Ranji Trophy: 4 matches this round that went down the wire

The 25th of December, 2018 witnessed some nail bitters in the Ranji Trophy. The Ranji has always helped players prove their mettle for a place in the Indian side. Consistent performances in the domestic circuit including a very successful campaign in last season’s Ranji Trophy provided Mayank Agarwal with his international debut for the Indian side. The 25th of December witnessed some thrilling games where some teams made outstanding comebacks and looked to pull off a surprise win. The 4 games which went down to the wire are as follows:

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#4 Punjab vs Hyderabad (Game Ended in a draw with Punjab needing 14 runs to win with 2 wickets in hand)

Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bat. Batting first, Hyderabad put up a total of 317 runs with Mayank Markande picking 6 wickets for Punjab. In the first innings, Punjab fell short by 14 runs as they were bundled out for 303 with Gurkeerat Singh scoring an unbeaten 87.

In the second innings, Hyderabad put up a dominating show as Akshath Reddy scored an unbeaten 161 off 218 balls to put Hyderabad in a comfortable position. Hyderabad declared in a dominating position with the score at 323 for the loss of 3 wickets.

Punjab was given a total of 338 to chase with less than a day’s play. Punjab got off to a flier owing to the batting brilliance from the young batting sensation Shubman Gill. Gill has been in scintillating form at the domestic level.

Gill scored a quick-fire 148 off 154 balls before getting dismissed by Siraj in the 51st over. After his dismissal, Punjab could only score 34 runs in the next 6 overs as they fell short by 14 runs with the match ending in a draw.

#2 Mumbai vs Saurashtra (Game Ended in a draw with Saurashtra needing 19 runs to win with 3 wickets in hand)

The test match began with Mumbai taking a lead of 46 runs over Saurashtra after resistant centuries by Siddhesh Lad and Jay Bista. In the second innings, the Mumbai skipper for the limited overs, Shreyas Iyer played attacking cricket as he led the charge and scored a quickfire 83 off 61 balls. This took Mumbai to a total of 238 for 8 at the end of 48 overs. Saurashtra was set a target of 285 by Mumbai with a day’s play in hand.

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Sheldon Jackson who top scored with 95 in the first innings for Saurashtra scored another half-century as he supported Vishvaraj Jadeja to pull off a victory for Saurashtra over Mumbai. Jadeja departed after scoring 71 with Saurashtra in the driver’s seat with the score reading 192 for 3.

Saurashtra needed 93 runs to win with 7 wickets in hand as Mumbai looked down and out of the game. Manjrekar, the 22-year-old speedster, not only took the wicket of Jackson but also took another 3 wickets as Saurashtra stared at a surprising defeat. Ultimately Jadeja and Jani stood their ground as Saurashtra was saved from a defeat.

The game ended in a draw with Saurashtra needing 19 runs to win with 3 wickets in hand.

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#3 Bengal vs Andhra Pradesh (Game Ended in a draw with Punjab needing 33 runs to win with 3 wickets in hand)

Andhra Pradesh had a lot to play for lying at the bottom of Group B. Andhra took a surprising lead of 21 over Bengal after restricting them to 300 in their first inning. Bengal looked for an outright win after conceding the first innings lead and put a total of 223 for 7 In 40.3 overs. Andhra needed 201 to win with half of the final day to play.

Andhra looked to defy all the odds and secure their first win of the season. Their top order batsmen Prasanth and Sai Krishna got the team off to a flier scoring run with a strike rate of over 100. Sai Krishna scored 45 off 41 whereas Prashanth scored 90 off 81. Prashanth departed at the beginning of the 27th over with the score at 170 for 7. The play was ultimately concluded and the match ended in a draw at the end of the 28th over.

K.V. Sasikanth of Andhra was named the man of the match

#4 Assam vs Goa (Assam won the match by 7 runs)

The Group C game between Assam and Goa turned out to be a nail-biter as the sides played terrific cricket.

Assam was restricted to 175 due to the heroics of Garg who picked up 5 wickets. Goa in reply took an 18 runs lead as they got bundled out for 193. The half centuries of Sinha and Das guided Assam to a total of 235 setting Goa a total of 217 to win.

Goa was in all sorts of trouble as they were reduced to 78 for 6 owing to the terrific bowling performance by Das and Mukhtar Hussain. The hopes of Goa went up as they made a surprising come back into the game with a 101 run partnership between Garg and Amit Verma for the 7th wicket. Verma departed on 74 with the score at 179 for 7. Garg carried on from the other end as he tried to seal a victory for the Goa team.

Goa was ultimately bundled out for 210 due to Arup Das’s spell of 6 for 67 which sealed the game for the Assam team. Das was ultimately declared the Man of the Match for his 9 wickets in the game.

Arup Das