da lvbet： A round-up of the third day’s play of the fifth round matches of the Ranji Trophy Plate League, 2007-08
Cricinfo staff11-Dec-2007
ScorecardSet a target of 473, Services were struggling at 100 for 4 at stumps on day three against Vidarbha in Nagpur.Mohammad Hashim, who wrecked Services with his 7 for 26 in their first innings, bagged two of the wickets to fall, while offbreak bowler Alind Naidu took the others. Yashpal Singh and Ashish Mohanty put on 37 runs for the fifth wicket before the close of play.Earlier, Naidu’s third first-class hundred helped Vidarbha build on their overnight 237 for 4, as the hosts declared on 400. A 118-run stand between Naidu and Shalabh Shrivastava took Vidarbha to 341 for 4, before three wickets fell with six runs added. No. 9 Sandeep Singh scored 29 off 33 in a 53-run stand with Shrivastava before his wicket saw the hosts declaring. Rakesh Kumar finished with 5 for 122 while Shrivastava remained unbeaten on 61.Assam 245 for 4 (Palash Das 104*, Sharath 52*) trail Tripura 460 by 215 runs
ScorecardA dull batting display – 177 runs off 90 overs – in Guwahati saw Assam reach 245 for 4 in reply to Tripura’s imposing first-innings score of 460.Assam lost their second wicket on the overnight score of 68, and two more batsmen fell before they reached 150, but opener Palash Das – resuming on 35 – remained resolute to reach his maiden first-class hundred. Das was unbeaten at 104 – which needed 380 deliveries – at stumps, and was involved in an unbroken 91-run partnership with S Sharath, who made 52 off 133 balls.With 11 points, Assam are currently in second place in Group A, but are in danger of losing out to Kerala on a semi-final berth if they fail to take the first-innings lead.
ScorecardThe race for second place in Group B of the Ranji Plate League is set for a gripping finale after a day of fluctuating fortunes in the match between Haryana and Madhya Pradesh in Rohtak.After being bowled out for 215 to concede the first-innings lead, MP struck back through their opening bowlers, Sanjay Pandey and Sunil Dholpure. They took three wickets each to leave Haryana tottering at 75 for 7, with an overall lead of 162 runs.With Goa’s match heading towards a stalemate, Haryana can clinch a spot in the semi-finals with an outright win while a draw is sufficient for MP to go through.
ScorecardRailways ensured they finish on top of Group B of with an emphatic innings-and-47-run victory over Jharkhand in Delhi.Railways’ overnight batsmen Sanjay Bangar and Harshad Rawle extended their partnership to 268 runs; Bangar going on complete his tenth first-class century, while Rawle fell on 98. Sanjib Sanyal made a brisk 51 before Railways declared on 361, a lead of 178 runs.In reply, the Jharkhand batsmen were unable to string together any meaningful partnerships as a collective effort from the Railways’ bowlers saw them being skittled out for 131. This loss means Jharkhand finish on eight points, ahead only of Jammu and Kashmir.
ScorecardOvernight rain washed out the third day’s play of the match between Jammu and Kashmir and Goa in Jammu. Goa are well placed to secure the three points a first-innings lead fetches; they are 33 short of the hosts’ 147 with six wickets in hand.