da pinnacle： A round-up of the Ranji Trophy Group C matches on February 8, 2015
da betsul： ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2015
ScorecardFile photo – Amit Verma made a battling 142 for Kerala against Assam•Fotocorp
Legspinner Samar Quadri’s six-wicket haul set up Jharkhand’s nine-wicket win against Services in Jamshedpur. Facing a deficit of 157, Services failed to gather any momentum in their second innings, as Quadri collected 6 for 102 to wreck the team’s top and lower order. Yashpal Singh (51) and Saurabh Kumar (65) briefly resisted with a 71-run stand for the eighth wicket, but Services struggled to string together any other meaningful partnership, as they folded for 235 inside 65 overs.It meant that Jharkhand needed just 79 for victory, and despite losing Ishan Khan early, they overhauled that target in 12.1 overs, thanks to an unbroken 66-run partnership between Sumit Kumar (42) and Shiv Gautam (34).
ScorecardAndhra Pradesh secured seven points in their final game of the group stage after beating Goa by an innings and 136 runs in Ongole.Goa could add only 11 runs to their overnight 187 for 8 and were asked to follow on. Still 350 behind, they began their second innings knowing a win was out of question, and it wasn’t long before Andhra seamer D Siva Kumar struck. He removed opener Swapnil Asnodkar in the 13th over when Goa had only 16 runs on the board.Siva Kumar then ran through Goa’s middle order, picking up five wickets and finishing with match figures of 8 for 38. Thereafter, Goa showed little resistance and were bowled out for 214 handing Andhra the win they were after. They ended the group stage with 29 points, but that will not be enough if Himachal Pradesh manage to pick up three or more points against Hyderabad.
Scorecard Hanuma Vihari and Tanmay Agarwal put on a 217-run second-wicket partnership to buoy Hyderabad to 297 for 1 at the end of day three against Himachal Pradesh. At stumps, Vihari and Tanmay were still in the middle with Hyderabad trailing by 214 runs.Replying to HP’s 511, the home team started the day 36 for 0, and lost their first wicket in the 35th over when Vikramjeet Malik had Akshath Reddy caught by Rashmi Parida. That was the only success HP tasted, as Tanmay and Vihari kept their bowlers out for the next 71.2 overs, while scoring at just over three runs an over. Over the course of their partnership, both Vihari and Tanmay brought up their third hundreds of the season. Vihari was the dominant partner, his unbeaten 138 coming off 229 balls with 19 fours and a six, while Tanmay faced 303 balls to end the day batting on 105.
ScorecardAssam ended their third day with a healthy 104-run lead over Kerala in Tellichery. Amit Verma made his 10th first-class century but ran out of partners as Kerala folded for 266 and conceded a 78-run first-innings lead. Left with 10 overs to bat out, Assam ended the day 26 for 0, with openers Pallavkumar Das and Kunal Saikia batting on 15 and 11 respectively.Kerala, 52 for 4 overnight, began the morning steadily as Verma and Sachin Baby extended their partnership to 89. Wickets fell steadily after Baby was run out for 32, with none of the batsmen providing Verma substantial support, but the left-hander fought on and was last out for 142, having struck 19 fours and four sixes in his 263-ball innings. For Assam, seamer Pritam Das picked up four wickets and left-arm spinner Syed Mohammad bagged three including that of Verma.
