AGENCIES
NEW DELHI
Karnataka, the defending champions, crashed out of the Ranji Trophy after losing to Maharashtra by 53 runs in Pune on the last day of the last round of group-stage matches on Friday.
In yet another surprise result, Assam held on to a draw against Bengal in Guwahati to knock Delhi out of the quarter-final race. As a result of the draw, Assam ended with 26 points, one more than Delhi, and joined Vidarbha “ who beat Haryana “ and Bengal in the knockouts.
Meanwhile, Gujarat narrowly missed out on a quarterfinal berth despite picking up one point from the drawn encounter against Mumbai, while Jharkhand sealed a comfortable ten-wicket victory over Hyderabad to become the second team “ after Saurashtra “ to qualify from Group C.
Pacer Nikit Dhumal picked up five wickets in the second innings, to add to three in the first, to halt Karnataka's 34-match unbeaten streak and knock them out of the Ranji Trophy. Anupam Sanklecha, who took four wickets, including the last two, ably complemented Dhumal, as Karnataka were dismissed for 239, chasing 293 in Pune.
Robin Uthappa began positively on the last day, hitting his 46th first-class fifty. However, he could not convert it into a big score and was pinned lbw by Sanklecha. The majority of the middle order fumbled, leaving much to do for CM Gautam and the lower order. He rallied with Vinay Kumar and S Aravind but eventually ran out of partners. Gautam remained unbeaten on 65 off 104 balls, including seven fours, as Karnataka came up short by 53 runs. Mahasrashtra, who were already out of contention for the quarter-finals, finished the season with a consolation win.
