Stats highlights from the sixth round of the Ranji Trophy 2013-14
Shiva Jayaraman09-Dec-2013 Saurabh Tiwary’s record double-century
In what was Jharkhand’s first Ranji match against Mumbai, Saurabh Tiwary hit career-best 238 at a blistering strike rate of 79.59 in a dominating batting display, in Jharkhand’s first innings. Tiwary’s contribution to Jharkhand’s cause in this match was so big that Mumbai, in their first innings, could score only 27 runs more than what Tiwary hit, thus conceding the first-innings lead. Tiwary’s 238 is the highest individual score by a Jharkhand batsman in first-class cricket and the eighth highest against the defending champions in the Ranji Trophy. This was also only the second double-hundred by a Jharkhand batsman. Tiwary is now the top scorer in the Ranji this season with 761 runs at 84.55 from ten innings.
Harshal’s favourite opposition; five defeats in a season
Harshal Patel took five-wicket hauls in both innings against Karnataka, the fourth and fifth of his career. Karnataka are clearly his favourite opposition, considering that four of his five first-class five-fors have come against them. His career-best figures also came against Karnataka, in the quarter-finals of the 2011-12 Ranji season, when his 8 for 40 in the first innings helped Haryana to their first semi-final berth in the Ranji Trophy in over ten years. Patel has taken 26 wickets against Karnataka in just three matches, at 13.15. Overall, in first-class matches, he has taken 74 wickets at 23.09 from 19 matches. Including this match, Haryana have lost five this season, only the third time any team has lost as many in a season since 2006-07. They had lost five matches in the 2006-07 Ranji season also. Tripura is the other team to have lost five games at this stage this season. Karnataka’s KL Rahul top-scored for his team with a 98 in the first innings and also completed 1000 runs in first-class cricket. Rahul has scored 1090 runs at 40.37 from 17 matches.
Tripura’s hit their highest total, end five-match losing streak
Tripura’s total of 650 in their first innings was their highest in the Ranji Trophy and the first time they scored 500 or more in first-class cricket. Their previous highest was 484 against Services last season. Their mammoth total in the first innings ensured that they managed to save their first match this season, having lost all of their previous five matches. Yogesh Takawale’s 212 in the same innings is his highest first-class score and his third century of the season. He’s scored 720 runs at an average of 72 from 11 innings this Ranji season.
Rajasthan’s first win of the season
Robin Bist hit unbeaten half-centuries in both innings against MP to help Rajasthan record their their first win of this Ranji season. Bist is one of Rajasthan’s key players – he had made a big contribution in Rajasthan’s Ranji Trophy win in 2011-12, having scored 1104 runs at 92.00 with four hundreds and five fifities in ten matches. Naman Ojha top-scored with 137 runs in MP’s second innings – his third century of the season. Ojha has hit 690 runs this first-class season at 69.00 from 11 innings.
Khadiwale hits two fifties
Harshad Khadiwale hit half-centuries in both innings against Jammu & Kashmir helping Maharashtra to their second win this season. Khadiwale is among the top five run-scorers in the Ranji this season, having hit 658 runs at 94.00 from eight innings, including three centuries. Mohammed Mudhasir of J&K took his second five-wicket haul of the season in Maharashtra’s first innings; he has taken 23 wickets at 18.82 from five matches.
Tamil Nadu register their first win
Yusuf Pathan’s third-best first-class bowling effort of 6 for 84, in Tamil Nadu’s first innings, was not enough to save Baroda who slid to their third loss of the season in five matches. Baroda batsmen succumbed to Tamil Nadu spinners, who between them took all the 19 Baroda wickets that fell to the bowlers. Offspinner Malolan Rangarajan’s bowling figures of 6 for 46 in the second innings were his career-best and his second five-wicket haul in first-class matches. He took nine wickets in the match, the first time he’s taken as many in 12 matches. On a spinner-friendly pitch, Dinesh Karthik played a crucial knock for Tamil Nadu, top-scoring with 92 in the first innings. This was his second fifty-plus score of the season; he has scored 310 runs at 51.66 from six innings in this Ranji season.
Amit Yadav’s best first-class bowling figures
Goa offspinner Amit Yadav – who has returned to first-class cricket after serving a one-year ban imposed on him by the BCCI following the spot-fixing controversy in 2012 – took 7 for 68 in Assam’s second innings, helping his team to their second win this season. These are Yadav’s best bowling figures in first-class matches and his second seven-wicket haul of the season. He took 7 for 155 against Maharashtra in the fourth-round. Yadav has taken 23 wickets at 21.47 from four matches in this Ranji season.
Bhatia’s 13th hundred, Awana takes his tenth five-for
In a match where Delhi’s leading batsmen Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir failed to make an impact, Rajat Bhatia hit the 13th century of his first-class career. Bhatia is 76 runs short of completing 5000 first-class runs, having scored 4924 runs at 50.24 from 84 matches. Parvinder Awana took the tenth five-wicket haul of his career, in Odisha’s first innings. This was Awana’s second five-for of the season; he took 5 for 72 against Mumbai in Delhi’s third-round match last month.
Jiwanjot hits his second double-hundred
Punjab batsmen ensured that their first-innings failures didn’t result in their second loss of the season as Jiwanjot Singh and Uday Kaul hit centuries in the second innings. This was Jiwanjot’s second double-hundred of his first-class career and his sixth century in 20 matches. Kaul’s 133 was his 13th century in first-class cricket; he has hit 4423 runs at 50.26 from 66 matches. Sandeep Sharma took his second consecutive five-wicket haul, in Vidarbha’s first innings in the match. This was Sandeep’s sixth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket; he has taken 73 wickets at 20.61 from 16 matches.
BatsmanMatInnsRunsHSAve10050Saurabh Tiwary (Jharkhand)51076123884.5516Yogesh Takawale (Tripura)61172021272.0032Naman Ojha (Madhya Pradesh)5966721183.3731Harshad Khadiwale (Maharashtra)5865826294.0032Kedar Jadhav (Maharashtra)57654204130.8031
BowlerMatWktsBBIBBMAve510Rishi Dhawan (Himachal Pradesh)6415/2910/8716.1251Jalaj Saxena (Madhya Pradesh)6297/8213/12419.1732 Harshal Patel (Haryana)6276/5511/9618.9221Pankaj Singh (Rajasthan)6275/308/11223.4820Sandeep Sharma (Punjab)4266/509/11117.8020
