More shines as Karnataka beat Railways, Mumbai-HP tie called off

Medium pacer Ronit More (6/32) recorded career-best figures to fashion Karnataka's 10-wicket bonus-point win over Railways in a Ranji Trophy group B match here on Thursday.

The right-arm medium pacer More, who had picked up one wicket in the first innings, ran through Railways' batting line-up to bundle the hosts out for a paltry 79 in their second essay.

Starting at the overnight score of 199 for 9, Karnataka were dismissed for 211 in their first innings, thus taking a slender 29-run lead over Railways, who were bowled out for 182.

The Karnataka pacers including More, Abhimanyu Mithun (3/17) and Prateek Jain (1/28) then bundled out Railways for a meagre 79 in just 30 overs, setting themselves a target of 51 runs for an outright win.

Karnataka openers Rohan Kadan (27 not out) and Devdutt Padikkal (24 not out) overhauled the target in 8.2 overs as the Karun Nair-led team gained seven points from the match.

Meanwhile in Dharamsala, the Mumbai-Himachal Pradesh match was called off after the fourth and final day's play was also washed out without a ball being bowled.

Play was possible only on the opening day on Monday at the picturesque HPCA Stadium.

On Thursday too, an overnight spell of rain had delayed the start and an inspection wa was scheduled at 11 am.

However, the match officials were not satisfied with a soggy patch in the outfield and called for one last inspection at 1 pm.

At 1 pm, the match was called off with the two teams sharing a point each as the first innings of Mumbai remained unfinished.

Young Mumbai batsman Sarfaraz Khan was adjudged player of the match for his unbeaten 226.

The result could dent Mumbai's chances of making it to the knockouts as the road ahead becomes extremely tough from here on.

The 41-time Ranji Trophy champions next play in-form Saurashtra in Rajkot from February 4.

Brief Scores: Railways 182 and 79 (Mrunal Devdhar 38; Ronit More 6/32, Abhimanyu Mithun 3/17) vs Karnataka 211 (S R Sharath 62, Devdutt Padikkal 55; Amit Mishra 5/70) and 51/0. Karnataka won by 10 wickets. Karnataka 7 points, Railways 0 point.

At Dharamsala: Mumbai: 372/5 vs HP. Match Drawn 1st innings unfinished. Mumbai 1 point, HP 1 point.