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Maharashtra secure victory in opener

A round-up of the fourth day of the first round of matches in the Plate League of the Ranji Trophy

Sony Cheruvathur finished with a five-for for Kerala  •  ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Sony Cheruvathur finished with a five-for for Kerala  •  ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Maharashtra's bowlers persevered to dismiss Jammu & Kashmir for 347 in the second innings, giving their batsmen enough time to knock off the target of 26 and complete a ten-wicket victory at at the Gandhi Memorial Science College Ground in Jammu. The hosts began the day on 134 for 2, with Arshad Bhatt batting on 56. Maharashtra offspinner Ganesh Gaikwad, however, struck two vital blows at the other end to reduce them to 199 for 4. The crippling blow came in the over after Gaikwad trapped Dhruv Mahajan lbw: Bhatt was caught off another offspinner, Akshya Darekar, for 95. J&K's lower order resisted with useful contributions but Maharashtra gradually worked through them, Darekar finishing with figures of 4 for 50. Set a small target to secure an outright win, Maharashtra's openers achieved victory in the seventh over.
In a tense finish at the at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, the hosts Madhya Pradesh hung on for a draw after their batting order collapsed against Goa's attack on the final day in Indore. Having conceded a first-innings lead of 158, Goa's batsmen were solid in their second innings. The top nine got into double figures and there were four half-centuries as the visitors posted 473 for 7 before declaring with a lead of 265. Swapnil Asnodkar's 84 was the top score. In their reply, Madhya Pradesh's openers, Naman Ojha and Zafar Ali, made half-centuries. Their future was bright at 134 for 1 but S Vidyut and Shadab Jakati triggered a collapse and Madhya Pradesh began to slump. They lost eight wickets for 27 runs in 17.2 overs and were lucky to escape with first-innings points. Vidyut finished with 4 for 13 while Jakati and Amit Yadav took two apiece.
An outright win was out of the question at the start of the final day in Delhi but Kerala and Services were battling for first-innings points. Chasing Kerala's 454, Services resumed on 237 for 3 in their first-innings, with debutant Soumyaranjan Swain on 89 and captain Yashpal Singh on 66. Sony Cheruvathur, a medium-pacer, gave Kerala an early boost by trapping Yashpal for 66. Swain led Services' progress, though, and they reached 314 for 4, 140 runs away from three points, when trouble began. Vishnu Tiwari and Swain fell in the space of four runs and Cheruvathur and Padmanabhan Prasanth worked their way through the lower order. Cheruvathur finished with 5 for 72 as Services were dismissed for 407. Kerala earned first-innings points and batted two overs without loss in their second innings before the match ended.
Vidarbha's batsmen, led by Ranjit Paradkar, batted with single-minded determination and achieved their goal of securing first-innings points against Andhra Pradesh as their match ended in a draw in Nagpur. Vidarbha began the final day comfortably placed on 265 for 3, needing 105 more to draw level with Andhra. Shalabh Shrivastava fell early but Amit Deshpande and Paradkar added 150 for the fifth wicket. Deshpande fell for 92, but Paradkar went on to score an unbeaten 154 as Vidarbha ended on 506 for 6.