Ranji Trophy: Delhi sneak past Rajasthan to keep their knockout hopes alive

KRISHNAGIRI: Team Rajasthan pacers, led by their captain Pankaj Singh, threw everything at Delhi on the final day but couldn't stop them from registering a two-wicket victory in their Group B Ranji Trophy match at Krishnagiri Cricket Stadium, here on Thursday. Delhi earned six points and they are now placed fourth in the table with 18 points from six matches. Rajasthan are in seventh spot with 12 points from seven games All eyes were on Shikhar Dhawan (unbeaten on 35 overnight) on the final day. But the opener couldn't anchor his side home and it was left to Sumit Narwal (27 not out) to help Delhi scrape past the 153-run target.

Going into the final day, Delhi needed another 102 runs for victory with seven wickets in hand but lost nightwatchman Vikas Tokas in the fifth over of the day when Pankaj dislodged Tokas' stumps with a ball that came in sharply after pitching. Dhawan fell to leftarm pacer Tanvir Ul Haq for 49 (70 balls, 9x4), leaving Delhi under pressure at 765. But the experien ced Sumit Narwal, who had helped Delhi take the first innings lead with a quickfire 34, rallied with the tail to take his team to victory.

Delhi coach Bhaskar Pillai hailed Team Rajasthan effort but felt relieved after the win. "We were under pressure after Dhawan's dismissal, but happy that we pulled through. Team Rajasthan tested our batting with a top-class effort and it could have been a different story if they had scored 20 or 30 runs more. It was a much-needed win for us," he said.

Brief scores: Rajasthan 238 & 221 lost to Delhi 307 & 156/8 in 41.4 ovs (S Dhawan 49). Delhi won by 2 wkst (Delhi 2 pts, Rajasthan 0)


RANJI TROPY: ROUND 7; DAY 4
GROUP A: At Hubballi: Gujarat 437 &82/0 in 45 ovs (P Panchal 56*). Mumbai 422 in 143 ovs (Shreyas Iyer 194, S Thakur 56; J Bumrah 6/71). Match Drawn (Gujarat 3 pts, Mumbai 1) At Delhi (Kotla): Railways 371& 150/1 in 41ovs (S Wakaskar 71*, S Shukla 57). MP 510/8 decl in 164 ovs (D Bundela 188, SSharma 119, A Sharma 46). Match drawn (MP 3 pts, Rlys 1) At Nagpur (VCA ground): Punjab 284 & 375/5 decl in 79 ovs (U Kaul 65, Mandeep Singh 128,

Gurkeerat Singh

55, MS Gony 66*). TN 354 & 103/1in 37 ovs (A Mukund 67*). Match drawn (TN 3 pts, Punjab 1point)

Points tally: Mumbai 26 pts (6 matches), TN 23 (7), Gujarat 21(5), Punjab 17 (6), Bengal 16 (5), MP 13 (6), Rlys 10 (7), Baroda 9 (6), UP 4 (6)

GROUP B: At Chennai (IIT Chemplast ground): Maharashtra 542. Assam 256 & 234 in 73 ovs (Arun Karthik 87, S Purkayastha 69; A Sanklecha 4/71, M Sayyed 4/47). Maharashtra won by an innings and 52 runs (Maharashtra 7 pts, Assam 0) At Wayanad: Rajasthan 238 & 221in 85.4 ovs. Delhi 307 & 156/8 in 41.4 ovs (S Dhawan 49). Delhi won by 2 wkst (Delhi 2pts, Rajasthan 0) At Delhi (Palam A ground): Karnataka 179 & 393 in 121.2 ovs (CM Gautam 95, Vinay Kumar 41, S Gopal 77, KGowtham 46; Dhiraj Singh 5/98). Odisha 342 & 63/0 in 32 ovs. Match drawn (Odisha 3 pts, Karnataka 1) At Delhi (Karnail Singh Stadium): Saurashtra 301& 189 in 80 ovs (S Patel 62). Vidarbha 347 & 146/2 in 35 ovs (R Sanjay 51, Ganesh Satish 56). Vidarbha won by 8 wkts (Vidarbha 6 pts, Saurashtra 0)

Points tally: Karnataka 30 pts (6 matches), Jharkhand 26 (6), Maharashtra 21(6), Delhi 18 (6), Odisha 15 (6), Vidarbha 13 (6), Rajasthan 12 (7), Assam 8 (7), Saurashtra 6 (6)

GROUP C: At Guwahati (Barsapara): Kerala 219 & 302/6 in 71 ovs (B Thakkar 56, PR Prem 89, Sachin Baby 60*). Andhra 226 & 193/4 in 80 ovs (K Bharat 73, H Vihari 53*, RK Bhui 44). Match drawn (Andhra 3 pts, Kerala 1) At Valsad: Hyderabad 351& 122 in 48.2 ovs (Pankaj Rao 5/44, A Tamrakar 4/19). Chhattisgarh 188 & 241in 84.1ovs (A Khare 44, Ashutosh Singh 67; Ravi Kiran 4/60, A Bhandari 3/25). Hyderabad won by 44 runs (Hyderabad 6, Chhattisgarh 0) At Ghaziabad: Goa 413 & 143/5 in 58 ovs (S Amonkar 57). Haryana 568 in 160.2 ovs (N Saini 227, S Rohilla 41, C Bishnoi 90, S Pahal 58, H Patel 43). Match drawn (Haryana 3 pts, Goa 1) At Surat: Services 401& 295/9 dec in 84.1ovs (Rahul Singh 58; M Dagar 4/61). Himachal 296 & 145/2 in 45 ovs (P Chopra 66, R Bist 41*) Match drawn (Services 3 pts, Himachal 1) At Mumbai (Bandra Kurla Complex): J&K 315 & 318/4 decl in 90 ovs (ID Singh 129*, P Rasool 67, AP Singh 51*). Tripura 297 & 168/8 in 59 ovs (Rajat Dey 53*; S Beigh 3/30). Match drawn (J&K 3 pts, Tripura 1)

Points tally: Andhra 25 pts (7 matches), Hyderabad 23 (6), Haryana 22 (7), Himachal 19 (7), J&K 14 (7), Tripura 13 (6), Goa 12 (7), Chhattisgarh 11(7), Services 9 (7)