Mumbai crush Himachal Pradesh by an innings and 97 runs in Ranji Trophy

BILASPUR: Mumbai crushed Himachal Pradesh by an innings and 97 runs to record a second consecutive bonus-point victory in their Elite Group D of the Ranji Trophy here on Wednesday.

After posting a massive 528 for eight declared, which was bolstered by Sarfaraz Khan’s 154 and Akash Anand’s 117, Mumbai bowled out the hosts Himachal Pradesh for 291 in their second innings.

Himachal Pradesh were earlier shot out for a mere 140 in the first innings, in reply to which Mumbai had posted the big total in their only innings while taking a lead of 388 runs.

Right-arm fast bowler Mohit Avasthi was the pick among the bowlers for Mumbai, returning 5/44 while Tushar Deshpande and Shams Mulani claimed two wickets apiece. Pacer Sylvester D’Souza took one wicket.

Skipper Pukhraj Mann (50) and Vaibhav Kalta (63) provided some resistance on the final day when Himachal Pradesh resumed at 144 for three.

Both Mann and Kalta were able to bring up their fifties but Himachal Pradesh rolled over without much resistance on the final day of the contest.

The result took Mumbai, who had earlier beaten Chandigarh by an innings and 155 runs in their season-opener, back to the top spot with 14 points in two matches.

At Jaipur, hosts Rajasthan were held to a draw but took three points after Railways reached 174 for two following-on, having conceded a huge lead of 159 runs in the first innings.

Railways were bowled out for 338 after Rajasthan posted 497 batting first, with the hosts obtaining a lead of 159 runs and imposing the follow-on. Railways had resumed their first innings on 305 for six on Day Four.

In their second essay, Railways were bolstered by 103 not out (118 balls, 8 fours, 4 sixes) from Mohammad Saif and Eshaan Goyal’s 57 not out.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu had beaten Uttarakhand by an innings and 66 runs while Haryana defeated Chandigarh by an innings and 24 runs.

Brief scores:

In Bilaspur: Himachal Pradesh 140 & 291 in 99.1 overs (Pukhraj Mann 50, Vaibhav Kalta 63; Mohit Avasthi 5/44) lost to Mumbai 528/8 declared by an innings and 97 runs. Points: Mumbai 7, Himachal Pradesh 0.

In Jaipur: Rajasthan 497 drew with Railways 338 in 127 overs (Eshaan Goyal 64, Bhargav Merai 73, Ravi Singh 53, Toufik Mondal 53 not out; Kukna Ajay Singh 4/106) & 174/2 in 46 overs (Eshaan Goyal 57, Mohammad Saif 103 not out; Chetan Sharma 1/8). Points: Rajasthan 3, Railways 1.