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Indore: Zaheer Khan’s incisive spell helped Mumbai pull off a stunning seven-run win over Madhya Pradesh in what turned out to be probably the most interesting Ranji Trophy group league encounter of this season.
Chasing a victory target of 311 on the final day, MP came tantalisingly close as they were all out for 303, giving the visitors their first outright win of the season. Mumbai now have 20 points, but are placed fourth, behind MP, who are also on 20 but are ahead due to more outright wins.
If the highlight of the final day was brilliant 128 by MP opener Jalaj Saxena and Zaheer’s brilliant post-lunch spell of 13 overs saw him get five for 79, the last 20 minutes were easily the most exciting of the match when it could have gone either way.
Summarised scores
Group A
In Hyderabad: Hyderabad 337 & 196/8 decl. Railways 213 & 280/7 (N. Bhille not out 65, A. Paunikar 52; P.Ojha 4/95). Match drawn
In Indore: Mumbai 304 & 250/5decl. Madhya Pradesh 244 & 303. Mumbai won by 7 runs
In Jaipur: Rajasthan 299 & 234/9 decl. Saurashtra 228 & 217/5 (S. Kotak 54, J. Shah 34; A. Choudhary 3/42). Match drawn
In Valsad: Gujarat 266 & 232. Punjab 268 & 193 (R. Dhurv 5/76). Gujarat won by 37 runs
Group B
In Chennai: Uttar Pradesh 392 & 207. Tamil Nadu 179 & 225 (Arun Karthik 70, Abhinav Mukund 54; Praveen Gupta 4/95). Uttar Pradesh won by 195 runs
In Hubli: Haryana 587/9decl. Karnataka 272 & 332/2 (R. Uthappa 132, K. Kapoor 100 no). Match drawn
In Pune: Baroda 362 & 231/1 (A. Chauhan 109, S. Wakaskar 100). Maharashtra 449/8 decl. Match drawn
Group C
In Agartala: Tripura 278. Goa 116/6. Match drawn.
In Guwahati: Andhra 249 & 229/7 (D. Prasanth 83; A. Konwar 4/64). Assam 394/5. Match drawn
In Jammu: Jammu & Kashmir 175 & 248; Himachal Pradesh 189 & 189/2. Match drawn
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