Ranji Trophy: Vinay Kumar Runs Through Mumbai Line-Up With A Hat-Trick

Skipper R Vinay Kumar led from the front with some devastating bowling and picked up a six-wicket haul including a hat-trick to help Karnataka bundle out Mumbai for 173 in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final that began on Thursday. Kumar, who made most of the conditions which aided pace bowling after inserting Mumbai in on winning the toss, returned with impressive figures of 6 for 34, including the hat-trick completed in two overs, as 41-time champions Mumbai crumbled in only 56 overs on day one of the five-day match at the VCA Stadium in Jamtha.

To continue their domination, Karnataka replied with 115 for 1 by stumps, as they placed themselves 58 runs adrift of Mumbai with their in-form opener Mayank Agarwal unbeaten on 62 in 83 balls with M Abbas (12 not out) for company. Karnataka, who topped Group A, are all set to take the first innings lead.

Hi guys, thanks for your wishes. This is my 100th match for Karnataka. On this occasion, I want to thank KSCA and all my well wishers for their support ????

— Vinay Kumar R (@Vinay_Kumar_R) December 7, 2017

Kumar also became the third bowler to complete a hat-trick against Mumbai, the other two being B Kalyanasundaram for Tamil Nadu in the 1972-73 Ranji final and Raghuram Bhat for Karnataka in the 1981-82 season. He became the sixth bowler to take a hat-trick in the knock-out stage of the national championship, the last one to achieve the distinction being S Sen Sharma for Bengal against Delhi in the pre-quarter final of the 1993-94 season.

Kumar wreaked havoc on the Mumbai batting line-up as he removed young and in-form opener Prithvi Shaw (2), edging to first slip Karun Nair, with the last ball of his first over with the score on 6.

Then with the first ball of his next over, he dismissed the other opener Jay Bista (1) in a similar fashion, and then completed his hat-trick by trapping Akash Parkar (0) in front of the wicket to reduce Mumbai to 7 for 3.

Kumar later scalped Siddhesh Lad, Akhil Herwadkar and Karsh Kothari to complete his devastating spell. Mumbai were struggling at 74 for 7 before medium pacer Dhawal Kulkarni, who came in to bat at number nine, counter-attacked with a knock of 75 in 132 balls, to take his team beyond the 150-run mark.

Kulkarni struck nine fours and two sixes. The only other notable contribution came from seasoned Herwadkar (32 off 75 balls).

Siddesh Lad, Mumbai's crisis man this season, also was out cheaply for 8 while skipper Aditya Tare's poor run with the bat continued as he fell for 4. Kumar was well supported by Sreenath Arvind (2-45) and Abhimanyu Mithun (1-31).

Scores: Mumbai 173 all out (Dhawal Kulkarni 75, Akhil Herwadkar 32; R Vinay Kumar 6-34) v Karnataka 115 for 1 (Mayank Agarwal 62 not out, M Abbas 12 not out).

Delhi Reduce MP To 223/6

Left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra struck thrice, helping Delhi reduce Madhya Pradesh to 223 for six on day one of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals on Thursday. Opener Ankit Dane (59) and Naman Ojha (49) batted well for Madhya Pradesh but could not get the big score their team wanted. Harpeet Singh frustrated the Delhi bowlers with an unbeaten 47 towards the end of the day and was batting alongside Puneet Datey when stumps were called.

Delhi struck early after opting to field as medium pacer Navdeep Saini trapped opener Rajat Patidar in front of the stumps.

Dane then struck a 59-run stand with Shubham Sharma (17) before the opener was adjudged lbw off pacer Vikas Mishra.

Ojha held the innings together after Dane's dismissal, stitching a 59-run stand with Devendra Bundela (17) before the duo departed in quick succession to leave Madhya Pradesh in trouble at 157 for five.

Mishra was the stand out bowler for Delhi with three wickets for 40 runs in 24 overs.

Vikas Tokas, Manan Sharma and Saini were the other wicket-takers.

Brief scores: MP 223/6 in 90 overs (Dane 59, Ojha 49; Mishra 3/40).

-- Gujarat on top versus Bengal --

Opener Abhimanyu Easwaran showed his mettle under pressure as his patient 129 enabled Bengal to score 261/6 at stumps on the first day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final against defending champions Gujarat.

Courtesy Easwaran's sixth first-class hundred and his 175-run stand for the fifth wicket with veteran Anushtup Majumdar (94), Bengal's score had a semblance of respectability after being reduced to 59 for 4 at one stage.

With Bengal playing five specialist bowlers on a greenish Sawai Man Singh track, the tail-enders would now need to get the team past 300-run mark.

Brief Scores:

Bengal 1st innings: 261/6 (Abhimanyu Easwaran 129, Anushtup Majumdar 94, Ishwar Chaudhary 3/49, Chintan Gaja 2/75) vs Gujarat.

-- Vidarbha struggling against Kerala --

K C Akshay claimed two wickets to help Kerala reduce Vidarbha to 45 for three on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match which was truncated due to wet outfield here today.

On a day when only 24 overs of play was possible, Vidarbha lost three wickets after electing to bat. Opener Faiz Fazal (2) got out cheaply following the start of the match after tea.

Although the other opener R R Sanjay (17) and Wasim Jaffer (12) reached the double digit marks, they failed to keep their wickets intact.

Brief Scores:

Vidarbha 1st innings: 45 for 3 in 24 overs (R R Sanjay 17; K C Akshay 2/14).