Maharashtra inflicted a 10-wicket defeat on Meghalaya as they walked away with a bonus point with openers Murtaza Trunkwala and Siddhesh Vir easily overhauling a 101-run target on the final day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match in Aurangabad on Tuesday. (More Cricket News)
Murtaza did most of the scoring, notching up an unbeaten 78 off just 73 balls, while Siddhesh (24 not out) played the ideal foil as Maharashtra completed the task in just 21.1 overs after Meghalaya were bundled out for 185 in the morning session.
Meghalaya had scored a modest 276 in the the first innings with Maharashtra responding with a 361 of their own. The team from the northeast then could manage just 185 in the second essay to leave their opponents with an easy task of scoring 100-odd runs, which they managed without much ado.
Earlier in the morning, Meghalaya, who were 157/8 overnight, lost their remaining two batters for the addition of 28 runs with Maharashtra left-arm pacer Mukesh Kumar accounting for four wickets.
Sumit Kumar was the highest run-getter for Meghalaya in the second innings, scoring 45 runs before he was the last man out, dismissed by pacer Rajneesh Gurbani.
Murtaza seemed to be in a hurry to complete the task when Maharashtra padded up the second time. The 28-year-old opener, who has risen through the state's age-group ranks, smashed 13 boundaries even as fellow-opener Siddhesh was reduced to a spectator at the other end.
Mumbai vs Tripura match drawn
In Agartala, the Group A match between Mumbai and Tripura ended in a draw with the reigning champions earning three points by virtue of the first-innings lead.
Mumbai, who were reduced to 7/2 at close on day 3 on Monday, declared their second innings at 123 for 6 on Tuesday, setting their opponents a 272-run target.
India batter Ajinkya Rahane, who remained unbeaten on 48 off 90 balls, halted Mumbai's slide after they were reduced to 44/5 at one stage.
Tripura were 48 without loss at the end of day's play.
Brief Scores:
In Agartala - Mumbai: 450 & 123 for 6 decl in 43 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 48 not out; Abhijit Sarkar 3/31, Manisankar Murasingh 2/11) drew with Tripura 302 in 95.4 overs & 48 for no loss in 22 overs (Bikramkumar Das 32 not out).
In Aurangabad - Meghalaya 276 and 185 in 55.5 overs (Balchander Anirudh 36, Sumit Kumar 45, Mukesh Choudhary 4/61, Pradeep Dadhe 2/29, Rajneesh Gurbani 2/33) lost to Maharashtra 361 and 104 for no loss in 21.1 overs (Murtaza Trunkwala 78 not out, Siddhesh Veer 24 not out) by 10 wickets.
