A summary of the fourth day in the latest round of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group

Cricinfo staff12-Dec-2005Elite Group Points Table
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Shankara Rao, the left-arm spinner, picked up career-best figures to pummel Gujarat on the final day in Delhi, giving Railways an emphatic 193-run victory. Gujarat, 57 for 2 overnight, lost Niraj Patel on the fifth ball of the morning with Rao snapping up the return chance off his own bowling. From this point on, Rao spun a web around Gujarat’s batsmen and barring a defiant 48 from Parthiv Patel it turned out to be a shambolic performance overall. With just two points from three games, Gujarat have an ardous road ahead if they harbour thoughts of a semi-final berth. The win, though, came as a welcome relief for Railways after two disappointing outings in the opening two rounds.
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Gagandeep Singh’s five-wicket haul enabled Punjab to complete a thumping innings-and-151-run win on the final morning at Mohali, with Hyderabad collapsing for 199 in their second innings. Ibrahim Khaleel, Hyderabad’s wicketkeeper, had batted exceptionally well to delay the inevitable, scorching 102 off just 119, but Gagandeep had the final say, snapping up three wickets in the morning to make it nine in the match. Punjab picked up a bonus point to put them level with Baroda at the top of the Group B points table.
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Haryana’s middle order finally made an appearance in their match against Baroda at Sirsa – Siddharth Verma, Pardeep Sahu and Mahesh Rawat all hitting crucial fifties to complement Sachin Rana’s efforts – but the match meandered to a draw even as the home side totaled a mammoth 451. The focus of the morning session had been on Rana, who looked good for his second hundred of the match – and his career – but he fell agonisingly short, nicking one from Zaheer Khan when on 99. His dismissal capped a fine 156-run partnership with Verma, who batted 299 minutes for his 66, but thereafter Rawat and Sahu added a further 135 to further frustrate Baroda. In the end, Baroda took two points owing to their first-innings lead, giving them top honours with Punjab atop the points table.
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Jasvir Singh’s dogged fifty helped Services secure a draw against Uttar Pradesh at Lucknow, finishing on 161 for 6 despite testing spells from the spin duo of Piyush Chawla and Avinash Yadav. Earlier, a brilliant 102-run stand for the final wicket between Gyanendra Pandey, the captain, and Ashish Zaidi had given UP a shot at victory. This was a match in which the better half of was dominated by UP’s extended batting line-up, and in the end their first-innings 436 was enough to give them two points.
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Rohan Gavaskar’s 17th first-class century and Nilesh Kulkarni’s seven-wicket haul were the highlights on the fourth day at the Wankhede Stadium as Mumbai drew with Bengal. Gavaskar’s gritty knock included 13 hits to the fence, and was instrumental in staving off the threat posed by Kulkarni in the morning session; by the time he fell to the same bowler, Bengal were well set in their second innings. Set an improbable 310 from just 39 overs, Mumbai were given a cautious 50-run start by Sahil Kukreja and Wasim Jaffer, before Ashok Dinda’s medium pace accounted for Jaffer. Mumbai took two points after scoring 244 in its first innings, and now sit behind Bengal in the points table, with 6. 370 for 9
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Hrishikesh Kanitkar top-scored with an unbeaten 73 as Maharashtra salvaged a draw at the Jamia Millia Cricket Ground in Delhi, but the hosts still walked away with two first-innings points. Chaitanya Nanda, the legspinner, triggered a middle-order collapse with three key wickets, but Kanitkar found able allies in Dhruv Mohan and Munaf Patel, his opening bowler. Patel showed admirable defiance in adding 51 with Kanitkar after Maharashtra hiccupped in the post-tea session. Maharashtra have no points to show from three matches played this season, and will have to show immense improvement if they are to progress up the table.
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WIth wet conditions hampering play throughout the four days, the game between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka was called off without a ball being bowled on the final day. Only 22.2 overs were possible throughout the game, a period when Tamil Nadu’s openers, S Vidyut and Hemant Kumar, put on 80 without being seperated. Both teams collected one point apiece.