da marjack bet： A round-up of the fourth day’s play of the third-round matches of the Ranji Trophy, 2007-08
da roleta： Cricinfo staff26-Nov-2007
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Tanmay Srivastava made a patient 66 as Uttar Pradesh played out a draw with Punjab © Cricinfo Ltd
The Orissa tail fought valiantly in an attempt to force a draw, but Andhra took the last wicket with only 3.5 overs remaining in the match to end the dramatic final day at the Barabati Stadium. Orissa started the day needing 295 with all their wickets in hand, but they lost half the side in a hurry to be reduced to 111 for 5. Niranjan Behera and Pinninti Jayachandra then put together a partnership, but the two fell just short of tea to leave the tail a tall order.Debasis Mohanty batted well in the last session and every tailender applied himself to take the match into the final overs. The partnerships for the eighth, ninth and 10th wickets lasted 15, 8.2 and 5.1 overs, but it wasn’t enough to save the game.D Kalyankrishna and G Shankara Rao shared three wickets apiece.
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Ravneet Ricky scored an unbeaten century and offbreak bowler Charanjit Singh scored a half-century to bat Uttar Pradesh out of the match. Set an improbable 358 runs to get in 60 overs, UP saved the match comfortably, thanks to half-centuries from Mohammad Kaif and Tanmay Srivastava.At the start of the day, the game was nicely poised with Punjab 244 runs in the lead with three wickets in hand. But UP could not get the remaining batsmen out quickly and Punjab didn’t risk a declaration, and were instead happy with the three points they got from the first-innings lead.Ricky had resurrected the Punjab innings on the third day after they had been reduced to 92 for 4. He carried on from his overnight 76 not out and found support in No. 9 Charanjit. They added 116 for the eighth wicket.
ScorecardThere was no adventurous declaration in Chennai either as Tamil Nadu, already 385 in the lead, batted for another 12.3 overs to set Karnataka 438 to get in 75 overs. Robin Uthappa made a blazing start for Karnataka, but once he was out for a 26-ball 30, Karnataka decided to go for a draw. Tamil Nadu, who didn’t enforce the follow-on despite a 200-run lead, walked away with three points. C Raghu, with an unbeaten 66 in 220 minutes, made sure Karnataka played out for the draw without much incident.
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A 188-run first-wicket partnership between Gautam Gambhir and Aakash Chopra gave Delhi the perfect platform to attempt an onslaught towards the victory target of 387, but the loss of three wickets for one run forced them to bat out for a draw at the Wankhede Stadium. Gambhir’s unbeaten 137 ensured there no hiccups in Delhi’s securing three points after gaining the first-innings lead.Delhi had 110 overs to get the runs, but after the opening partnership Aavishkar Salvi snared Chopra for 81 and Virender Sehwag for 0 in successive balls. Virat Kohli too got out without scoring, and Delhi opted for the safety-first approach thereafter.
ScorecardRakesh Dhurv took four wickets to bowl Rajasthan out for 188 and earn Saurashtra victory by an innings and 200 runs. Saurashtra declared overnight to set a target of 389 in a day, but Rajasthan were never in the hunt. They lost their first wicket in the fourth over and kept losing batsmen consistently after that. The top-score was 36 by Rajesh Bishnoi.Cheteshwar Pujara, whose 190-ball 151 in the second innings had set up the declaration, contributed with the ball too, taking two wickets in two overs. Rajasthan were finally bowled out with 24.4 overs to spare.
ScorecardCaptain Arjun Yadav batted for five hours to take Hyderabad to safety with an unbeaten 101, as they played out a draw against Baroda. Baroda had declared on the third evening with a lead of 215 runs and a possible 107 left in the match. Resuming at 40 for 1, the Hyderabad batsmen played sensibly and kept the bowlers at bay. Ravi Teja scored his second half-century of the match, but when he got out Hyderabad were at a precarious 83 for 3. Arjun and Amol Shinde then strung together a 135-run partnership that ensured one point for Hyderabad. Shinde scored 66. Both the captains agreed to call off the game as soon as Yadav reached his century.
