Ranji Trophy 2019-20 | Elite Group A - Bengal crush Hyderabad by an innings and 303 runs
Bengal clinched only their 2nd win of the season with a crushing innings-and-303-run victory over Hyderabad in their 6th round clash on home soil. The other two matches in the group — Delhi vs Vidarbha and Gujarat vs Punjab — hangs in the balance as any team can still clinch a result on Day 4.
Akash Deep eight-fer completes Hyderabad rout
A four-wicket haul from pacer Akash Deep either side of a triple century from Manoj Tiwary made the perfect combination for Bengal’s mammoth win. Hyderabad lost Tanmay Agarwal on the fourth delivery of the day and it was left to eventual top-scorer Jaweed Ali, who steadied the ship with a 72. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed came back to clean up the tail as Hyderabad’s innings ending on 171. Bengal’s new skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran then enforced the follow-on, with a lead of 464 runs to play with. And besides Ravi Teja — who hit a half-century — no one put up a resistance for the visitors, who were all out for 161. Deep finished with match figures of 8 for 104 and Tiwary took home the man-of-the-match award.
Ganesh Satish, Akshay Wadkar set Delhi 330 target
Vidarbha rode on some fine batting performances on day three to set up a thrilling final day at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Skipper Faiz Fazal made 43 before he fell with the score on 67. Veteran Wasim Jaffer (40) then stitched a 71-run stand with his partner Sanjay Raghunath, who built towards a patient 57 off 153 balls. With the score at 182 for three — the lead only 195 — Ganesh Satish and wicket-keeper Akshay Wadkar stitched a 148-run stand to take Vidarbha through to 330 before Fazal declared. Satish hit 11 fours and two sixes in 92-ball ton, while Wadkar hit seven fours in his 70. Delhi reached 10 for no loss before bad light interrupted play for the second time on the day.
Punjab need 133 to win, Gujarat need six wickets
Punjab looked to claw their way back into the match on the penultimate day of proceedings against Gujarat. Baltej Singh struck early, but it was Siddarth Kaul who took it upon himself to lead the charge, reducing the hosts Gujarat to 108 for six at lunch. Kshitij Patel ate up 137 balls for his 57, but around him, wickets continued to fall. Kaul finished with four for 53 — to go with his first-innings fifer — as Gujarat were bundled out for 167. Set 220 to win in nearly four and a half sessions, Punjab started brightly. Gurkeerat Singh Mann made it looked easy with a 22-ball 34, but a late comeback, led by Arzan Nagwaswalla’s two-fer, saw Punjab slip to 87 for four at stumps.
