Ranji Trophy: Mumbai beat Haryana by 10 wickets; Bengal thrash Kerala by 287 runs
Mumbai defeated Haryana by 10 wickets and Bengal recorded a 287-run victory over Kerala in Ranji Trophy fixtures on Thursday, with Tanush Kotian taking a career-best 8/81 and Pradipta Pramanik claiming a maiden 10-wicket match haul in first-class cricket.
Mumbai extended a perfect start to the season with their third straight bonus-point win, having previously beaten Chandigarh at home and Himachal Pradesh away; Bengal also moved on with a commanding victory. Bengal posted 350 in their first innings and 198 in the second to set Kerala 408 to win, while Mumbai needed only 10.4 overs to chase 97 after bowling Haryana out for 256 in the hosts' second innings.
Kotian finished with 8/81 as Haryana failed to sustain their second-innings recovery, the visitors having resumed the final day at 73/2 and still behind Mumbai on the overall total. Samant Jakhar and Anuj Thakral added an 81-run stand for the eighth wicket, Jakhar making 40 before Kotian broke the partnership and Thakral remaining unbeaten on 40 as Haryana were eventually dismissed.
Mumbai required just 10.4 overs to reach 97, with Angkrish Raghuvanshi leading the charge and finishing an unbeaten 67 off 39 balls; he reached his half-century off 29 deliveries. Divyaansh Saxena supported with 30 not out off 25, Raghuvanshi striking seven fours and three sixes while Saxena hit two fours and two sixes as Mumbai wrapped up the chase.
Bengal's Pradipta Pramanik returned match figures of 10/95 after taking 4/44 in the first innings and 6/51 in the second, as Kerala were bowled out for 120 in 38.4 overs having resumed the day at 53/4 while chasing 408. Pramanik struck early in the session, removing Kerala captain Vishnu Vinod for 19 and Salman Nizar for one, and Mohammed Shami dismissed Aditya Sarwate and Vaisakh Chandran as Kerala slipped to 70/8.
Mohammed Azharuddeen made 26 and MD Nidheesh 33 off 28 in a brief resistance before Shahbaz Ahmed finished off the innings; Shahbaz was named Player of the Match after scoring 121 in Bengal's first innings and 20 in the second and taking two wickets in each innings. Shami concluded with five wickets in the match as Bengal secured their third successive victory.
Several other matches produced mixed outcomes: Delhi and Jharkhand were forced to a draw after rain curtailed the final two days, with Delhi awarded three points for a first-innings lead and Jharkhand one; Ayush Badoni was unbeaten on 210 off 228 balls in a 515/5 declaration and was named Player of the Match. Rain also led to a drawn game between Odisha and Services in Bhubaneswar after Odisha were bowled out for 194, Pulkit Narang taking 6/47, and Services had reached 40 without loss.
Vidarbha beat Goa by an innings and 27 runs with Harsh Dubey taking 4/38 as Goa were dismissed for 195 in the second innings; Saurashtra secured an innings-and-12-run win over Assam with Parth Bhut returning 8/17; Karnataka won by an innings and 116 runs against Tripura with captain Shreyas Gopal taking 5/36 in the second innings. Tamil Nadu chased 128 to defeat Railways, Toufik Uddin Mondal taking four of the five wickets to fall in Tamil Nadu's second innings, while Uttar Pradesh and Puducherry finished a draw after Kartik Yadav claimed six wickets but Puducherry took a first-innings lead to share the points.
Bengal's victory was their third in succession and took them to 18 points, placing them at the top of the Elite Group C table, while Mumbai's win extended their unblemished start to the Ranji Trophy campaign.
