Ranji Trophy 2023-24, Round 2 Highlights: Gujarat stun Karnataka; Shams Mulani's 10-wicket haul, Subhranshu Senapati's 277 mark second round. Top five games from Round 2 of Ranji Trophy 2023-24.
After an exciting first round of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 last week which featured some incredible results, the second round saw some miraculous turnarounds and fabulous performances.
Hyderabad, Baroda, Gujarat, Mumbai and Vidarbha have found themselves at the top of the points table from various groups. Quite surprisingly, Delhi and Tamil Nadu are yet to register a single victory this season so far.
Let’s scan the top five games which produced extraordinary performances
Gujarat vs Karnataka: Gujarat hand Karnataka a stunning defeat by 6 runs
It would be fair to say that Karnataka stunned themselves, as they failed to chase 109 in the fourth innings, despite their 50-run opening stand. Opting to bowl first at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Karnataka bundled out Gujarat for 264, thanks to the 157-run fifth-wicket stand between Kshitji Patel (95) and Umang Kumar (72).
Mayank Agarwal’s century (109) gave the tourists a healthy 110-run lead. A couple of fifties from Umang Kumar (57) and Manan Hingrajia (56) promoted the home side to 219 in the second innings.
Just when Karnataka looked comfortable in the 109-run chase, Siddharth Desai, with his left-arm spin, went through Karnataka’s middle order with figures of 7/42, to secure a 6-run victory.
Brief Scores: GUJ 264 (Kshitij 95, Koushik 4/49) & 219 (Umang 57, Koushik 3/16) beat KAR 374 (Agarwal 109, Gaja 3/65) & 103 (Padikkal 31, Siddharth 7/42) by 6-runs.
Baroda vs Puducherry: Bhargav's 11/95 overshadow Udeshi’s 13/152 in Baroda’s consecutive victories
Baroda came into the game after their heavy win over Odisha. On winning the toss at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara, they opted to bat. Sagar Udeshi’s magical figures of 7/82 folded them for only 218. However, Bhargav Bhatt brought them back into the contest with 5/49 and gained a vital 63-run lead.
Udeshi again troubled Baroda with his left-arm spin to blow them away for just 154 in the second innings. Still, the target of 218 was too far for them. Bhatt demolished the Puducherry batting line-up for 119, as he finished with 6/46 in 18 overs, to get a 98-run victory.
Brief Scores: BRD 218 (Jyotsnil 51, Udeshi 7/82) & 154 (Kinit 28, Udeshi 6/70) beat PDC 155 (Kargave 45, Bhargav 5/49) & 119 (Gaurav 32, Bhargav 6/46) by 98-runs.
Odisha vs Madhya Pradesh: Senapati’s double to give Odisha first-innings lead
At the Emerald High School Ground in Indore, Madhya Pradesh invited Odisha to bat first. They didn’t have a fluent start, finding them at 38/4, before Subhranshu Senapati played an extra-ordinary knock of 277 runs to propel his side to 498. Harsh Gawli kept them in the contest with a 167-run knock, but couldn’t stop the visitors from taking a 180-run first innings lead.
After being asked to follow on, hosts Madhya Pradesh batted with full intent, as they declared on 291/4, shouldering on the aggressive 119-run innings from the wicket-keeper Himanshu Mantri. Odisha could reach 38/1 in their second innings when both captains shook their hands.
Brief Scores: ODSA 498 (Senapati 277, Jain 3/90) & 38/1 (Senapati 33*, Kartikeya 1/15) drew with MP 318 (Gawli 167, Roul 5/100) & 291/4d f/o (Mantri 119, Behera 2/113).
Saurashtra vs Haryana: Sindhu’s all-round performance give Haryana maiden win of the season
On winning the toss at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium C in Rajkot, Saurashtra was destroyed for just 145 before Jayant Yadav’s 5/42, as Cheteshwar Pujara (49) missed his half-century. Himanshu Rana (70) and Ankit Kumar (74) gave the visitors an important 55-run lead.
Three batters got out in their 40s, as Saurashtra again failed to get their big score on the board, and were bundled out for just 220. Nishant Sindhu, a member of the 2022 U-19 winning India side in the Caribbean, returned with 5/83. Haryana crossed all the obstacles to chase 168, with four wickets in hand.
Brief Scores: HAR 200 (Ankit 74, Harshit 70, Dodiya 4/55) & 168/6 (Menaria 58*, D Jadeja 4/58) beat SAUR 145 (Pujara 49, Jayant 5/42) & 220 (Bhut 47, Sindhu 5/83) by 6-wickets.
Mumbai vs Andhra Pradesh: Mulani blows Andhra away with 10-wicket haul
Visitors from Andhra Pradesh won the toss at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy BKC in Mumbai and opted to bowl first. The fifties from Bhupen Lalwani, Dhawal Kulkarni and Mohit Avasthi propelled Mumbai to 395 in the first inning. Only Prasanth Kumar’s 73-run knock stood out for Andhra as they were blown away for 184.
Shams Mulani looked in great touch and ended with figures of 6/65 in his 24 overs. With a heavy 211-run lead, Mumbai asked for the follow-on. There was a great fifty from Shaik Rasheed, and a few 30s from Hanuma Vihari (46), Nitish Reddy (30), taking Andhra to 244.
Mumbai didn’t take much time in the run chase, as they got to the score of 38 runs, with 10 wickets in hand inside 8.4 overs.
Brief Scores: MUM 395 (Lalwani 61, Reddy 5/64) & 34/0 (Bista 26*) beat AP 184 (Prasanth 73, Mulani 6/65) & 244 f/o (Rasheed 66, Mulani 4/96) by 10-wickets.
Apart from these, Bhuvneshwar Kumar made a spectacular comeback in the Ranji circuit against Bengal with first innings figures of 8/41 in 22 overs. On the flip of the coin, Kedar Jadav played a smart 182-run knock over Jharkhand. The third and next round of the Ranji Trophy 2024 will begin on 19th January, 2024.
Comments