The third round of the Ranji Trophy concluded on Thursday, October 30, with Day 4 producing a mix of dramatic draws, outright wins and rain-affected stalemates across all four groups and the Plate Group.
Group A
Abdul Samad played a heroic 143-run knock in the second innings to help defending champions Jammu & Kashmir eke out a draw against Baroda. Jammu & Kashmir were 303 and 316-6 in their two innings, while Baroda posted 616, with Priyanshu Moliya scoring 321 and Mahesh Pithiya 102.
Puducherry held Uttar Pradesh to a thrilling draw, finishing the day at 211-8 in their second innings. Karan Sharma scored 167 for Uttar Pradesh, who made 333 in their first innings, while Kartik Yadav took 6-42 in the Puducherry second innings.
The other two matches in the group produced outright results. Madhya Pradesh beat Bihar after Saksham Purohit (132) and Rajat Patidar (109) helped them declare on 407-8. Saransh Jain was the standout bowler, taking 7-40 in Bihar’s first innings and 6-49 in their second, as Bihar were bowled out for 99 and 134. In Vidarbha’s win over Goa, Dhruv Shorey made 168 as Vidarbha posted 442-8 in their first innings. Goa were dismissed for 220 and 195, with Nachiket Bhute taking 5-48 in the first innings and Harsh Dubey 4-38 in the second.
Group B
Three matches in Group B ended in outright results, with Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Saurashtra winning against Andhra, Tripura and Assam respectively. Shreyas Gopal was the star for Karnataka, claiming a five-wicket haul in the second innings, while Parth Bhut took an eight-wicket haul against Assam. The match between Hyderabad and Punjab, however, ended in a tame draw.
Chhattisgarh beat Andhra by eight wickets, after both sides posted 231 in their first innings. Andhra then made 184-3 declared in their second innings, and Chhattisgarh reached 182-5 with Ricky Bhui unbeaten on 72. Jayant Yadav had taken 4-75 for Andhra in the first innings.
Hyderabad drew with Punjab after making 380 in their first innings, with Abhirath Reddy scoring 97 and Rahul Radesh 86. Punjab replied with 431, led by Salil Arora’s 151, and Chama Milind took 4-79. Hyderabad were 240-6 declared in their second innings.
Karnataka beat Tripura after posting 490-9 declared, with Aneeshwar Gautam scoring 100. Tripura were dismissed for 194 and 180, and Shreyas Gopal finished with 5-36 in the second innings, having been supported by Shikhar Shetty’s 5-54 in the first.
Saurashtra beat Assam, with Hetvik Kotak scoring 80 in their 387 all out. Assam made 281 in their first innings, with Sibsankar Roy hitting 100 and Denish Das 90, but collapsed to 94 in the second innings as Parth Bhut took 8-17.
Group C
Group C had only one outright result this round, as Bengal used a 10-wicket match haul to beat Kerala. Rain affected the Jharkhand vs Delhi and Services vs Odisha matches, while Maharashtra picked up points on the basis of a first-innings lead against Gujarat.
Bengal scored 350 in their first innings, with Shahbaz Ahmed making 121, and Aditya Sarvate took 4-95 with the ball. Kerala were bowled out for 141 and 120, with Pradipta Pramanik taking 4-44 in the first innings and an impressive 6-51 in the second. Bengal completed the win with 198 in their second innings.
Jharkhand were 131-4 in their match against Delhi, with Utkarsh Singh unbeaten on 53, after Delhi declared on 515-5. Ayush Badoni made an unbeaten 210 and Sumit Mathur an unbeaten 150 for Delhi.
The Services vs Odisha match was also drawn, with Services on 40-0 in reply to Odisha’s 194. Swastik Samal made 39 for Odisha, while Pulkit Narang took 6-47.
In Maharashtra’s game against Gujarat, the sides ended level after Maharashtra made 330 and 141-4, and Gujarat made 223 and 446-5 declared. Aarya Desai scored 151 and Jaymeet Patel was unbeaten on 119 for Gujarat.
Group D
Tanush Kotian produced a staggering eight-wicket haul as Mumbai defeated Haryana by 10 wickets, while Tamil Nadu thumped Railways by five wickets. Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh played out a high-scoring draw, and Rajasthan earned crucial points on the basis of a first-innings lead against Uttarakhand.
Mumbai made 430 in their first innings and then reached 97-0 in their second, with Angkrish Raghuvanshi unbeaten on 67. Haryana were dismissed for 270 and 256, with Tanush Kotian taking 8-81 in the second innings to seal the victory.
Tamil Nadu beat Railways after both sides made 165 and 184 in their first innings. Tamil Nadu were 130-5 in their second innings at the close, while Railways were bowled out for 108, with Sai Kishore taking 4-39.
Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh produced a run-fest, with Chandigarh declaring on 685-5 after Nehal Pajni scored 222 and Arjun Azad 147. Himachal Pradesh replied with 559-6, led by Akash Vashisht, who was unbeaten on 126, and Innesh Mahajan, who made 121.
Rajasthan drew with Uttarakhand after making 272 in their first innings, with Kartik Sharma scoring 73 and Devendra Bora taking 6-72. Rajasthan then declared on 290-5, with Karan Lamba unbeaten on 100. Uttarakhand were dismissed for 194, with Kookna Ajay Singh taking 5-66, and were 38-0 in their second innings when the match ended.
Plate Group
In the Plate Group, Manipur defeated Arunachal Pradesh despite centuries from Techi Doria and Salil Malhotra in the second innings for the latter side. Manipur struggled in a tricky run chase but got over the line with four wickets in hand. Jotin Pheiroijam had earlier scored 166 in Manipur’s first innings of 364, and Likha Sonia took 4-56.
Nagaland earned points on the basis of a first-innings lead of three runs against Sikkim, and the match ended in a draw. Nagaland made 187 and 117-5, while Sikkim scored 184 and 208, with Chetan Bist making 97 in the second innings.
Mizoram and Meghalaya were involved in a high-scoring draw. Mizoram made 430, with Chinmay Sutar scoring 125, while Meghalaya declared on 562, with Ajay Duhan making 239 and Kishan Lyngdoh 198. Meghalaya were 60-2 in their second innings at the close.