— Photo: H. Satish

GOTCHA: D. Vinay Kumar snaps up Haryana's Sachin Rana off Pragyan Ojha. Haryana managed to hold on for a draw.

NASHIK: Maharashtra, struggling at the bottom end of Ranji Trophy Elite Group A, took a vital step towards recognition with a nine-wicket win over Tamil Nadu. The four points gained after the home side cruised to 202 for one in the second innings on day four will help coach Darren Holder fast track plans to mould players into a formidable outfit.

Dheeraj Jadhav, dancing down the track, stroked 15 boundaries (79 not out) to emerge `Man of the Match', building on 100 in the first innings.

TN's spirited efforts to stem the flow of runs came apart in the face of brilliant, attacking batting. Dheeraj's footwork, timing and running between wickets combined with fellow opener Satyajit Satbhai's sweeps (53) and skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar's assured front foot play (56 n.o.), stretched the visitor's bowling resources. The anxiety in TN camp to effect a turnaround forced the introduction of tweaker S. Badrinath 15 overs after start and fellow spinner R. Ramkumar came on five overs later.

Easy win

Maharashtra, overnight six for no loss, overhauled the 200-run target in 43.5 overs. The chilly conditions and mist in the air didn't curb Satbhai from hitting out (seven 4s, one 6). Dheeraj's bold

approach against the new ball bowlers and knack of finding gaps against spin kept fielders and scorers busy. Kanitkar speeded up celebrations in the stands with crackling strokeplay (seven 4s, one 6) as the home team soared to first victory at this venue after 23 years.

Satbhai charged out against Ramkumar, but could not clear Naresh at mid-off. Maharashtra lost the chance to add a bonus point, though allround improvement will ensure Karnataka take it seriously in next away game at Bangalore. Dheeraj Jadhav (100 and 79 not out), Satbhai (match haul of six catches behind stumps) and Nashik fast bowler Suyash Burkul (six for 97 off 36 overs) stood out.

TN (five points off four league games), moves to Mumbai for an away match against the host.

Joon cracks century

At Hyderabad, southpaw Deepak Joon's superbly paced century (102 not out, 296 min, 214 balls, 10 x 4) almost knocked the daylight out of the Hyderabad camp which heaved a huge sigh of relief at the end of the day after avoiding a major embarrassment as Haryana settled for a draw, chasing a target of 351 on the final day.

Haryana lower-order batting clicked when it mattered most. This despite the top-order rocked by quality spell of left-arm spin bowling by 19-year-old Pragyan Ojha (12-4-31-4).

A crucial stand of 69 for the sixth wicket between Deepak Joon and Joginder Sharma (58, 58 balls, 7 x 4, 2 x 6) pushed the host on the backfoot. It was a terrific all-round performance by Joginder Sharma, who completed another five-wicket haul in the morning to take 10 wickets in the match.

The scores:

Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: 275.

Maharashtra — 1st innings: 318 for nine (decl.).

Tamil Nadu — 2nd innings: 242.

Maharashtra — 2nd innings: S. Satbhai c Naresh b Ramkumar 53, D. Jadhav (not out) 79, H. Kanitkar (not out) 56. Extras (lb-7, nb-6, w-1) 14. Total (for one wkt. in 43.5 overs) 202.

Fall of wicket: 1-83.

Tamil Nadu bowling: Jesuraj 14-3-48-0, Kumaran 8-0-37-0, Naresh 9-0-33-0, Badrinath 3.5-0-37-0, Ramkumar 9-0-40-1.

Other scores:

Elite `A': At New Delhi: Delhi 69 & 291 lost to Gujarat 143 & 218 for eight in 82.2 overs (N. Modi 43, B. Thakkar 55, A. Bhandari five for 65). Gujarat 4 points, Delhi 0.

At Mysore: Bengal 335 & 286 for seven in 105 overs (S.G. Das 43, M. Tewari 80, L.R. Shukla 78) drew with Karnataka 292. Bengal 2, Karnataka 0.

At Mumbai: Mumbai 367 & 132 for four in 56 overs (A. Muzumdar 51 not out) drew with Railways 332 in 142.4 overs (A. Pagnis 69, V.A. Saxena 41, S.N. Khanolkar 46, R. Powar four for 129). Mumbai 2, Railways 0.

Elite `B':

At Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh 433 drew with Punjab 238 & 293 for three in 90 overs (D. Mongia 175 not out, Bipul Sharma 62). Uttar Pradesh 2, Punjab 0.

At Hyderabad: Hyderabad 238 & 190 for nine in 69.3 overs (I. Khaleel 53, P.S. Niranjan 41, Joginder Sharma five for 56) drew with Haryana 168 & 284 for six in 78 overs (D. Joon 102 not out, P. Sahu 41, Joginder Sharma 58, P. Ojha four for 121). Hyderabad 2, Haryana 0.

At New Delhi: Services 296 & 255 for five in 67.3 overs (M.P. Reddy 40, Yashpal Singh 87, Jasvir Singh 50 not out) drew with Andhra 395 in 145.1 overs (M.S.K. Prasad 63, Y. Venugopala Rao 41, A. Rayadu 44, Gyaneswara Rao 86, A.K. Mohanty five for 71). Andhra 2, Services 0.

Plate `A':

At Cuttack: Tripura 234 & 115 for five in 47.5 overs (R. Banik 67 not out) drew with Orissa 277 in 109.3 overs (S. Biswal 63, N. Bahera 67, Manoj Singh five for 37). Orissa 2, Tripura 0.

At Rajkot: Sourashtra 244 & 188 lost to Vidarbha 266 & 169 for three in 48.2 overs (A.V. Deshpande 44, S.A. Khare 49 not out). Vidarbha 4, Sourashtra 0.

Plate `B':

At Jhalwar: Jammu & Kashmir 182 & 142 lost to Rajasthan 108 & 220 for nine in 87 overs (A. Jadeja 77 not out, Abid Nabi five for 56). Rajasthan 4, Jammu & Kashmir 0.

At Indore: Madhya Pradesh 367 & 343 for one in 94 overs (S. Dholpure 103, N.V. Ojha 214 not out) drew with Kerala 334. Madhya Pradesh 2, Kerala 0.

At Jamshedpur: Assam 268 & 225 lost to Jharkhand 178 & 316 for eight in 94.2 overs (M. Vardhan 44, Rajiv Kumar 70, Manish Kumar 47, C.M. Jha 43 not out). Jharkhand 4, Assam 0.

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