Ranji Trophy 2019-20: Third round highlights – Railways stun Mumbai; Dhawan back with ton

The third round of Ranji Trophy 2019-20 included 18 matches. Ten of these finished with clear results while seven were decided on the basis of a first-innings lead. There were delays due to rain, bad light and Solar eclipse! The most sensational result of this round was, of course, Mumbai going down to Railways at Mumbai. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu lost points in their respective ties as well. Here’s a groupwise summary of the third round.

 Group A:

Only two innings were possible at Nagpur as Punjab finished with 408/5 in reply to Vidarbha’s 338. Gurkeerat Singh Mann top-scored with 149 while Shubman Gill struck a fine hundred. Ganesh Satish added 145 for Vidarbha.

At Kolkata, Abhishek Raman’s century helped Bengal raise a total of 289. Ishan Porel’s 4/50 saw Andhra being bowled out for 181. Bengal clinched three points on the basis of the first-innings lead.

Shikhar Dhawan returned from his injury in style as he slammed 140 against Hyderabad at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. Ishant Sharma took eight wickets in the game as the visitors had to follow-on. Delhi won the match by seven wickets.

Surat produced a low-scoring thriller between Gujarat and Kerala. Jalaj Saxena’s 5/26 halted Gujarat for only 127. The home side still managed to take a 57-run lead with phenomenal bowling performances. Basil Thampi’s five-wicket haul meant Kerala needed 268 runs to win. Sanju Samson played a lone hand of 78 from 82 balls as Gujarat won by 90 runs.

Found some good pics with gloves on !!
✌??? pic.twitter.com/vRf6KGGyFu

— Sanju Samson (@IamSanjuSamson) December 28, 2019

Group B:

Uttar Pradesh inflicted an innings defeat as Saurashtra struggled at Rajkot. Mohammad Saif’s 165 and captain Saurabh Kumar’s 10-wicket haul were the standout performances.

At Indore, Madhya Pradesh snatched three points from Tamil Nadu. The South Indian side was bowled out for 149 in the first innings (Ishwar Pandey – 6/26) which cost them crucial points.

Despite Karun Nair’s 81, Karnataka managed only 166 in their opening innings. Rishi Dhawan’s all-round performance (93 runs and 8 wickets) helped Himachal Pradesh take three points in the draw at Mysore.

Railways produced the most sensational result of the round. They skittled Mumbai for 114 and 198 runs respectively. Karn Sharma’s 112 proved critical as Railways registered a ten-wicket triumph. Former Mumbai batsman Vinod Kambli was unhappy with the match at Wankhede stadium.

Mumbai team ni मस्त डब्बा घातला।
Very poor from the team. Disappointed to see @ShreyasIyer15 & @IamShivamDube not being a part of the Mumbai set up for this game when the international game is 5 days away. Would like to see the best team playing when possible. #RanjiTrophy

— VINOD KAMBLI (@vinodkambli349) December 27, 2019

Group C:

Services bowlers dismissed Tripura cheaply twice at Delhi (126 and 84). Tripura’s Manisankar Murasingh did take 7/63 but it proved inadequate. Jammu and Kashmir raised 460/5 in 94 overs against Assam but the match finished on par as Assam did not complete their innings.

At Cuttack, Odisha trounced Uttarakhand with a ten-wicket victory. Shantanu Mishra (110), Basant Mohanty (6/17 – 1st innings) and Suryakant Pradhan (5/63) were top performers.

Jharkhand took three points against Haryana with a strong batting performance from Kumar Deobrat (161) and Saurabh Tiway (152*). At Pune, Maharashtra sneaked a three-run lead versus Chhattisgarh which proved decisive. Ruturaj Gaikwad starred with 108 and 76.

Also read: Ranji Trophy 2019-20 First round – Highlights from the opening clashes

Plate:

Paras Dogra’s 200 and impressive bowling performances powered Puducherry to an innings and 272 runs victory over Mizoram. At Bhubaneswar, Stuart Binny struck 135 to guide Nagaland to a nine-wicket win against Sikkim. A six-wicket haul from Rex Singh in the fourth innings helped Manipur defeat Arunachal Pradesh by 84 runs.

At Patna, Goan Suyash Prabhudesai powered his team to the first-innings lead against Bihar with a knock of 135. Chandigarh registered a massive innings and 189 runs triumph over Meghalaya. Raman Bishnoi (126) and Ankit Kaushik (148) shined with the bat while Shresth Nirmohi’s 5/30 proved crucial.