Medium-pacer Abin Matthew hogged the limelight with a maiden five-wicket haul as Puducherry bowlers came up with an exceptional show to orchestrate a commanding nine-wicket win over hosts Delhi in their Ranji Trophy opener here on Monday.
Resuming on 126/8 in their second innings, Delhi managed to add 19 more runs before being bowled out for 145.
Mathew claimed a career best 5/39 to dismantle the Delhi batting order.
Gaurav Yadav (3/49) and Saurabh Yadav (2/43) also contributed to Delhi’s downfall to give them an easy 51-run chase.
In reply, Puducherry lost opener Akash Kargave (23) with seven runs shy from the target.
Jay Pande (21 not out) and Marimuthu Vikneshwaran (7 not out) then sealed the chase in the very next over.
Baroda win easy versus Odisha
Off-spinner Mahesh Pithiya’s impressive five-wicket haul complemented Shashwat Rawat’s stellar 102 in the second innings as hosts Baroda defeated Odisha by 147 runs in Vadodara.
Set a tall chase of 432, Odisha were bundled out for 284.
In only his fifth Ranji match, the budding 22-year-old Pithiya showcased immense skill and determination to return figures of 5/61.
Brief Scores
At Delhi: Delhi 148 and 145; 46.4 overs (Abin Mathew 5/39, Gaurav Yadav 3/49, Saurabh Yadav 2/43). Puducherry 244 and 51/1; 13.4 overs. Puducherry won by nine wickets. Points: Puducherry 6, Delhi 0.
At Vadodara: Baroda 351 and 258/4 declared. Odisha 178 and 284; 101.5 overs (Shantanu Mishra 78, Anurag Sarangi 56, Sandeep Pattnaik 51, Suryakant Pradhan 46; Mahesh Pithiya 5/61). Baroda won by 147 runs. Points: Baroda 6, Odisha 0.
At Jammu: Jammu & Kashmir 100. Himachal Pradesh 120/1. Match drawn. Points Himachal Pradesh 3, Jammu & Kashmir 1.
At Dehradun: Madhya Pradesh 323 and 243/3 declared. Uttarakhand 192 and 266/8; 95 overs (Piryanshu Khanduri 62, Aditya Tare 51, Kunal Chandela 50; Kumar Kartikeya 4/73, Saransh Jain 3/77). Match drawn. Points MP 3, Uttarakhand 1.
