Chandigarh, December 21
A 10-wicket haul by left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya Singh helped Madhya Pradesh beat Chandigarh by an innings and 125 runs on the second day of the Ranji Trophy match at Indore.
It was Chandigarh’s worst-ever defeat in the Ranji Trophy match. Chasing first innings total of 309 runs by Madhya Pradesh, city lads were bundled out for 57 runs. After forced to follow on, the side posted 127 runs before getting all out.
Earlier, Madhya Pradesh lads scored 309 runs after adding 20 runs to their overnight score of 289/7. Rajat Patidar (88 off 1116 balls) remained the best batter for the side. Sandeep Sharma, meanwhile, claimed two wickets for the bowling side, taking his spell to 7/93. In reply, Chandigarh lads got off to a disappointing start. The entire side was bundled out for 57 runs. Team’s top and middle order Arjit Singh (1), captain Manan Vohra (0), Ankit Kaushik (1), Gaurav Puri (0) and Bhagmender Lather (4) was dismissed at the team’s total of 19 runs.
Kartikeya continued his havoc by dismissing Kunal Mahajan (0), Gurind Singh (1), Rohit Danda (0) and Hartejassvi (0). Arslan Khan (34 off 58 balls) was the top scorer for the side. Kartikeya claimed 6/20 to remain the star of the innings. Forced to follow on, Chandigarh batters once again failed to read the bowling attack and were bundled out for 127 runs.
Khan (0), Arjit (4), skipper Vohra (2) and Lather (0) were back to the pavilion at the team’s total of four runs. Kaushik and Puri raised a 64-run partnership for the 5th wicket. However, Kartikeya amounted for Puri (20 off 39 balls). Kaushik was deprived of another long partnership as Kunal Mahajan (7) and Gurinder (10) failed to give a stable innings. Saransh Jain claimed the wicket of Kaushik (69 off 121 balls). Sharma added nine runs, while Dhanda couldn’t open his account. Jain (5/37) and Kartikeya (4/44) shared the maximum wickets in the innings.
