Embarrassed at home

Tribune News Service

Mohali, October 16

Punjab crashed to an innings and 117-run defeat against Vidarbha in their Ranji Trophy encounter here today. That the massive defeat came on their own turf and inside three days makes it all the more embarrassing for the Yuvraj Singh-led side.

Having failed to fire in the first innings, the experienced Punjab batting line-up was expected to come good in the second innings to give their bowlers something to defend. 

However, the batsmen let the side down once again — the hosts were bowled out for 227 after making just 161 in the first innings.

The Punjab bowlers came up with a slightly improved showing today to bowl out the visitors for 505 after they resumed at overnight 419/5. Rookie left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma returned figures of 4/136 to be Punjab’s most successful bowler.

After conceding a massive 344-run lead, the Punjab batsmen needed to put in a special effort. Instead, they looked as ordinary as in the first innings. While they were tormented by the pacers in the first innings, they collapsed against the spinners in the second, with off-spinner Akshay Karnewar picking up six wickets and left-arm spinner Akshay Wakhare accounting for four batsmen.

Except for opener Manan Vohra (51), no other batsman crossed the 50-run mark. All-rounder Abhishek Sharma contributed 49 and Yuvraj Singh 42. The innings defeat, after conceding three points to Himachal Pradesh in the opener, is going to hurt Punjab’s campaign and their morale quite hard.

Goa fight back after HP post mammoth total

Dharamsala: Nikhil Gangta also completed his century as Himachal Pradesh swelled their first innings lead before declaring at 625/7 on Day 3.

Following in the footsteps of openers Ankush Bains (143) and Priyanshu Priyanshu Khanduri (117), Gangta scored 127 not out to set up a platform for the hosts to go for an outright win. Gangta shared two big partnerships with Amit Kumar (97) and Pankaj Jaiswal (63 not out).

In their second innings, Goa were cruising at 131/0.

Saurashtra hammer J&K

Rajkot: Ravindra Jadeja bagged seven wickets after scoring a double hundred to guide Saurashtra to an innings and 212-run victory over Jammu and Kashmir on Day 3. As many as 16 wickets fell on the day after Jammu and Kashmir started the day at 103/4.

After completing a double hundred on Day 2, Jadeja took four wickets in the first innings, while the remaining were picked up by another left-arm spinner, Dharmendersinh Jadeja. After bowling out J&K for 156 in the first innings, the hosts, led by off-spinner Vandit Jivrajani (6/79), ran through the opposition batting in the second essay as well.

Delhi inch closer to win

New Delhi: Keen to make amends for missing out on an outright win in their opener, Delhi stepped towards a comprehensive innings victory against Railways at the end of the third day. Having scored 447 in their first innings, Delhi bundled out Railways for 136 in the first innings before reducing the opponents to 157/6 in the second. 

Delhi’s troika of spinners — Manan Sharma, Vikas Mishra and Pulkit Narang — have so far accounted for 13 of the 16 Railways wickets. — With PTI inputs

Ranji trophy

Brief scores 

• Punjab: 161 & 227 all out (Manan Vohra 51, Abhishek Sharma 49; AK Karnewar 6/47; AA Wakhare 4/83); Vidarbha: 505 all out (Ganesh Satish 164, SR Ramaswamy 161; Abhishek Sharma 4/136)
• Saurashtra: 624/7 decl; J&K: 156 & 256 all out (Bisht 55, Dayal 56; Jivrajani 6/79)
• Goa: 255 & 131/0 (Sumiran Amonkar 67*, Swapnil Asnodkar 51*); Himachal Pradesh: 625/7 decl (Ankush Bains 143, Nikhil Gangta 127*, Priyanshu Khanduri 117)
• Delhi: 447; Railways: 136 (Manan Sharma 4/50, Vikas Mishra 3/37, Ishant Sharma 3/20) & 157/6 (Nitin Bhille 54*; Vikas Mishra 2/27, Manan Sharma 2/44)