Kumar fell relatively cheaply. S Sharath and skipper Robin Singh then stabilised the innings, taking Tamil Nadu's total to 187/4 by the close of play.

Despite a five-wicket haul by Kerala left-arm spinner Mani Suresh Kumar, Andhra Pradesh took the first-innings lead in their Ranji Trophy league match at Cochin on Sunday.

Y Venugopal Rao, coming in at the fall of captain MSK Prasad, added 70 runs for the fourth wicket with Illa Srinivas (22). No partnership lasted quite so long after the fall of Srinivas with the score on 133, although Venugopal Rao plodded along slowly making 76 off 220 balls.

Once Venugopal Rao fell with the score on 180, Kerala must have sniffed a chance of bowling their rivals out. The lower order, however, defied the bowlers, with Hemal Watekar (24) and Khatib Sahabuddin (27*) taking their side past the 200-run mark.

At stumps, Andhra Pradesh were 234/8, with Sahabuddin and Mohammed Faiq (6*) at the crease.

Uttar Pradesh notched up a 155-run victory over Vidarbha on Day Four of their Ranji Trophy league match at Kanpur on Sunday.

Powered by a solid middle-order performance, Uttar Pradesh declared at a second-innings total of 329/9. Mohammad Saif and Nikhil Chopra, unbeaten overnight, made 48 and 47 respectively, keeping Pritam Gandhe (4-78) out long enough to propel their side to a sizeable total.

Set a target of 293, Vidarbha could not even hold on for a draw, let alone make a significant dash for victory. With Harshal Shitoot's 28 being the top score, Vidarbha's batting line-up crumbled in the face of accurate bowling from Uttar Pradesh. The star of the bowling atack was undoubtedly Mohammad Kaif, who returned stunning figures of 10.5-7-4-3.

With Vidarbha being bowled out for 137, Uttar Pradesh notched up eight points from this victory.

With only one wicket remaining, Madhya Pradesh batsmen pulled off an exciting draw against Railways in their Ranji Trophy league match at Indore on Sunday.

Railways, declaring at 291/7, reached its second-innings total due to some fine batting from its top three batsmen. Jai P Yadav (92), Amit Pagnis (70) and Yere Goud (50) all scored fifties, with Goud remaining unbeaten till the end of the innings. A brief middle-order collapse was brushed aside as S Raza Ali also contributed lower down the order with 40 off 51 balls.

Set a target of 514, Madhya Pradesh had no option but to play for a draw. This too looked doubtful as wickets collapsed in a heap at the top of the order. KS Parida, the first-innings hero, took three more wickets here, but skipper Sulakshan Kulkarni batted bravely (30*) with the tail to ensure a draw for his side.

Railways, by virtue of their first-innings total, pick up five points from this tie, while Madhya Pradesh pick up three.

A second-innings collapse from Maharashtra saw Mumbai pull off a seven-wicket victory in their Ranji Trophy league match at Mumbai on Sunday.

Reaching a first-innings total of 250 thanks mainly to some late-order heroics, Mumbai must have felt that they did not have nearly enough runs in the bank. Iqbal Siddiqui was the most impressive Maharashtra bowler, returning figures of 7-91.

Ramesh Powar, however, returned his own impressive figures for Mumbai, taking 6-30 off 19.5 overs. The Maharashtra innings collapsed dramatically; with only the openers getting to double figures, the side was dismissed for 98.

Set a target of 65 for victory, Mumbai brushed off minor hiccups to notch up a seven-wicket victory. They now garner eight points from this match, their first of the Ranji season.

A six-wicket haul from Lalit Patel saw Gujarat notch up a tight ninerun win over Ranji champions Baroda in their Ranji Trophy league match at Vadodara on Sunday.

Set a total of 237 for victory, Baroda looked to be coasting towards it during an 80-run stand between Tushar Arothe (47) and Ajit Bhoite (42). The former, in particular, played aggressively, making his runs off 69 deliveries.

Arothe's fall at 209, as the sixth wicket, triggered off a collapse.The last four wickets fell for only 18 runs, as none of the tailenders could even slog their way to victory. Gujarat, by virtue of their outright win, pick up eight points from this match.

Figures of 6-55 saw Amit Bhandari rip through the Jammu & Kashmir line-up to give Delhi the edge in their Ranji Trophy league match at Delhi.

Delhi, batting after being put in by the visitors, scored 286 in their first innings. Akash Chopra, opening the innings, top-scored with 71, but the innings total was really boosted by Sarandeep Singh's innings of 54 off 62 coming in at No. 11. Vijay Sharma, for Jammu & Kashmir, picked 5-91.

The visitors started their innings badly, losing the openers with just 13 on the board. Aside from Kavaljit Singh, who made 56 and was the eighth wicket to fall, none of the players looked comfortable against the Delhi attack. Bhandari knocked off the top order and then returned to play an encore against the tail.

In their second innings, Delhi were 46/1 at the close of play on Day Two, with Chopra and Pradeep Chawla at the crease.

Himachal Pradesh negated in part the advantage that Services gained by virtue of their sizeable first-innings total in their Ranji Trophy league match at Una.

Services, winning the toss, made 329 in their first innings, with Jasvir Singh top-scoring with 81 off 238 balls. He received good support from Sanjay Verma (73), and their partnership formed the spine of the total. For Himachal Pradesh, Shakti Singh picked four for 67.

Himachal Pradesh, responding to Services' total, lost an opener early. Sandeep Sharma and Rajiv Nayyar put on 101 runs for the second wicket before the former fell with the score on 119, having made 80.

At the close of play, Himachal Pradesh were 142/2, with Nayyar (50*) and Sangram Singh (3*) at the crease.