Ranji Trophy: Kotian, Bhut grab eight-fors as Mumbai, Saurashtra register big wins

New Delhi: Tanush Kotian and Parth Bhut both claimed eight-wicket hauls on the final day of the latest round of Ranji Trophy matches on Thursday. Kotian’s effort set up Mumbai’s 10-wicket rout of Haryana, while Bhut bowled Saurashtra to victory over Assam by an innings and 12 runs.

At the BKC Ground in Mumbai, off-spinner Kotian finished with 8-81. He had taken the first wicket of Haryana’s second innings on day three and added seven more on the final day. Kotian removed overnight batters Himanshu Rana (46) and Nishant Sindhu (44), and later ended a lower-order fightback led by Samant Jakhar.

Mumbai needed only 97 runs for victory, and they knocked off the runs in under 11 overs. Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who scored a hundred in the first innings, smashed an unbeaten 67 off 39 balls.

At the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot, Player of the Match Bhut, who had six wickets by stumps on day three, was even more destructive, finishing with 8-17 in 18 overs and had a match haul of ten wickets as Saurashtra wrapped up a bonus-point win. Ravindra Jadeja, who will be a part of India’s Test series against New Zealand next month, took 2-58 wickets in 22 overs, including 4 maidens.

Bengal crushed Kerala by 287 runs in Thiruvananthapuram, with Pradipta Pramanik taking 6-51. Pramanik had claimed all four Kerala wickets that fell on day three and added two more on the final morning as the hosts were bowled out for 120.

Captain Shreyas Gopal’s 5-36 bowled Karnataka to an innings-and-116-run win over Tripura in Mysuru, with the visitors dismissed for 180 in their second innings. Vidarbha thrashed Goa by an innings and 27 runs in Nagpur, with Harsh Dubey taking 4-38. He struck twice in quick succession to remove Manthan Khutkar, who top-scored with 70, and Yash Kasvankar, before taking wickets off consecutive deliveries to bowl Goa out for 195.

Several matches ended in draws. In Vadodara, Abdul Samad’s 143 off 152 balls, which included 16 fours and seven sixes, and Sahil Lotra’s unbeaten 96 rescued defending champions Jammu and Kashmir against Baroda. The pair added 225 runs after J&K had slumped to 53/4 after being made to follow-on.

In Pune, Gujarat declared their second innings on 446/5 against Maharashtra after Aarya Desai hit 151, followed by an unbeaten 119 from Jaymeet Patel and 96 from Urvil Patel, but the hosts held on for a draw.

The Punjab and Hyderabad match ended in a draw at tea on the final day in Secunderabad, after half-centuries from Vihaan Malhotra, Prabhsimran Singh (68 off 76 balls) and visiting captain Uday Saharan (55 not out off 106 balls).

Akash Vasisht struck an unbeaten 126 as Himachal Pradesh replied with 559/6 to Chandigarh’s 685/5 declared in a high-scoring draw. Puducherry secured a draw against Uttar Pradesh by taking the first-innings lead, despite Kartik Yadav’s 6-42.

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