Sairaj Bahutule spun out Gujarat in quick time on the final day as Mumbai ran away to an innings-and-64-run win
Cricinfo staff16-Dec-2004
ScorecardSairaj Bahutule spun out Gujarat in quick time on the final day as Mumbai ran away to an innings-and-64-run win. It took just 25.2 overs for Gujarat to be wiped out as Bahutule and Ramesh Powar, the offspinner, claimed seven wickets between them. Mukund Parmar, the Gujarat captain, and Parthiv Patel couldn’t bat because of injury. Gujarat had struggled in the first innings as well with Powar being the tormentor in chief. Barring Parthiv Patel, who made a gritty 87 on the first day, none of the Gujarat batsmen passed 50 in either innings.
ScorecardGnaneswara Rao steered Andhra to a tense four-wicket win against Bengal at Vishakapatnam. Chasing 191 on the final day, Andhra rode on Gnaneswara’s 63, which included eight fours and a six. There were handy contributions from Prasad Reddy, the wicketkeeper, and Venugopal Rao, Gnaneswara’s elder brother. Ranedeb Bose, the Bengal opening bowler, claimed three wickets and reduced them to 143 for 5, but RV Ch Prasad joined Venugopal and the two took Andhra to their first win of the season.
ScorecardNarender Pal Singh bowled Hyderbad to a thrilling 22-run win over Uttar Pradesh at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad. Chasing just 143 for a win, UP faltered against the medium-pace of Singh and Vishnuvardhan, and collapsed for 120 in 36.3 overs. Suresh Raina’s breezy 36 gave the innings a much-needed surge, but the rest of the middle order couldn’t chip in with enough. Ali Hameed and Ashish Winston Zaidi got UP close, but neither could clinch the issue as UP fell 22 just runs short.
ScorecardKulamani Parida’s eight-wicket haul gave Railways a great chance but their batsmen couldn;t manage the 138 required as the game at Indore finished in a draw. Parida, the offspinner, knocked over all the MP batsmen to fall today to finish with 8 for 68. But Devendra Bundela, with a fighting 98, managed to eat up valuable time before being the last man to be dismissed with a lead of 137. Railways began in rollicking fashion, racing to 32 in just the fifth over, but a few quick wickets pegged them back and they finally fell 56 short of victory and had to settle for two points from the game, by virtue of their first-innings lead.
ScorecardTamil Nadu didn’t push for an outright victory on the final day against Punjab at Chennai and were content to take away first-innings honours from the top-of-the-table clash. Sreedharan Sharath (112) and Subramaniam Badrinath (97) added 163 for the fourth wicket, and collected some useful batting practice as the game petered out to a tame draw. Rajesh Sharma and Navdeep Singh picked up three wickets apiece for Punjab but it was too late to force the issue.
ScorecardDelhi were denied their first victory of the season as the Karnataka lower order resisted on the final evening at the Jamia Millia Ground in Delhi. After gaining a 135-run lead, Delhi raced to 115 in only 18 overs in their second innings. Aakash Chopra led the charge with a 61-ball 66, and Delhi declared 250 ahead. Karnataka were in the hunt at 134 for 3, with Barrington Rowland anchoring the chase, but he fell at that point and the lower order ensured that a defeat was averted.