Karan Sharma played a key role in UP win
Credit. X/@UPCACricket
Mumbai: The efforts of Aryan Juyal (76) and Karan Sharma (67) stood out as Uttar Pradesh held nerves to beat 41-times champions and hosts Mumbai by two wickets in a Ranji Trophy match on Monday.
On the final day, Mumbai were bowled out for 320 after resuming at 303/8 in their second innings. Juyal and Karan laid the foundation of a tricky chase of 195 with a 104-run stand for the third wicket after UP were jolted twice early on.
Despite regular strikes from Mumbai, Karan stood tall with a 173-ball 67 not out (7x4s, 2x6s) to take his side over the line and help UP earn six points.
The visitors Uttar Pradesh finished at 195/8 in almost 70 overs with right-arm off-spinner Tanush Kotian (5/58) leading the fightback for Mumbai with the ball.
In another game, Andhra crushed hosts Chhattisgarh at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur by 126 runs in what turned out to be a one-sided contest.
Chasing 320 to win, the hosts were bowled out for a mere 193 despite opener Eknath Kerkar hitting a resolute 199-ball 76 at the top and skipper Amandeep Khare recording his second fifty of the game with a quickfire 67 off 55 balls with seven fours and two sixes.
It was an all-round show from the visiting Andhra team for whom Hanuma Vihari piled up 183 in their first-innings total of 431, which had Chhattisgarh buried under a mountain of pressure through the course of the game.
While Nitish Kumar Reddy (3/36) and Prasanth Kumar (3/21) were among the top wicket-takers in the second innings, Prithvi Raj Yarra (2/40) and Girinath Reddy (1/25) also chipped in as Andhra walked away with six points.
At the Moin ul Haq Stadium in Patna, Bihar earned three points from their clash against Kerala having taken a 150-run lead in the first innings.
Kerala were bolstered by a fine unbeaten 109 from Sachin Baby whose century took the visitors ahead by 70 runs in the second innings but the match ended in a draw. Bihar posted 377 in reply to Kerala’s 227 in the first essay.
Brief scores:
At Mumbai: Mumbai 198 and 320 (Shivam Dube 117, Shams Mulani 63; Aaqib Khan 4/63) lost to Uttar Pradesh 324 and 195/8 in 69.5 overs (Aryan Juyal 76, Karan Sharma 67*; Tanush Kotian 5/58) by 2 wickets.
Points: Mumbai 0, Uttar Pradesh 6.
At Raipur: Andhra 431 and 150/2d beat Chhattisgarh 262 and 193 in 59.4 overs (Eknath Kerkar 76, Amandeep Khare 67; Prasanth Kumar 3/21) by 126 runs.
Points: Andhra 6, Chhattisgarh 0.
At Patna: Kerala 227 and 220/4 (Sachin Baby 109*; Ashutosh Aman 2/26) drew with Bihar 377.
Points: Kerala 0, Bihar 3.