Ranji Trophy 2023-24, Round 5 Highlights: Tripura stun Gujarat, Karnataka script thriller against Railways. Top five games from Round 5 of Ranji Trophy 2023-24.
The fifth round of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 produced some thrilling games, along with rare instances of a match being held in snowy conditions in Dharamshala. Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu, Baroda, Vidarbha and Mumbai found themselves at the top of the points table. Agni Chopra, from Mizoram, is still the highest run-getter of the competition with 817 runs, while Gaurav Yadav stands at the top position in the wickets’ chart with 39 scalps.
Let’s scan the top five encounters with special performances.
Railways vs Karnataka: Manish Pandey carries Karnataka home by 1-wicket
It was a thrilling end for Karnataka, with Manish Pandey (67*), standing tall at one end, carrying them over the line. On winning the toss in Surat, the visitors opted to bowl first. Pratham Singh’s 56-run knock rescued hosts Railways from the early struggle of 7/3, and pushed them to 155 in the first innings. Akash Pandey’s five-wicket haul restricted visitors to 174.
The 82-run knock from M Saif in the second innings drilled the home side to 244 as Vijaykumar Vyshak picked up 5/67. At 99/6, Karnataka were far from victory, but Pandey’s 67-run knock and a 64-run eight-wicket stand carried them home by 1-wicket.
Brief Scores: KAR 229/9 (Manish 67*, Akash 5/94) & 174 (Jose 27, Akash 5/63) beat RLYS 155 (Pratham 55, Koushik 3/22) & 244 (Saif 82, Vyshak 5/67) by 1-wicket.
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Gujarat vs Tripura: Visitors stun Gujrat with Parvez Sultan’s 10/116
Visitors Tripura, on winning the toss decided to bat at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad against Gujarat. Wriddhiman Saha’s unbeaten 59-run knock was the only bright spot for Tripura as they were bundled out for just 146 in the first innings. However, Parvez Sultan’s 7/58 kept them in the game, blowing away the home side at 172.
A better performance with the bat, as three vital half-centuries from Bikrakumar Das, M Murasingh and Sankar Paul, fired them to 343 in the second innings. As the pitch broke down on the fourth day, Sultan’s 3/58 and Sridam Paul’s 3/16 kept Gujarat to 161, as Tripura won the away fixture by 156 runs.
Brief Scores: TRI 146 (Saha 59*, Siddarth 4/43) & 343 (Bikramkumar 82, Desai 6/108) beat GUJ 172 (Kshitji 46, Sultan 7/58) & 161 (Desai 47, Sridam 3/16) by 156-runs.
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Bengal vs Mumbai: Dube-led Mumbai crush Bengal by innings and 4 runs
In the absence of Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube was leading Mumbai for this fixture. On a chilly morning at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, Bengal opted to bowl first. Three fifty-plus scores from Dube, Tanush Koitan and Suryansh Shedge propelled the visitors to 412 in their first innings. Prithvi Shaw made his return from injury, and put up a 42-ball 35-run knock.
Despite the unbeaten 108-run knock of Anustup Majumdar, the home side could only reach to 199 in the first innings. They didn’t show much fight with the bat, after being asked to follow on. Only Abhishek Porel stood out for his 82-run knock as they were bowled out for 209. Mumbai celebrated the victory by innings and 4 runs. Avasthi finished with match figures of 10/115.
Brief Scores: MUM 412 (Dube 72, Shedge 71, Suraj Jaiswal 6/124) beat BEN 199 (Anustup 108*, Avasthi 3/63) & 209 (f/o) (Porel 82, Avasthi 7/52) by innings and 4 runs.
Goa vs Tamil Nadu: Prabhudessai’s century goes in vain as TN scripts a 7-wicket win
The hosts, Goa, on winning the toss in Porvorim opted to bat first. Suyash Prabhudessai showed great temperament for his 104-run knock and a 149-run third wicket stand with Siddharth (69) to carry them to 241 in the first innings. A couple of scores in the 70s, from Pradosh Paul (71) and Narayan Jagadeesan (75) helped Tamil Nadu to reach 273 as Mohit Redkar ended up with 5/70.
Prabhudessai’s 79 in the second innings could push the hosts to 168 in the second innings. The 96-run second-wicket stand between Suresh Lokeshwar (52) and Pradosh (65) was enough to carry TN home by seven wickets.
Brief Scores: TN 142/3 (Pradosh 65, Misal 2/51) & 273 (Jagadeesan 75, Redkar 5/70) beat GOA 241 (Prabhudessai 104, Kishore 4/73) & 168 (Prabhudessai 79, Ajith Ram 4/36) by 7-wkts.
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Maharashtra vs Saurashtra: Parth Bhut’s 9/69 overshadows Walunj’s 14/163
On winning the toss in Solapur, Saurashtra notched up 202 in their first innings as Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (72) and Prerak Mankad (56) put up a 118-run sixth wicket stand. Left-arm spinner, Hitesh Walunj picked up 6/93 for Maharashtra. No fifty-plus scores led to the hosts getting destroyed for just 159, as Jadeja ended with 4/61.
At 62/8, the visitors were struggling to reach even 100 in their second innings. But a 93-run ninth-wicket partnership between Chirag Jani (43) and captain Jaydev Unadkat (45) took them to 164. This time, Walunj ended with 8/70 in 19.2 overs.
The home side could reach 164, as no batter could even go beyond the 30-run mark. Parth Bhut, with his left-arm spin, returned with 7/44 to get the victory by 43 runs.
Brief Score: SAU 202 (Jadeja 72, Walunj 6/93) & 164 (Unadkat 45, Walunj 8/70) beat MAH 159 (Tambe 37, Jadeja 4/61) & 164 (Dhillon 28, Bhut 7/44) by 43 runs.
Apart from these, there were a few double hundreds in this round. Baroda opener Jyotsnil Singh scored an unbeaten 234 against Delhi, while Karan Sharma and Aryan Juyal made 200+ knocks against Assam. The sixth and next round of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 will begin from 9th February 2024.
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