Ranji Trophy 2015, Group B: Mumbai edge Madhya Pradesh in thrilling chase

Mumbai opener Jay Bista (74) and Shreyas Iyer (36) added 99 runs for the second wicket in Indore on Wednesday. (Source: Express File)

Iqbal Abdulla (39) and Shardul Thakur (38) held nerves under intense pressure as they raised an unbeaten 68-run stand lower down the order to lead Mumbai to a stunning come-from-behind victory over Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday.

Chasing a tricky 280, Mumbai were staring down the barrel at 215 for seven when Abdulla and Thakur joined forces. They showed nerves of steel and eked out a match-winning partnership.

Mumbai ended at 283 for seven with one full day to spare, walking away with six full points.

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It was a tremendous comeback by the visitors who had conceded first innings lead of 78 runs.

Mumbai lost opener Akhil Herwadkar in the seventh ball of the day but other opener Jay Bista (74) and Shreyas Iyer (36) added 99 runs for the second wicket.

Things looked rosy for Mumbai before the match dramatically turned even with Mumbai losing wicket after wicket. It was MP’s first innings hero Jalaj Saxena, who again rocked Mumbai batting order with four wickets but eventually Mumbai had the last laugh.

Mumbai skipper Aditya Tare (45) also played a good hand in his side’s success.

Brief Scores:

Madhya Pradesh 240 & 201 in 71.2 overs.(J Saxena 79, D Bundela 42; S Thakur 3/33)

Mumbai 162 and 283 for 7 in 73.3 overs(J Bista 74, Aditya Tare 45, I Abdulla 39 not out; J Saxena 4/89).

Railways beat Andra by 148 runs on day 3 in Ranji

Anureet Singh and Ashish Yadav shared seven wickets between them as Railways dismissed Andhra Pradesh for 124 in their second innings to notch up a 148-run win in their Group B Ranji Trophy match on Wednesday.

The pace-spin duo of Anureet (4/32) and Ashish (3/36) wrecked havoc on the Andra batsmen after setting them a target of 273 on the penultimate day.

The win helped Railways to pocket six points.

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Resuming at 194 for eight, Railways’ second innings folded for 204 runs in 69.2 overs after B Sudhakar and DB Prashanth dismissed overnight batsmen Ashish (62) and SS Mishra (12).

Chasing 273 to win, Andra found the going tough as they kept losing wicket regularly with only three batsmen — KS Bharat (32), Mohammad Kaif (15) and K Ashwin Hebbar (30) — reaching double figures.

Anureet dealt the first blow when he trapped opener Prasanth (8) infront of wicket in the 8th over, before cleaning up Murumulla Sriram (2) in the 14th over.

Ashish then claimed the next three batsmen dismissing Bharat, A G Pradeep and Kaif as Andra lost their half their side in 33rd over at the score of 66.

Karn Sharma then got rid of Sudhakar (9), while Anureet returned to remove K Sreekanth (7) and D Siva Kumar (4). Next two batsmen fall prey to run outs as Hebber was left stranded at the other end.

Brief Score:

Railways 182 & 204 allout in 69.2 overs (Ashish Yadav 62; B Sudhakar 5/49)

Andhra 114 & 124 in 64.2 overs (K S Bharat 32; Anureet Singh 4/32).

Uday, Mandeep fifties give Punjab control on Day 3

Contrasting fifties by Uday Kaul and Mandeep Singh helped Punjab end day three on 244 for six to gain a massive second-innings lead against Uttar Pradesh in the Group B Ranji Trophy cricket league match on Wednesday.

After bundling out UP for 226 in response to their first innings score of 272 at Green Park, the Harbhajan Singh-led Punjab continued to dictate terms and stretch the second-innings lead to 290.

The visitors lost a couple of early wickets, but the 124-run third-wicket partnership between Uday (89 not out) and Mandeep (84) raised trouble for the Suresh Raina-led side.

If Uday stayed patient in his 185-ball stay, Mandeep looked devastating during his 101-ball knock that was laced with 12 fours and a six.

Though Mandeep’s wicket started a mini-collapse for the visitors even though star batsman Yuvraj Singh struck a gritty 24, but the Harbajan Singh-led side had already got enough runs of the lead in its bag.

Brief Scores:

Punjab 1st Innings 272 and 244/6 in 73 overs (Uday Kaul 89 not out, Mandeep Singh 84; Praveen Kumar 2-59, Ankit Rajpoot 2-52)

Uttar Pradesh 1st innings 226 all out in 77.4 overs (Umang Sharma 49; Siddharth Kaul 4-82)