Ranji Trophy Round Up 2003/04 - Cricketfundas.com

Cricketfundas.com's Coverage of Ranji Trophy 2003-04

Ranji Trophy Round Up for Mumbai Vs Kerala, TN Vs Assam, Hyderabad Vs Bengal, Rajasthan Vs Gujarat, U.P Vs Andhra, Delhi Vs Baroda, Railways Vs Punjab.

Presented by Venkat

Mumbai Vs Kerala at Wankhede Stadium (Result : Mumbai beat Kerala by an innings and 91 runs)

It wasnt the ideal homecoming Kerala coach and former India and Mumbai pacer Abey Kuruvilla was looking out for. After Kerala won the toss and chose to bat on a docile wicket, the same used for the India v Australia encounter, they gave away the initiative to the home side by losing 2 quick wickets at the start. Sujith Somasunder tried to steady the ship, but couldnt find the shores after scoring 48 in a grinding fashion consuming 181 balls. They finally managed a paltry 165 runs which I feel, is not good enough to compete against Mumbai. After an initial blow, through the wicket of Mane, Mumbai played themselves very well, with scores of 85 from the in-form Amol Mazumdar and 102 from the left-handed Vinod Kambli. They finally were bowled out for 350, with a big-hearted and stellar performance from Prashanth Chandran, the Kerala medium pacer, who picked up 7-71. Then it all seemed a ritual for Mumbai with Munaf Patel (3/34) and Ramesh Powar (4/16) destroying the Kerala line-up for 94, which ended their unbeaten run in the Ranji Trophy so far. By virtue of an innings win, Mumbai also secure a bonus point and earn 4 for the outright victory.

Mumbai face title contenders Railways at the Wankhede, while Kerala travel up north to face Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla

Kerala 165 (Somasunder 48; Munaf Patel 3/45, Usman Maulvi 3/33) and 94 (Munaf Patel 3/34, Ramesh Powar 4/16) lost to Mumbai 350 (Vinod Kambli 102, Amol Mazumdar 85; Prashanth Chandran 7/71) by an innings and 91 runs.

Tamil Nadu Vs Assam at Chepauk, Chennai (Result: Tamil Nadu won by 269 runs)

It was more of a TNCA League Club match as Assam had as many as 3 of the dissident TN players, who were denied selection this season. After Assam won the toss, they inserted TN to bat and some poor batting by the home team gave Assam some easy and cheap wickets, with TN down to 144-6. But India U-19 keeper Dinesh Karthik and Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, saved the side from the blues as they scored 71 and 53 respectively. Ramakrishnan Ramkumar, scored a gritty 73, which helped Tamil Nadu reach a respectable score of 310. Ex-Tamil Nadu player R Sathish picked up 3 wickets for the visitors. But then, Assam had to face worse things as their paltry batting display helped Tamil Nadu knock them down for 134 with 'Ramki' (Ramkumar) picking up 4 for 24. Tamil Nadu then came out to bat confidently and via a quickfire 73 from skipper Suresh and 115* from the in-form Badrinath, they declared at 277 for 6. Set an impossible 453 to win, the Assam top order was rattled by DT Kumaran, making his first-class debut. He went on to take his maiden 5-for despite a defiant knock of 60 by S Vasant Saravanan, an outgoing Tamil Nadu player himself. Assam folded up at 184 all out. All in all, a totally professional performance by TN bowling Assam out twice under 200. Tamil Nadu pick 4 points from this fixture, while Assam return empty handed.

Tamil Nadu now travel to Hyderabad while Assam play Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Tamil Nadu 310 (Ramkumar 73, Dinesh Kartik 71, Vidyut 53; Sathish 3/33) and 277 for 6 decl (Badrinath 115*) beat Assam 134 (Ramkumar 4/24) and 184 (Vasant Saravanan 60; DT Kumaran 5/57) by 269 runs

Hyderabad Vs Bengal at Eden Gardens (Result: Bengal win by an innings and 1 run)

A confident Hyderabad side after beating Karnataka at home, travelled to Kolkata to play a resurging Bengal unit. Bengal's chances in the match were notably high as their skipper Rohan Gavaskar returned after India A duties. Hyderbad batted first and some early blemishes gave Bengal the initiative as batsmen like Rayudu, Daniel Manohar and Arjun Yadav got starts, but none of them went on to compile a good score for their team. I Khaleel, showed his fighting skills as he scored yet again for the side, when it all looked over. He made 66 and enabled Hyderabad to reach 252. Veteran left-armer Utpal Chatterjee bowled superbly to fetch a stellar haul of 8-54. The syndrome of the Hyderabad batsmen then carried on to the Bengalis, who played themselves in and then again gave their wicket over. Arindam Das's 91 and a 59 from Sondeep Sanyal ensured the home team in a better state. For Hyderabad, Shivaji Yadav picked a 5-for, ending up with 5-124. Bengal with that huge score ensured that they batted only once, with Sourashish Lahiri picking up 4 for 26 and Chatterjee again with 3 for 46. Hyderabad ended up with a pathetic 135. Bengal gain 5 points with an innings win, while Hyderabad go with nothing in their pockets.

Hyderabad face Ranji runners-up and in-form Tamil Nadu while Bengal have a rest week.

Hyderabad 252 (Khaleel 66; Chatterjee 8/54) and 134 (Sourashish Lahiri 4/26, Chatterjee 3/46) lost to Bengal 388 (Arindam Das 91, Sondip Sanyal 59; Shivaji Yadav 5/124) by an innings and 1 run.

Rajasthan Vs Gujarat at Jaipur (Result : Gujarat won by 6 wickets)

The out-of-sorts Rajasthan team took on upcoming Gujarat at Jaipur. Having won the toss and put the hosts in, Gujarat bowled well to restrict Rajasthan to 259. Vineet Saxena scored 80 and skipper Rahul Kanwat scored 65 runs for Rajasthan while Lalit Patel picked up 4 for 55. Gujarat, batted poorly and fell to some good bowling by S Mathur, who ended up with figures of 6 for 52. Gujarat were bowled out for 196, with a steady 56 from in-form batsman Akash Christian and Nilesh Patel making 44. The hosts then literally collapsed for 110, with some good bowling by India A bowler Siddharth Trivedi and Lalit Patel. Both picked up 3 wickets each, to set up the match in Gujarat's favour. Needing, 174 to win, Gujarat romped home to victory in 65 overs with skipper Mukund Parmar making 41 and Nilesh Patel scoring 77*. Gujarat take 4 points from Jaipur, while Rajasthan have to put their thinking caps on incase they wish to stay on in the Elite Group.

Rajasthan play Assam at Guwahati, while Gujarat takes on Karnataka at the Motera Stadium

Rajasthan 259 (Saxena 80, Kanwat 59; Lalit Patel 4/55) and 110 (Lalit Patel 3/25, Siddharth Trivedi 3/33) lost to Gujarat 196 (Akash Christian 56, Nilesh Patel 44; Mathur 6/52) and 176 for 6 (Mukund Parmar 41, Nilesh Patel 77*) by 6 wickets.

Uttar Pradesh Vs Andhra at Kanpur (Result : Match Drawn)

A team in distress, UP took on a team in form, Andhra at Kanpur. The hosts batted first and scored 267 with the help of a fine century by India U-19 player Suresh Raina. Former skipper and most experienced player for UP, Gyanendra Pandey scored 97 and supported Raina very well. For Andhra, it was a good bowling performance by Shabauddin picking a haul of 5 for 67. Andhra replied to the UP score with a good ton by Y Gnaneshwara Rao, who went on to make 111. Raja Chiranjeev Prasad also chipped in with a useful knock of 48, but not good enough to see his side overhaul the UP score. Andhra were bowled out for 237, with the bowling honours going to AW Zaidi (4 for 92). In the second innings, Suresh Raina followed his ton with a superb half-century and went on to score 79. India batsman Mohd. Kaif scored 30. UP scored 223 in their second innings. Shabauddin went on to repeat his 1st inning performance and picked up another 5-for haul (5 for 72). Andhra set on to save the game with them scoring 129 for 6 in 29.4 overs, before the match was called off. UP pick up 2 points, while Andhra gain none.

UP play Baroda at Vadodara while Andhra take on Punjab at Mohali.

UP 267 (Suresh Raina 106*, G. Pandey 97; Shabauddin 5/67) and 223 (Raina 79, Shabauddin 5/72) drew with Andhra 237 (Y. Gnaneshwara Rao 111; AW Zaidi 4/92) and 129 for 6 (Gupta 2/46)

Delhi Vs Baroda at I.P.C.L. Sports Complex Ground, Vadodara (Result: Match Drawn)

Both teams drawing in earlier rounds, locked horns at the IPCL Ground at Baroda. After Baroda won the toss and put Delhi in, the visitors wanted Baroda to realise their mistake. Gautam Gambhir, in the best form of his life, gave Delhi a great start with 59. Former Tamil Nadu bat Rajat Bhatia also got a start, but failed to capitalise. The best was yet to come, when former India batsman Ajay Jadeja flayed the ordinary looking Baroda bowling to all parts of the oval. He went on to score a big double hundred (206*), with Delhi piling on 510 for 6 declared. Baroda then replied in a mediocre fashion and gave away cheap wickets to Delhi. Only Jacob Martin was a standout, scoring 92. For Delhi, it was the India A duo of Sarandeep Singh (3-45) and Amit Bhandari (4-57) who helped them skittle out Baroda for 223. Asked to follow on by the Delhi skipper Minhas, the Baroda batsmen got in some form going as they notched up 286 for 3 with Satyajit Parab scoring his second ton this season (126) and India U-19 player Rakesh Solanki making 65 and Jacob Martin, following up his first innings score with a 69 not out. The match yielded nothing for Baroda, but gave Delhi those 2 invaluable points.

Baroda now face Uttar Pradesh at Vadodara, while Delhi play Kerala at the Kotla.

Delhi 510 for 6 decl. (Jadeja 206*, Gambhir 59) drew with Baroda 223 (Martin 92; Sarandeep 3/45, Bhandari 4/57) and 286 for 3 (Satyajit Parab 126, Solanki 65, Martin 69*)

Railways Vs Punjab at Karnail Singh Stadium, Delhi (Result : Match Drawn)

It was a keen contest at Delhi, where a confident Railways took on Punjab. After the toss was won by Sanjay Bangar, Railways batted first and after the departure of Amit Pagnis, it was upto the skipper and Tejinder Pal Singh to avoid the side from derailing. They added 219 for the 2nd wicket as Bangar went for 79. TP Singh then put on some runs with all-rounder JP Yadav, before eventually falling for 168. Then they looked out-of sorts as they collapsed from 311/4 to 390 all out. For Punjab, Gagandeep Singh picked up a haul of 5 for 61. Punjab also strided out confidently with Yuvraj Singh opening the batting. Yuvi finally scored 80 runs and some starts for batsman like Sodhi, Mongia werent capitalised. Ankur Kakkar, made a good hundred (124*) and added some more than useful runs with the Punjab tail - 45 from Uniyal, 50 from Gagandeep and 35 from Navdeep as Punjab ended up with 472. JP Yadav then excelled with the ball as he picked up 5 wickets for 82 runs. Amit Pagnis got-in some form ahead of the Mumbai game with a 51*, but the rest of the batsman didnt score much. Punjab collect 2 crucial points, while Railways have to be content with none.

Punjab now face Andhra at Mohali while Railways travel to the Wankhede to face Mumbai.

Railways 390 (TP Singh 168, Bangar 79; Gagandeep Singh 5/61) and 144 for 4 (Pagnis 51*) drew with Punjab 472 (Yuvraj Singh 80, Ankur Kakkar 124*, Navdeep Singh 50; JP Yadav 5/82)

That quite rounds up this week's Ranji Trophy games....until next time...,
Signing off, Venkat

4th Round - Ranji Round Up (December 1st to 4th)
3rd Round - Ranji Round Up (November 24th to 27th )