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A round-up of the Momentum Cup matches played on March 12, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2017A century from David Miller and three new-ball wickets from Marchant de Lange overshadowed a quickfire hundred from Titans captain Albie Morkel to help Knights climb their way to fourth place from the bottom, with a resounding bonus-point victory of 111 runs in Kimberley. Both teams now have 14 points each.Chasing 303, Titans were in tatters when de Lange ran through their top order with an opening spell of 5-3-4-3 that left them on 8 for 3 in the seventh over. To add to Titans’ miseries, Farhaan Behardien and Tony de Zorzi were run-out, slipping them further to 22 for 5 in the 11th over. Once David Wiese also fell three overs later, Morkel combined with Shaun von Berg who scored only 29 in their partnership of 120 in just 17.1 overs. The duo took the score past 150 but fell within the space of four overs after Morkel scored a century off 69 balls and was eventually dismissed for 117 off 84 that featured 13 fours and four sixes. Titans lasted another 15 balls and were wrapped up for 191 in 37.2 overs.When Knights were asked to bat, Grant Mokoena retired hurt for 36 after an opening stand of 57 with Rudi Second. Once they were 90 for 2 in the 20th over, Miller, on debut for Knights, and captain Pite van Biljon stitched a dominating partnership of 185 runs in under 26 overs to charge them to 275 with 27 balls left. Miller ended with 104 off 100, his seventh List A hundred with eight fours and two sixes, while Biljon’s 90 off 76 included nine fours and two sixes that helped the lower order post 302 for 8.File photo – JJ Smuts, the Warriors captain, surpassed his previous best of 132 with an unbeaten 173 against Cape Cobras•AFP

JJ Smuts’ unbeaten 173 led Warriors to a 90-run victory over Cape Cobras in Cape Town, despite a brisk century by Richard Levi.In what was their third bonus-point victory, and as many wins from seven matches, Warriors posted 305 for 6 after Smuts strung an opening partnership of 119 runs with Gihahn Cloete, who struck 70 off 75 balls. The two Colins – Ingram and Ackermann – then chipped in with twenties each to help Smuts, the Warriors captain, surpass his previous best of 132 against Dolphins in 2011-12. While it took Smuts 134 balls to bring up his ton, he amassed his next 73 runs in only 30 balls, clobbering nine fours and eight sixes overall to register the third-highest one-day score in South African domestic cricket after Reeza Hendricks’ 181 and Morne van Wyk’s 175*.Cobras’ decision to field found little validation, as only Eddie Leie and Rory Kleinveldt offered any sort of resistance with returns of 4 for 56 and 2 for 48 respectively. Richard Levi, however, provided Cobras’ chase a rapid start, plundering 94 off 53 balls before retiring hurt in the 18th over, his side having made 128 for 2. Cobras’ subsequent loss of four wickets for 32 runs prompted Levi’s return in the 26th over but he ran out of partners and his 70-ball 106 went in vain. No Cobras batsman, barring Levi, scored more than 20 and Ingram and Ayabulela Gqamane returned combined figures of 5 for 78 to skittle Cobras for 215 in 37.3 overs, the last wicket having fallen to the Player-of-the-Match, Smuts.

The West Indies allrounder said he did not want to rush back to competitive cricket without regaining full fitness

ESPNcricinfo staff13-May-2017Allrounder Dwayne Bravo is targeting a return to competitive cricket in the 2017 Caribbean Premier League in August, having spent the first half of the year recovering from a hamstring injury.Bravo had suffered the injury during his stint with Melbourne Renegades in December last year and underwent surgery. He missed the Pakistan Super League in February, then joined his IPL franchise Gujarat Lions in India but did not play as his rehabilitation continued.Bravo said he would play a friendly match for the opening of the Brian Lara Cricket Academy this month, but wanted to ensure he did not rush into full-time cricket without regaining full fitness. He also reiterated that he remained available for selection in the West Indies T20 squad, the only format which he plays for the team.”My next competitive cricket will be for CPL. I am playing the game for Brian Lara on Friday,” he told line&length, a Barbados-based network. “I’ll bowl two overs, maybe, just to see how it is getting back. International cricket is different. I want to give myself the best chance of coming back and playing the way I usually play, which is give 100% and do all the crazy things I do. I am not going to rush into anything. My target is to keep training and get my entire body in shape.”I have improved a lot. I am closer to playing now than I was three-four months ago. The surgery itself was successful. It’s just a matter of continuing my rehab programme. I don’t want to rush things, it’s a very severe injury. I want to make sure I am feeling good and comfortable in my mind.”I am available for T20 selection, it’s the only format in which I am available for selection. So if selected for T20s, I will play. I will always have the passion and the drive to play for West Indies. I am only limited in being able to play one format and those are things that I don’t have control over.”Having last played an ODI for West Indies in October 2014, Bravo was almost certain he would not play the format again unless the selection structure for the West Indies team changes. Currently, players need to participate in the Regional Super50 List A competition to be available for selection in the ODI side.”I am not going to give up the contracts that I have around the world to come back and play in the domestic tournament,” he said. “I did it already and I got burned. I am not going to allow the same mistake to happen again. I gave up half of my contract in BBL in 2015 to come and play and make myself eligible for selection for the World Cup and the Sri Lanka tour, but I was not selected.”Playing in those tournaments doesn’t guarantee you selection. It makes you available but it doesn’t guarantee selection. I am past the stage where I will give up certain amount of money on my contract and make myself available without any guarantee. If the structure changes or something different happens, then yes.”

Former Mumbai and India wicketkeeper Sameer Dighe, 48, has replaced Chandrakant Pandit as the coach of the Mumbai team for the 2017-18 season

Arun Venugopal02-Jun-2017Sameer Dighe, the former Mumbai and India wicketkeeper, has been appointed Mumbai coach for the 2017-18 domestic season. Dighe, 48, replaces Chandrakant Pandit, who coached Mumbai to a Ranji Trophy title in 2015-16, and followed that up with a final appearance last year.The decision to appoint Dighe follows sweeping changes in the Mumbai set-up that saw Ajit Agarkar replacing Milind Rege as chairman of selectors last week. The Mumbai Cricket Association’s Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) picked Dighe over the incumbent Pandit, and former Mumbai batsman and CIC chairman Pravin Amre. Agarkar chaired the meeting on Friday, as Amre, by virtue of being a contender, stayed away from the decision-making process.”Looking at the current scenario, we just wanted something new and it was a general consensus, actually,” Amol Muzumdar, a CIC member, told ESPNcricinfo. “The whole thing about all the meetings that have happened in the last week or so, we always felt that there was a need for fresh faces and fresh outlook… hence, Sameer, who hasn’t been tried at all. There have been changes made to the coaching staff in the under-23, 16 and 14 age-groups, and this goes with that.”Dighe, who played six Tests and 23 ODIs, had a first-class career that spanned 11 years, during which he led Mumbai to the Ranji Trophy title in 1999-2000. Following his retirement in 2001-02, Dighe took up coaching assignments and worked with Mumbai Indians as fielding coach.He has also had a stint with Tripura’s Ranji Trophy side apart from serving as batting coach at the BCCI’s zonal academy. “It’s a great honour to be the Mumbai coach,” Dighe told ESPNcricinfo. “It is a big responsibility as well, and I will be honest with my job. I am looking forward to this.”According to Muzumdar, there could be changes made to the support staff. “Amogh Pandit, the head trainer of the MCA academy, has been entrusted with the responsibility of shortlisting people for the trainer’s job,” he said. “We have left it to him as he is an expert, and we have left the job of shortlisting candidates for the physio’s role to Mr Anand Joshi. Ultimately, the CIC would decide about the trainers and the physios.”

Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club kept themselves in contention for the 2017 Dhaka Premier League title with a 97-run win over Mohammedan Sporting Club at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jun-2017Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club kept themselves in contention for the 2017 Dhaka Premier League title with a 97-run win over Mohammedan Sporting Club at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium.Doleshwar moved to 22 points to draw level with Abahani Limited, while Gazi Group Cricketers occupy the top spot with 24 points. If Gazi Group beat Doleshwar on June 5, the last day of the Super League, they are assured of becoming champions, even if Abahani win against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club.But if Gazi lose to Doleshwar, and Abahani beat Dhanmondi Club, then Gazi, Doleshwar and Abahani will be level on 24 points, making for a three-way tie. In that case, Gazi Group’s three wins in matches against Abahani and Doleshwar will see them to the title.If, however, Abahani and Gazi both lose, Gazi and Doleshwar will be on 24 points each. And with both teams having beaten each other once, it will come down to net run rate to determine the champions. Given how close they are currently in that regard – Gazi have a net run rate of 0.687 and Doleshwar of 0.532 – it is more than likely that Doleshwar will win the title.During the match on Saturday, Doleshwar lost wicketkeeper and opener Jaker Ali after being inserted. Shahriar Nafees, who top-scored with 70, and Imtiaz Hossain (48) then stitched together 79 runs for the second wicket. Nafees added a further 51 with Marshall Ayub, the only other half-centurion of the match, before being caught off Bipul Sharma’s left-arm spin.Marshall’s 50 came off 60 balls. Following his dismissal in the 45th over, contributions from Rajat Bhatia (37 off 32) and Farhad Reza (20 0ff 12) shored up Doleshwar to 264 for 6.Mohammedan were reduced to 24 for 2 in the fifth over, before Shamsur Rahman and Bipul added 69 for the third wicket. The dismissal of Bipul, who top-scored with 48, triggered a slide as Mohammedan went from 93 for 2 to 103 for 6. They never quite recovered thereafter, and were bowled out for 167 in 34.5 overs despite a late 31 from Sajedul Islam.Offspinner Sharifullah took 3 for 32 in seven overs, while Reza, Delwar Hossain and Rahatul Ferdous took two wickets each.

There was one winning Lions team in the sporting world today – and an impressive one too as the England Lions’ cricketers wrapped up a 257-run trouncing of South Africa A at Canterbury.

ECB Reporters Network24-Jun-2017
Scorecard Jamie Porter adds another wicket as England Lions seal victory•Getty Images

There was one winning Lions team in the sporting world today – and an impressive one too as the England Lions’ cricketers wrapped up a 257-run trouncing of South Africa A at Canterbury.It took Keaton Jennings’ team 36 overs to complete a victory set up by an explosive spell of 3 for 22 by Somerset fast bowler Jamie Overton on the third evening, well supported by Essex’s Jamie Porter, which had left the South Africans reeling at 29 for 4 overnight.Porter took two wickets in an over on the final day, which began soon after rugby’s British and Irish Lions had lost the opening Test against the All Blacks in New Zealand, and finished with 3 for 47 as South Africa A were bowled out for 154.The touring side had needed a distant 412 for victory at the start of the fourth day, and initially the fifth-wicket pair of Temba Bavuma and Heinrich Klaasen flourished in an attractive 67-run stand in 13 counter-attacking overs.Once Sam Curran had Bavuma leg-before for 33 with the first ball of his second over, however, after replacing Overton in the attack, it was only a matter of time – despite two rain delays totalling more than 40 minutes – before the Lions clinched a victory that was based on a high-class batting and bowling effort over all four days.Willem Mulder was bowled for 1 by a Porter nip-backer in between the first two rain interruptions and Klaasen fell at the end of the same over but more than an hour later, following the second hold-up and then an early lunch, when he moved across his stumps in an attempt to play off his pads and was leg-before for a 49-ball 43.It was an unwise selection of shot, to the first ball he had faced after the re-start, but 24-year-old Porter was again rewarded for nibbling it around off the seam and keeping a good length and line. Klaasen had played some fine strokes, notably a couple of magnificent pull-drives wide of mid on that were the pick of his six fours, but his dismissal left the South Africans 100 for 7.Curran soon had the left-handed Beuran Hendricks well-held for 12 by Porter at long leg when he made good contact with a hook at a skiddy bouncer but saw the fielder back-pedal to within inches of the boundary ropes to take the catch above his head.Dane Piedt, one of four South Africans with Test caps to his name, batted defiantly for 31 before lofting Jack Leach’s left-arm spin to long off, where Porter was again the catcher.And the end came at 2.42pm, when Dan Lawrence had Duanne Olivier leg-before for 8 with his sixth ball, leaving Junior Dala 4 not out.Porter claimed match figures of 6 for 105 and Overton’s second innings 3 for 36 gave him five wickets in the match. Surrey’s Curran took 2 for 21 and 4 for 85 overall in what was an excellent team performance by England Lions.

Western Storm won the second Kia Super League after an explosive innings from Rachel Priest set up an easy seven-wicket victory over Southern Vipers

ECB Reporters Network01-Sep-2017Western Storm won the second Kia Super League after an explosive innings from Rachel Priest set up an easy seven-wicket victory over Southern Vipers. In front of a 3,500 crowd at Hove, Priest became the tournament’s leading run scorer after hitting 72 off 36 balls as Storm comfortably reached a target of 146 with 12 balls to spare in a repeat of last year’s final.The New Zealander unleashed some powerful shots around the wicket with ten fours and three sixes, including a brutal assault on Linsey Smith in the final over of the Powerplay. Priest hit four boundaries and a six in an over that cost 25 runs.Priest overtook Vipers’ Suzie Bates as leading run-scorer when she reached 71 and although she was well caught on the midwicket boundary by Dani Wyatt in the tenth over, Storm only needed 52 and Stafanie Taylor, Player of the Match in their semi-final win over Surrey Stars, and Sophie Luff had little trouble in knocking off the runs.Although Taylor had to bat with a runner after suffering a hamstring strain earlier in her innings, they shared an unbroken stand of 57. Taylor cleared the long-on rope to win the game with a six.Vipers appeared to have set a challenging total on a good pitch when they posted 145 for 5 after they were put in. Openers Bates and Hayley Matthews put on 47 in eight overs although both were dropped, with Bates reprieved on 6 and Matthews off the ball before she was athletically caught-and-bowled by West Indies team-mate Taylor, having struck six fours in her 31.Bates came down the pitch to hit Jodie Dibble for a straight six and had moved ominously to 21 when Taylor trapped her leg before working across the line.Georgia Adams went cheaply but Vipers pushed on through England allrounder Wyatt and Mignon du Preez, who added 37 in five overs.
Wyatt was superbly caught by Georgia Hennessy running in from long-on and Dibble held a good catch at mid-off in the 18th over to end du Preez’ run-a-ball 31, but captain Charlotte Edwards rolled back the years at the end with a cameo of 20 from eight balls including boundaries off last three balls.

Surrey’s England U-19 batsman stood firm to leave his side well on top at the Ageas Bowl

ECB Reporters Network06-Sep-2017Ryan Patel top-scored with 81 in his second first-class appearance•Getty Images

England U-19 batsman Ryan Patel rode his luck to make his highest professional score in testing circumstances at the Ageas Bowl and give Surrey the upper hand against Hampshire.Tom Curran and Jade Dernbach toppled Hampshire’s top order but George Bailey and Ian Holland battled back to even up their Specsavers County Championship match with Surrey at the Ageas Bowl.New ball fast bowlers Curran and Dernbach restricted the hosts to 31 for five in a devastating spell with the new ball. Curran boasted figures of three for 21 and Dernbach two for 15 in their first spells to leave Hampshire in a mire – after Surrey had been bowled out for 200.But Bailey and Holland fought back for Hampshire as they added 69 for the seventh wicket to leave the hosts on 129 for 7 at the end of the second day.It was Dernbach who started the wicket taking as he bowled Joe Weatherley, making his Ageas Bowl debut in the Championship, with a stunning yorker. Tom Alsop followed his former academy teammate back to the dressing room two overs later, in the sixth over, when he was plumb lbw to Dernbach.Curran, who is making his first appearance in almost a month due to a back injury, then took over the wicket taking. The 22-year-old had Jimmy Adams and James Vince leg before and then Sean Ervine caught brilliantly by Ben Foakes – the wicket-keeper diving one-handed to his left.The pair exited the attack, but Rikki Clarke entered to have Liam Dawson flailing across the line to offer a good low catch to Ollie Pope at short mid-wicket.Captain Bailey steadied Hampshire, alongside fellow Australian Holland with an 81-ball fifty but departed for 51 as he was lbw to Gareth Batty in the penultimate over of the day.It had been the quicks of Fidel Edwards and Kyle Abbott who had done the early damage to the Surrey batting line-up.South African Abbott dismissed Rory Burns, who had scored of 122, 101, 219 not out and 68 in four of his previous five innings against Hampshire, as the batsman edged to Vince at third slip.Edwards and Abbott combined at either end to have Scott Borthwick and Jason Roy lbw for ducks.Patel had been going about his work at the other end with a watchful quality as he put on 74 with Foakes. Foakes was caught by Vince at straight mid-wicket – but Patel reached his maiden professional half century from 99 balls.The teenager was dropped on 31 and 58 in his innings and was lucky not to be given out when he flicked to Bailey, who claimed a low catch, before the umpires gave him a controversial reprieve.Dawson, who had struck to dismiss Foakes, then started to run through the away side as Pope came down the track and picked out Bailey at mid-wicket.Patel’s hopes of a first century disappeared when he was yorked by Edwards before Clarke followed him back to the pavilion in a similar manner as his off-stump was dislodged and Curran was clean bowled by Gareth Berg.Dawson wrapped up the innings by having Batty lbw and Dernbach caught and bowled. But Hampshire’s poor batting meant they ended the day trailing by 71

The former England batsman will play his 22nd season for Durham after confirming a new contract with the county at the end of a difficult season for the club

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2017Paul Collingwood wants to help Durham until he has “zero energy left” after confirming he will extend his professional career into a 22nd year with the club.After weeks of news about further players leave the club – and other problems for the county, including the drug-related ban for batsman Jack Burnham – it will have been heartening for Durham’s management to hear that one of their stalwarts wants to keep on playing despite an increasing coaching workload with England, which includes roles in the Ashes and one-day series in Australia.Collingwood’s form in 2017 confirmed there was no waning of his powers and he was named Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year and Batsman of the Year at the club’s end-of-season awards. He scored over 1000 runs in the County Championship and hit a century during the NatWest Blast campaign.”I am so proud to still be playing for my home county who have given me the perfect environment to fulfil all of my cricketing dreams,” Collingwood said. “I’ve proven this season that I still have a lot to offer and I feel my role at Durham is still important in helping develop the next generation of Durham cricketers.”I know that this club still has so much to offer English cricket and despite a challenging season I still feel we can compete for promotion back to the first division in 2018. We will keep fighting, that’s the Durham spirit, we will keep giving opportunities to home-grown players and offering chances for them to play first-class cricket.”We have to fight right from the top to the bottom of the club, Durham is a fantastic place to play and they have given me everything over the years. I will try and help them right until I have zero energy left, at the minute I still have plenty.”Club chairman, Ian Botham, added: “To keep a player of Paul’s experience and ability at the club is a massive bonus as we continue to strive for promotion back to the top division.”Paul epitomises the values of Durham CCC, both on and off the field, as well as still being a fine player who leads from the front in the role of club captain.In the closing weeks of the season, Keaton Jennings and Graham Onions left Durham for Lancashire while Paul Coughlin moved to Nottinghamshire.

R Ashwin, M Vijay, and Cheteshwar Pujara will be in action, but because of that teams may well push some fringe players into the sidelines

Shashank Kishore05-Oct-20175:10

Runorder: Are there too many tweaks to the Ranji Trophy?

Two seasons ago, Amit Mishra was India’s preferred spin partner to R Ashwin in Tests. Ravindra Jadeja had been dropped across formats, his bowling lacking its usual bite following a shoulder surgery. He could have enjoyed time off with his horses at his farm in Jamnagar, but asked to be included in Saurashtra’s Ranji Trophy squad.On pitches tailor-made to suit the team’s strengths, Jadeja picked up six consecutive five-fors – apart from scores of 91 and 58 – to give Saurashtra a head start. At the end of the season, they had made their second final, and Jadeja had nailed his place in the Test squad after tormenting South Africa at home.

Ranji Trophy 2017-18

Format: Top two from each group qualify for the quarter-finals
Group A: Assam, Delhi, Hyderabad, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Railways, Uttar Pradesh
Group B: Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Team Rajasthan, Saurashtra
Group C: Andhra Pradesh, Baroda, Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura
Group D: Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Services, Vidarbha
Points: Seven for a 10-wicket or innings victory, six for an outright, three for a draw with first-innings lead, one for a draw.
Final: December 29-January 2

While he is a Test regular, exclusion from India’s limited-overs XI is likely to hurt, if his cryptic posts on social media are anything to go by. The 84th Ranji Trophy season, beginning Friday, could be Jadeja’s chance to channel those frustrations and get some match practice before the Sri Lanka series in November. While he is out of their tournament opener in Lahli, where he could have got a taste of the conditions India are likely to face in South Africa in 2018, his participation from the second round could benefit both him and Saurashtra.Jadeja is just one of many India internationals adding a layer of excitement to this Ranji season. R Ashwin and M Vijay will turn up for Tamil Nadu. Cheteshwar Pujara will lead Saurashtra in the first round following Jaydev Shah’s absence. Wriddhiman Saha and Mohammed Shami will feature for Bengal. Ishant Sharma, pace spearhead not too long ago, could play four straight games for Delhi, if not more, and prove himself not only as a bowler, but also as captain.Ashwin and Pujara are coming off a hectic stint in county cricket. Vijay, who has not played for India since March 2017, has another opportunity to rate his match fitness. A wrist injury had forced him out of the Sri Lanka tour, but since then he has played the Duleep Trophy and will welcome the chance for more time in the middle. Among the bowlers, Shami will want to go through the rigours of days cricket again so that he can put his name up for the Tests against Sri Lanka in November.While the inclusion of big names is a positive, it leaves fringe players who may have otherwise been picked fewer games to impress. They had, potentially, eight straight matches last year – those in Group C got nine. But this time, with teams split between four groups, each one will play only six games in the league phase.This is a direct consequence of the BCCI’s decision to include an extra recovery day to the existing three-day window, following suggestions put forward at the captains’ and coaches’ conclave earlier this year.Another factor putting the onus directly on the players to better their performance is the decision to play home and away again. The neutral venues experiment of 2016-17 has been abandoned after the logistics of arranging travel and accommodation for 27 teams turned out to be a nightmare. Teams often traveled for 24 hours, sometimes more, via connecting flights and bus journeys, and were left exhausted. And while it was hectic for some teams, it was relatively easy on the others.Gujarat, the eventual champions for example, had all their games in and around Delhi for the first five rounds. One trip down to Pune was followed by three games in Karnataka to complete their league phase. It may not have been the deciding factor in their triumph, but it certainly was an advantage. Jharkhand clocked up more miles in just one trip from Thiruvananthapuram to Agartala with stopovers in Chennai and Kolkata. Poor training facilities and underprepared surfaces were also cited at many venues. As a senior player put it, host associations were “simply not interested” because they had nothing to gain.The home-and-away format has had its issues as well, such as teams preparing surfaces that blatantly suited their strengths, but the BCCI has taken precautions against it by bringing in neutral curators for the 2017-18 season. Whether this results in a more aggressive brand of cricket to ensure teams earn points early on before easing the pressure in the second half remains to be seen. After all, with fewer matches, teams who start poorly won’t have much wiggle room for comebacks.There is plenty of incentive to do well in this Ranji Trophy. With the India A coach Rahul Dravid focused on expanding the talent pool, he will keep an eye on the best bowlers and batsmen that are coming through. Then, if they make it to the A team, which tours countries alongside the senior team, the step up to international cricket can happen very quickly.But the benchmarks they are judged against are bound to change. With fewer games, VVS Laxman’s record of most runs in a Ranji season (1415), which Priyank Panchal came close to breaking (1310) last season, is unlikely to be touched. And the prospect of a bowler picking up 50-plus wickets, like Shahbaz Nadeem has done over the last two seasons, has become distant.So while the travel may not make players sweat, their yo-yo tests will, as they prepare for what could be another intriguing season. Will there be another Gujarat-like fairy tale? We’ll find out in the first week of 2018.

Uthappa finds form as Saurashtra secure lead to top group standings

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2017An inspired bowling performance by Aamir Aziz, the left-arm spinner, helped Jammu & Kashmir register their first win of the 2017-18 season in Jamshedpur. However, it was certain that both J&K and Jharkhand were out of contention for a quarter-final berth with one game to play.Aziz picked up five second-innings wickets to take his match tally to 9 for 149 as Jharkhand, who began briskly in a steep final-day chase of 350, were bowled out for 243 in 49.4 overs. The openers Ishan Kishan (52) and Mohammad Nazim Siddique (38) added 87 in 11.5 overs to give their chase a fillip. Utkarsh Singh, at No. 3, made a solid 47 to further strengthen their prospects of a second win, but the middle order imploded.Shahbaz Nadeem reduced the margin of victory by making 53, but that was scant consolation. Parvez Rasool, the J&K captain, who top scored with 70 in the second innings to help stretch the lead past 300, finished with 5 for 99, his 12th five-for in first-class cricket. Earlier in the day, J&K added 19 to their overnight 246 for 7 before declaring their second innings in the first session to set up the possibility of their outright win, which they achieved in the second session.Saurashtra continued to remain to top of the Group C standings as they walked away with the first-innings honours against defending champions Gujarat in Rajkot. The top two – Gujarat are currently second – in the points table continued to remain as they were, but the race for the quarter-finals intensified, with Kerala, two points adrift of Gujarat, also in the fight.Gujarat, who rode Priyank Panchal’s 145 to make a pitch for a lead, were bowled out for the addition of 110 to their overnight 303 for 4, conceding a lead of 157. Once the first-innings honours were decided, the game went into snooze mode with Saurashtra opting for batting practice. Robin Uthappa’s return to form was a big positive. The Karnataka opener, who joined them prior to this season as a professional, struck his first half-century of the season, and was unbeaten on 64. Saurashtra had posted 98 for 1 when players shook hands.