Ranji Trophy Takeaways: Jadeja & Saxena Shine Again; Rajasthan Chase Down 357

Ravindra Jadeja and Jalaj Saxena hogged the limelight for their all-round display, Karnataka escaped with a draw against Vidarbha while Rajasthan chased down 357 in another action-packed day of the Ranji trophy 2018-19.

Takeaways:

Ravindra Jadeja at it, again

Four wickets with the ball and an unbeaten 178 with the bat in the first innings. And then three more wickets in the second innings. Jadeja had done everything he could leading into the final day. He might have expected to rest a little as Saurashtra were chasing 184, but his services were needed once again. Railways reduced Services to 65 for 4 when Jadeja walked in. He added 86 for the fifth wicket with Sheldon Jackson, and then saw his side slip to 169 for 7. It was a tense finish, but Jadeja stayed unbeaten on 48 to guide them home.

The other Indian Test cricketer...

The other player from the Indian squad for the Australia Tests to play the Ranji Trophy's second round is Ishant Sharma. The Delhi pacer bagged two wickets from 16 overs but Himachal Pradesh held on for a draw, reaching 266 for 5 chasing 376. Ishant had bagged two wickets in the first innings as well. Delhi got the first-innings lead.

Jalaj Saxena stars again

Jadeja wasn't the only player to star with bat and ball this round. Jalaj Saxena, the Madhya Pradesh turned Kerala cricketer, followed up his first-innings 133 with an eight-wicket haul with the ball to help Kerala beat Andhra by nine wickets. This is the second time he has picked up eight wickets and scored a century in first-class cricket, joining an elite club.

A century & an 8-wicket haul in a first-class match on multiple occasions:

WG Grace (3)
G Giffen (3)
J Briggs (2)
FA Tarrant (2)
FE Woolley (2)
JALAJ SAXENA (2)

The game vs Andhra was Saxena's 102nd FC while the remaining five players featured in over 250 FC games. #RanjiTrophy

— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) November 15, 2018

Shivam Mavi picks three, Uttar Pradesh win with bonus point v Odisha

Mavi added two wickets to his overnight tally to bag a five-wicket haul which helped UP bowl Odisha out for 221. The target thus was just 41, which was brushed aside without any damage.

A little bit of excitement in Karnataka v Vidarbha

Karnataka bowled Vidarbha out for 228 with J Suchith picking up five wickets. At the break, they might have thought that the target of 158 in 31 overs was achievable, but things went downhill soon. Karnataka slipped to 24 for 3 in quick time, including the loss of Karun Nair. R Samarth and KV Siddharth then batted out time, eating away nearly 20 overs. Vidarbha struck late with three more wickets to leave Karnataka 70 for 6, but they didn't have time to push for a win. Karnataka bagged three points for first-innings lead.

Absolutely no excitement in Tamil Nadu v Hyderabad

Hyderabad posted 565 for 8 declared over the first two days. Over the next two, it was Tamil Nadu batsmen's turn to make merry. They ended on 409 for 4 from 154 overs, with Abhinav Mukund scoring 178 and N Jagadeesan unbeaten on 131. How was the pitch? Here's the answer:

pic.twitter.com/MoUbvOn8dD

— Prasad RS (@PrasadrsTOI) November 15, 2018

Rajasthan chase down 357, the third highest Ranji Trophy chase

Amitkumar Gautam scored a 159 and his fellow opener Chetan Bist made 78 as Rajasthan chased down a stiff target with five wickets to spare. The duo added 170 for the opening wicket, before Gautam carried on in the company of the top order to take Rajasthan home. Gautam was the last man dismissed but by then, they needed only 25 runs for a morale-boosting win.

Brief scores:

Assam 327 & 239/6d v Tripura 139 & 216. Assam won by 211 runs

Arunachal Pradesh 327 & 239/6d v Tripura 139 & 216. Match drawn, Arunachal get first-innings lead.

Bengal 510/9d v Madhya Pradesh 335 & 240/3. Match drawn, Bengal get first-innings lead.

Odisha 256 & 221 v Uttar Pradesh 437 & 44/0. UP won by 10 wickets.

Baroda 322 & 410/5d v Maharashtra 268 & 217/2. Match drawn, Baroda get first-innings lead.

Gujarat 538/7d & 167/5 (52.4 ov) v Chhattisgarh 420. Match drawn, Gujarat get first-innings lead.

Railways 200 & 331 v Saurashtra 348 & 186/7. Saurashtra won by 3 wickets.

Vidarbha 307 & 228 v Karnataka 378 & 76/6. Match drawn, Karnataka get first-innings lead.

Delhi 317 & 281/4d v Himachal Pradesh 223 & 266/5. Match drawn, Delhi get first-innings lead.

Andhra 254 & 115 v Kerala 328 & 43/1. Kerala won by 9 wickets.

Hyderabad 565/8d v Tamil Nadu 409/4. Match drawn, first-innings incomplete.

Goa 468/9d v Jammu & Kashmir 271 & 242/5. Match drawn, Goa get first-innings lead.

Services 228 & 264 v Rajasthan 136 & 357/5. Rajasthan won by 5 wickets.

Puducherry 389 & 129/7 v Meghalaya 326. Match drawn, Puducherry get first-innings lead.