Ranji Trophy Wrap: Jammu & Kashmir Ride on Imran Haroon's Ton, Get a Point vs Bengal

Bengal bowlers again failed to provide decisive blows as debutant Imran Haroon's century helped Jammu and Kashmir get a point to remain in hunt for a quarter-final berth in the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament, here on Friday.

Set a stiff target of 337 from 76 overs after Bengal declared their second innings for 264/5, Jammu & Kashmir made merry on an eased out Eden Gardens strip with Haroon standing tall with an unbeaten 103 that had nine boundaries and a six.

Haroon made full use of a reprieve on 20 as he put on a 103 opening partnership with Adil Reshi (58; 7x4) before their premier batsman Ian Dev Singh Chauhan came up with an unbeaten 56 to secure one point.

With 11 points from six games, Jammu and Kashmir still have an outside chance while Bengal with 10 points from five games are in the sixth spot, improving from their last position before this round.

Having opted for a three pronged spin attack anticipating a turner, Bengal were severly let down by the strip which neither offered any turn nor bounce as the hosts had to settle for three points on basis of their first innings lead.

The Bengal attack save sporadic bursts from the erratic Ashok Dinda has been below par as they have failed to polish off tail after getting rid of top order.

Karnataka grab 3 points against MP in drawn Ranji match

Defending champions Karnataka grabbed three points, owing to their first innings lead, after Aditya Shrivastava (108) and Naman Ojha (115) came up with contrasting centuries to help Madhya Pradesh score 277-3 in their second innings on the fourth and final day of the drawn Ranji Trophy Group match.

Karnataka had surpassed Madhya Pradesh's first innings score of 303 on Thursday, reaching 516 for 8 at stumps with Abhimanyu Mithun and Udit Patel at the crease.

Resuming the innings, Karnataka added only six runs to their overnight score as Puneet Datey picked the wickets of Mithun (22) and Patel (5) to complete his four-wicket haul. In their second essay, Madhya Pradesh rode on Aditya and Ojha, who added 179 runs for the third wicket, to dash any hope of an outright win for Karnataka.

Baroda bag three points against Railways

Baroda bagged the all important three points by taking the first innings lead against Railways on day four morning before the Ranji Trophy Group match ended in a dull draw. Railways, needing 48 runs to get past Baroda's 298, lost their remaining three wickets for 12 runs to end at 263, offering little resistance against the left-arm pace of Irfan Pathan and Gagandeep Singh. Baroda were 240 for five in their second innings when play was called off. Captain Aditya Waghmode (74) and Hardik Pandya (90) shared 165-runs for the fourth wicket.

In the morning, the visitors needed 41 balls to get the only possible outcome in their favour after an outright result seemed unlikely with majority of the play lost on day two.

Baroda are third in the group with 15 points from five games including a win and four draws. Railways have themselves to blame for their slide, having collected only 10 points from five matches including a loss against Karnataka and four draws.