Ranji Trophy 5th round: Shaw’s 379, Punjab’s Bazball, Shorey’s golden run

Mukesh Kumar‘s match-haul of 7 for 99 backed up by unbeaten half-centuries from Sudip Kumar Gharami and captain Manoj Tiwary in the fourth innings led Bengal to a seven-wicket win over Baroda. Bengal had conceded a 78-run lead after being bowled out for 191 in reply to Baroda’s 269. However, the pace duo of Mukesh and Ishan Porel helped their side stage a terrific comeback shooting Baroda out for 98 in the second innings. The two seamers picked up the first seven of the Baroda wickets and had them reeling at 39 for 7. Opener Pratyush Kumar fought back with an unbeaten 62 but ran out of partners. Bengal were then 53 for 3 in pursuit of 177, but Gharami (76*) and Tiwary (60*) saw them home on the final day. The win saw Bengal move to the top of the Group A standings.

Shaw amassed the second-highest Ranji Trophy score of all time, and the highest for a Mumbai batter with his 379 off 383 balls. His knock helped Mumbai knock over Assam by an innings and 128 runs in a Group B affair. Batting first, Mumbai declared on 687 for 4, with captain Ajinkya Rahane also contributing with 191. In reply, Shams Mulani‘s four-wicket haul restricted Assam to 370. They were asked to follow-on and were rolled over for 189 with Shardul Thakur leading the way with a three-for. The win kept Mumbai second on the Group B points table, three points behind Saurashtra.

In another abject show from Hyderabad, they were blown away by an innings and 57 runs by Saurashtra in under two days in a Group B encounter in Hyderabad. Jaydev Unadkat and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja picked up three wickets apiece in the first innings to bundle the hosts for 79 after Hyderabad elected to bat. In reply, Saurashtra racked up 327 in 68.3 overs to take a 248-run lead despite a seven-wicket haul from left-arm spinner Anikethreddy. Hyderabad put a marginally better show in their second innings but still fell short and were bowled out for 191, with Jadeja picking four wickets and Unadkat three. The entire match lasted just 146 overs.

Even though more than 90 overs were lost due to bad light in the game, Delhi and Andhra jostled for first-innings points going into the final day. It turned out to be an eventful one which saw an unbeaten last-wicket stand of 65 between Delhi’s Nos.10 and 11, Harshit Rana and Divij Mehra, helping them earn three points compared to Andhra’s one.

Batting first at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, five half-centuries helped Andhra declare on 459 for 9. In reply, Dhruv Shorey (185) carried on his excellent form recording his third 150-plus score of the season. He was backed up well by Himmat Singh, who scored his maiden first-class century, but it seemed they were going to fall short of Andhra’s total when Himmat was run-out for 104, and Delhi were 423 for 9, still 36 adrift. But Rana and Mehra stepped up to help their side get the lead, and provide some hope in a campaign that has been in turmoil both on and off the field. They are now seventh on the Group B table, just above Hyderabad.

A game that seemed to be heading towards a draw was brought to life by a stunning onslaught from opener Abhishek Sharma, whose 47-ball 83 helped Punjab chase down 205 at 8.45 per over against Jammu and Kashmir late on the last day of the Group D game in Mohali. Baltej Singh picked up a match haul of 10 for 92 with two five-fors as Punjab had about 38 overs for the chase. With light also being an issue, draw would have been the likely outcome, but Punjab’s batters brought about their own version of Bazball to stun J&K. Abhishek smashed nine fours and four sixes and by the time he fell, Punjab had raced to 133 for 3 in 16 overs. While Abid Mushtaq did pick four wickets, he wasn’t able to stem the run flow and captain Mandeep Singh’s unbeaten 45 off 39 saw them through.