Ranji Trophy Group C: Bengal hammer Delhi; Desai stars as Gujarat beat Odisha
Bengal beat Delhi by nine wickets and Gujarat defeated Odisha by 10 wickets in Ranji Trophy Group C matches on Wednesday, with Gujarat's victory coming in Ahmedabad.
Bengal established control after replying to Delhi's first innings of 240 with 429, leaving Delhi to bat again and resume the final day at 101 for three. Delhi were eventually dismissed for 277 in 106.2 overs, setting Bengal a modest target of 89 which the hosts chased down.
Delhi’s second innings was anchored by Ayush Badoni, who made 85 off 134 balls with 10 boundaries, and wicketkeeper-batter Anuj Rawat, who scored 39 off 76 deliveries. Aamir Gani removed Rawat, Sumanta Gupta sent back Yash Dhull for 22, and Pradipta Pramanik ended Badoni’s resistance when he had him caught by Abhimanyu Easwaran.
After Badoni’s dismissal left Delhi 213 for six, lower-order contributions included Divij Mehra’s 21 off 28 and an unbeaten 20 from Navdeep Saini, but Delhi were bowled out. Pradipta Pramanik finished with three wickets; Aamir Gani and Sumanta Gupta took two apiece; Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar claimed one wicket each.
Bengal completed the chase in 15.3 overs, reaching 89 for one. Ankur Paul provided the attacking start with 38 off 41 balls, including two fours and a six, while Abhimanyu Easwaran remained unbeaten on 34 from 40 deliveries and Sudip Gharami, who had scored a century earlier in the match, finished 16 not out off 12.
In Ahmedabad, Odisha resumed their second innings at 119 for four but were dismissed for 161 in 46.1 overs as left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai took 5 for 36. Gujarat required 47 to win and reached the target in 9.3 overs without losing a wicket; Arzan Nagwaswalla finished the match with six wickets overall, including three for 33 in the second innings. Sandeep Pattnaik led Odisha with 65 and Ninad Rathva made 53.
The Group C fixture between Jharkhand and Kerala in Jamshedpur was drawn, with Jharkhand earning three points after taking the first-innings lead. Utkarsh Singh was named Player of the Match after scoring 71 and claiming five wickets.
Maharashtra beat Services by 127 runs in Delhi; on the final day Vicky Ostwal took five for 50 as Services were bowled out for 120 while chasing 248, with Siddhesh Veer and Hitesh Walunj taking three and two wickets respectively.
Gujarat’s 10-wicket win in Ahmedabad earned them a bonus point in the Group C standings, and Jharkhand secured three points for their first-innings lead in the drawn game.
