Ranji Trophy roundup: Shardul hat-trick revives Mumbai hopes while Karnataka and Tamil Nadu on tenterhooks | Cricket News

There was plenty of drama on Day 1 of the last round of Ranji Trophy group fixtures. While all eyes were on Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium and Virat Kohli, at Rajkot, Bengaluru and Jamshedpur there was room for plenty of tws and turns. Here is a round-up of what transpired at the other matches.
Mumbai didn’t waste time in taking control of their game against Meghalaya. Inside the first half an hour of the day at the Bandra-Kurla Complex, the defending champions had full control of proceedings with Shardul Thakur making headlines for a hat-trick. With seven points looking all but guaranteed, they received more good news from Vadodara where Jammu & Kashmir and Baroda are facing each other in a crucial fixture.
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Though both teams just need a draw to make it to the knock-out rounds, it appears one of them could miss out. After winning the toss and batting first, J&K ended up with 246 with left-arm spinner Ninad Rathva taking five wickets and off-spinner Mahesh Pithiya chipping in with three. Wicketkeeper Kanhaiya Wadhawan top- scored with 71 with Paras Dogra (43) and Vivrant Sharma (43) also making vital contributions in the middle order. In reply, Baroda ended the day at 29/2.

Balchander Anirudh ✅Sumit Kumar ✅Jaskirat Singh Sachdeva ✅
Shardul Thakur is on fire 🔥
He’s picked up a – to help Mumbai bowl out Meghalaya for 86 👌👌#RanjiTrophy | @imShard | @MumbaiCricAssoc | @IDFCFIRSTBank
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/9ApJe0CgxG pic.twitter.com/B9azjgx1JB
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 30, 2025
With time unlikely to be an issue, the challenge for Baroda will be to take a first innings lead and take it from there.
Brief scores: Meghalaya 86 all out (Himan Phukan 28; Shardul Thakur 4/43, Mohit Awasthi 3/27) vs Mumbai 213/2 (Siddhesh Lad 89 batting, Ajinkya Rahane 83 batting)
Jammu & Kashmir 246 (Kanhaiya Wadhawan 71, Paras Dogra 43, Vivrant Sharma 43; Ninad Rathva 5/43, Mahesh Pithiya 3/62) vs Baroda 29/2
Group B
Gujarat’s fate in batsmen’s hands
In what is a shootout between Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, a similar script is being played out. Despite Gujarat just needing a draw to qualify, their bowlers came up with a commendable show after they won the toss at Ahmedabad’s Gujarat College Ground. Seamer Chintan Gaja ran through Himachal’s top order before left-arm spinner Vishal Jayswal picked up three wickets as the visitors were bowled out for 215 in the first innings. In response, Gujarat were 44/2.Story continues below this ad
On Day 2, the onus will be on their batsmen to overhaul Himachal’s total and close all doors on their comeback.
Brief scores: Himachal Pradesh 215 (Ankit Kalsi 53, Rishi Dhawan 40; Chintan Gaja 4/31, Vishal Jayswal 3/23) vs Gujarat 44/2
Group C
Karnataka wobble against HaryanaNeeding to win with a bonus point, Karnataka have set themselves up for a scrap. Being made to bat first, they lost their way in the middle to end the opening day at 267/5. With the morning session always challenging to bat at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, skipper Mayank Agarwal and KV Aneesh batted well, losing only the wicket of the latter.
Batting at No 3 on his return to domestic cricket, KL Rahul made only 26 but Agarwal continued his good form scoring 91. Devdutt Padikkal and Ravichandran Smaran got starts but couldn’t make it big as Haryana kept the hosts in check.Story continues below this ad
With a bonus point needed for Karnataka to qualify, unless they make a big total, the road ahead may be even more challenging.
Brief scores: Karnataka 267/5 (Mayank Agarwal 91, Devdutt Padikkal 43; Anshul Kamboj 2/25) vs Haryana
Kerala start strongAt Thumba, Salman Nizar’s unbeaten century rescued Kerala, who ended the day at 302/9 against Bihar. Needing a win to qualify, Kerala were in a spot of bother at 81/4 before Shoun Roger and Nizar rescued them. Though Roger perished after scoring a fifty, 27-year-old Nizar held the innings together and took them past the 300-run mark.
On Day 2, it is over to their bowling unit to restrict Bihar and give their batsmen a shot at going for a win.Brief scores: Kerala 302/9 (Salman Nizar 111 batting, Shoun Roger 59; Harsh Singh 2/40).
Group DTamil Nadu self-destruct, all out for 106Story continues below this ad
At Jamshedpur, table-toppers Tamil Nadu who need only a draw to qualify, are staring at the possibility of failing to make the quarterfinals. In a season when they have chopped and changed consently, they made two changes – with Trilok Nag coming in for the injured Sandeep Warrier and off-spinner Lakshay Jain in place of batsman Boopathi Vaishnav Kumar. The decision to add an extra off-spinner when Mohamed Ali was already part of the XI was puzzling, but nevertheless their bowlers did well to restrict Jharkhand to 185.
On a pitch with uneven bounce, spinners R Sai Kishore and S Ajith Ram picked up three wickets each. In reply, TN’s batting self-destructed for 106 with Ali top-scoring with 37 at the top and off-spinner Utarsh Singh taking six wickets. To make matters worse, their premier batsman Baba Indrajith retired hurt and won’t take any further part in the match.
TN can still make it with a draw, but on this surface it seems unlikely, unless their bowlers shut Jharkhand out for a low total again.
Brief scores: Jharkhand 185 (Sharandeep Singh 52, Anukul Roy 46, Virat Singh 40; Sai Kishore 3/42, Ajith Ram 3/47) & 5/1 vs Tamil Nadu 106 (Mohamed Ali 37; Utkarsh Singh 6/30).

The fans have come out in huge numbers for the Delhi vs Railways match 👌👌
The Arun Jaitley Stadium is buzzing 🔥#RanjiTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/IhwXam3F5T pic.twitter.com/ATCyjCAX1Y
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 30, 2025
Saurashtra set for a huge totalAt Rajkot, needing a bonus-point victory, Saurashtra started on a strong note, scoring 361/3 against Assam. Electing to bat first, opener Harvik Desai and Chirag Jani gave them a quick start as they went at 5 runs per over before the latter was dismissed for 80. The two put on 140 runs as Desai went on to score 130. Coming in at No.3, Cheteshwar Pujara played a characteric innings to remain unbeaten on 95 at close.Story continues below this ad
Brief scores: Saurashtra 361/3 (Harvik Desai 130, Cheteshwar Pujara 95 batting, Chirag Jani 80) vs Assam
Chandigarh rescued against ChhattisgarhAt Raipur, needing a win against Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh were bowled out for 283. It could have been a lot worse for them as they were struggling at 27/5 and later 48/6 before Amrit Lubana (92) and Gurinder Singh (113) rescued them with a 169-run stand for the seventh wicket. For Chhattisgarh, seamer Ravi Kiran picked up five wickets.
Brief scores: Chandigarh 283 (Gurinder Singh 113, Amrit Lubana 92; Ravi Kiran 5/68) vs Chhattisgarh 13 for no loss