Assam take 3 points against Maharashtra

By Our Sports Reporter

GUWAHATI, Nov 26: With three points from the game, courtesy a first innings lead, Assam climbed to the second spot in the group A standings after Maharashtra played out a draw in their eighth round match of the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy season.

After squeezing a 102-run lead, Assam folded for a meagre 135 in their second essay, setting a target of 238 runs for Maharashtra. Dhiraj Goswami struck early to send back Maha opener Chirag Khura cheaply in the second over but 65-run partnership between Sangram Atitkar and Swapnil Gugale ensured that the hosts do not succumb to another bating collapse.

On a day when as many as 17 wickets tumbled, Arun Karthick's first-innings century on a “dangerous” pitch eventually stood out. Maharashtra maged to add only 36 runs to their overnight total before getting bowled out, giving Assam a first-innings lead of 102 runs. In-form pacer Krish took 6 wickets for 73.

Assam then struggled in their second innings and were wiped out for 135 in 48.2 overs. Domnic Muthusamy and Anupam Sanklecha had combined figures of 7 for 63, setting Maharashtra an improbable target of 238.

Maharashtra now occupy the eight spot in the group rankings, with only more five more points than the bottom placed Harya.

SCOREBOARD
Assam 1st innings: 298   
Maharashtra 1st innings:
SM Gugale c †Arun Karthik b K Das 27, CG Khura lbw b Goswami 10, SD Atitkar c †Arun Karthik b Goswami 6, RA Tripathi c †Arun Karthik b K Das 52, AR Bawne c †Arun Karthik b K Das 0, KM Jadhav c Sharma b K Das 36, RH Motwani*† c Amit Verma b K Das 20, SS Mundhe c Sharma b K Das 16 , AA Sanklecha not out 16, DJ Muthuswami b Ahmed 1, SM Fallah b Ahmed 0
Extras (b 4, lb 2, w 5, nb 1) 12, Total (all out; 69 overs) 196
Fall of wickets 1-20, 2-33, 3-60, 4-60, 5-127, 6-150, 7-176, 8-195 , 9-196, 10-196
Bowling: K Das 30 7 73 6, DS Goswami 24 4 65 2, AN Ahmed     10 3 26 2 , PP Das     4 1 13 0, Amit Verma 1 0 13 0
Assam 2nd innings:
PP Das lbw b Sanklecha 8, RG Hazarika c Atitkar b Muthuswami     31, SA Roy lbw b Mundhe 11, Amit Verma c Jadhav b Muthuswami     19, KB Arun Karthik† c Jadhav b Muthuswami 0, G Sharma* c sub (SM Kazi) b Sanklecha 9, J Syed Mohammad b Mundhe 11, AS Sinha not out 13, AN Ahmed lbw b Fallah 1, DS Goswami b Sanklecha 7,      K Das c sub (SM Kazi) b Muthuswami     7
Extras (b 7, lb 5, w 3, nb 3) 18; Total (all out; 48.2 overs) 135     Fall of wickets 1-18, 2-57, 3-57, 4-57, 5-80, 6-90, 7-110, 8-111 , 9-119, 10-135
Bowling : SM Fallah 10 3 27 1, AA Sanklecha 13 3 42 3, SS Mundhe 11 3 33 2, RA Tripathi 1 1 0 0, DJ Muthuswami 12.2 7 21 4, CG Khura 11 0 0
Maharashtra 2nd innings (target: 238 runs):
SM Gugale c Syed Mohammad b K Das 30, CG Khura lbw b Goswami 0, SD Atitkar not out 40, RA Tripathi c PP Das b Ahmed 7, AR Bawne not out 1
Extras (lb 3, nb 1) 4; Total (3 wickets; 15 overs) 82
Fall of wickets 1-6, 2-71, 3-80
Bowling: K Das 7 0 42 1, DS Goswami 7 1 36 1, AN Ahmed 1 0 1 1