Manvanth Kumar of Karnataka in action against Saurashtra during the Ranji Trophy Elite cricket match at the Aluru Cricket Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, October 18, 2026.
| Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN

The Kerala team celebrates the runout decision that sealed victory against Odisha of day four of their Ranji Trophy cricket match at the Greenfield International Cricket Stadium, in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, October 21, 2026.
| Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN

A clinical Kerala outpaced the weather to wrap up a comprehensive innings and 36-run win over Odisha in their Ranji Trophy match at the Sports Hub, Greenfield stadium here on Wednesday. 

The rain did arrive in the afternoon, but it was too late to save Odisha which succumbed to the guiles of Jalaj Saxena in the first session. Kerala only needed 23.3 overs on the fourth morning to wrap up Odisha’s innings at 143.

Jalaj bowled with control and varied the pace of the deliveries on a slightly helpful pitch to bamboozle Odisha’s batters. Aditya Sarvate and Vaisakh Chandran played their part by maintaining the pressure with their accurate bowling.

The overnight pair of Sandeep Pattnaik and Ninad Rathva showed good temperament to resist the Kerala attack for more than an hour. The breakthrough came when Jalaj foxed Ninad (10) with a slower delivery and lured him out of his crease for Azharuddeen to complete the stumping.

Rajesh Dhuper (two) was then trapped in front off a quicker ball from Jalaj. The off-spinner took his fifth wicket when Soumya Lenka (five) missed the slog sweep and was dismissed leg before. Sandeep’s (14) vigil came to an end rather tamely as he spooned a catch to Abhijith Praveen off Sarvate. 

Two calamitous run outs involving Lalit Yadav — after Jalaj’s 37th five-wicket haul in First Class cricket — brought a swift end to the innings  Lalit came in and smote Jalaj for a six to begin aggressively. But he wasn’t given many opportunities by the Kerala bowlers to play the big shots and his anxiety to retain the strike resulted in the run outs of both Rajesh Mohanty and Badal Biswal.

It was a much needed win for Kerala which will play its next match against Bengal while Odisha suffered its second straight defeat and will go home to face Services.

The scores: Kerala — 1st innings: Abhishek P. Nair c Lenka b Rajesh 0, Abhishek J. Nair c Dhuper b Lalit 11, Jalaj Saxena c Pattnaik b Lalit 0, Sachin Baby c Dhuper b Lenka 112, Vishnu Vinod c Dhuper b Lenka 21, Salman Nizar lbw b Badal 21, Mohammed Azharuddeen (not out) 139, Aditya Sarvate c Dhuper b Rajesh 53, Abhijith Praveen c Lenka b Lalit 14, Vaisakh Chandran lbw b Ninad 1, M.D. Nidheesh st Dhuper b Ninad 15; Extras (b-7, 1b-9, w-1): 17; Total (in 129.3 overs): 404.

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-3, 3-18, 4-58, 5-101, 6-242, 7-341, 8-365, 9-380.

Odisha bowling: Rajesh 22-7-81-2, Lalit 20-2-53-3, Lenka 16-3-57-2, Badal 32-5-93-1, Ninad 32.3-3-81-2, Shantanu 7-0-23-0.

Odisha — 1st innings: Shantanu Mishra lbw b Jalaj 32, Gourav Choudhary c Azharuddeen b Sarvate 50, Om Munde lbw b Sarvate 14, Subhranshu Senapati b Jalaj 50, Sandeep Pattnaik lbw b Nidheesh 2, Ninad Rathva lbw b Vaisakh 1, Rajesh Dhuper c Nizar b Vaisakh 34, Soumya Lenka b Vaisakh 0, Rajesh Mohanty c Nidheesh b Vaisakh 2, Lalit Yadav lbw b Sarvate 37, Badal Biswal (not out) 1; Extras (1b-2): 2; Total (in 84.1 overs): 225.

Fall of wickets: 1-60, 2-92, 3-103, 4-116, 5-125, 6-185, 7-185, 8-185, 9-193.

Kerala bowling: Nidheesh 11-2-35-1, Sarvate 28.1-10-56-3, Jalaj 23-2-76-2, Abhijith 5-0-16-0, Vaisakh 17-2-40-4.

Odisha — 2nd innings: Shantanu Mishra b Sarvate 2, Gourav Choudhary c sub b Jalaj 53, Om Munde lbw b Vaisakh 9, Subhranshu Senapati b Jalaj 30, Sandeep Pattnaik c Abhijith b Sarvate 14, Ninad Rathva st. Azharuddeen b Jalaj 10, Rajesh Dhuper lbw b Jalaj 2, Soumya Lenka lbw b Jalaj 5, Lalit Yadav (not out) 11, Rajesh Mohanty run out 0, Badal Biswal run out 0; Extras (b-6, nb-1): 7, Total (in 58.3 overs): 143.

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-29, 3-100, 4-101, 5-121, 6-125, 7-127, 8-143, 9-143.

Kerala bowling: Nidheesh 9-3-18-0, Sarvate 13.3-2-45-2, Vaisakh 14-0-32-1, Abhijith 3-1-6-0, Jalaj 18-7-34-5, Vishnu 1-0-2-0.

Published – October 21, 2026 06:17 pm IST

Karnataka fluffed a gilt-edged opportunity to secure the first-innings lead as it allowed the Saurashtra tail to add 46 runs for the last two wickets on day three of their Ranji Trophy match at the Alur Grounds near here on Tuesday.

In pursuit of the hosts’ 342, Saurashtra was 303 for eight, only for Parth Bhut (28, 37b, 4×4) and Jaydev Unadkat (11, 25b) to combine for a 40-run partnership to go past Karnataka and eventually finish seven runs ahead.

That association between Bhut and Unadkat ended tragicomically as the former, after completing the first run that fetched the lead, set off for the second with a celebratory raised fist. Unadkat at the other end did not respond, resulting in Bhut’s run out.

But that was largely academic, for the visitors had managed to hoodwink Karnataka. In fact, it was a repeat of last year’s opening fixture wherein Saurashtra’s last two wickets scored 58 to deny Karnataka the first-innings bragging rights.

Having obtained just one point from its opener against Andhra last week, the home side now has to aggressively seek an outright victory. For that, it has to build quickly on the 92-run lead it is sitting on — with eight wickets left — and give itself adequate time to bowl Saurashtra out on the final day.

With Mayank Agarwal not taking strike owing to a finger injury sustained while fielding, K.V. Aneesh opened and scored 37 confident runs (60b, 5×4). Even though he has the in-form Karun Nair for company (19 batting, 46b, 2×4), Karnataka has its task cut out.

During the first half of the day, fortunes swung back and forth. Overnight batter Prerak Mankad was out early, caught behind off speedster V. Vyshak. But Arpit Vasavada (65, 177b, 5×4) and Sammar Gajjar (79, 121b, 12×4) came together for 125 runs for the sixth wicket.

Vasavada, 37, has long been Karnataka’s nemesis, having scored 644 runs from 14 innings leading into this contest. Gajjar, 23, emerged as the new tormentor-in-chief, picking boundaries at will with his immaculate timing.

Karnataka was also shoddy on the field, reprieving Gajjar thrice. Skipper Shreyas Gopal dropped him off his own bowling, a piece of action that culminated with a plaster on the leggie’s left palm. Substitute Nikin Jose grassed one at slip before another stand-in fielder Shikhar Shetty let go of a run-out opportunity from close range.

Vidwath Kaverappa, however, brought Karnataka back into the game, taking three wickets for five runs to reduce Saurashtra from 298 for five to 303 for eight. Kaverappa (four for 57) operated at full tilt, a heartening sight for the home dressing room after the pacer had left the field on Monday holding his right calf.

But Bhut and Unadkat thwarted Karnataka’s best-laid plans.

The scores: Karnataka — 1st innings: 342 in 111.3 overs

Saurashtra — 1st innings: Hetvik Kotak c Aneeshwar b Vyshak 46, Harvik Desai c Shrijith Kaverappa 77, Chirag Jani b Abhilash 1, Jay Gohil c Manvanth b Abhilash 0, Arpit Vasavada b Kaverappa 65, Prerak Mankad c Shrijith b Vyshak 20, Sammar Gajjar lbw b Kaverappa 79, Parth Bhut run out 28, Chetan Sakariya c Shrijith b Kaverappa 1, Jaydev Unadkat lbw b Shreyas 11, Ankur Panwar (not out) 6; Extras (b-4, lb-5, w-4, nb-2): 15; Total (in 108.3 overs): 349.

Fall of wickets: 1-110, 2-113, 3-115, 4-128, 5-173, 6-298, 7-301, 8-303, 9-343.

Karnataka bowling: Kaverappa 20.1-5-57-4, Vyshak 22-3-84-2, Abhilash 25.5-7-63-2, Manvanth 16-1-57-0, Shreyas 19.3-2-55-1, Karun 4-0-19-0, Aneeshwar 1-0-5-0.

Karnataka — 2nd innings: K.V. Aneesh (batting) 37, Rohan Patil c Sakariya b Panwar 38, Aneeshwar Gautam c Prerak b Bhut 3, Karun Nair (batting) 19; Extras (lb-2): 2; Total (for two wkts. in 26 overs): 99.

Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-56.

Saurashtra bowling: Sakariya 4-0-21-0, Bhut 11-1-31-1, Panwar 4-0-23-1, Jani 3-0-12-0, Prerak 2-0-8-0, Gajjar 2-0-2-0.

Published – October 20, 2026 06:56 pm IST

Sai Kishore, who took a hat-trick against Uttarakhand, said he focused on performing consistently.
| Photo Credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM

Delhi skipper Ayush Badoni in action during the second day of the Ranji Trophy match against Gujarat, at the Palam B ground in Delhi, on October 19, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Pradosh Ranjan Paul slammed a gritty 136 (279b, 12×4) to help Tamil Nadu secure a healthy 179-run lead over Uttarakhand on day two of the second-round Ranji Trophy (Elite Group-D) clash in Chennai on Monday (October 19, 2026).

Also read | Ranji Trophy: Gurjapneet Singh, Sai Kishore star as Tamil Nadu enjoys near-perfect day

Known for his flamboyant style, Pradosh shunned his natural attacking instincts to grind down the opposition bowlers and put his team in a position of strength.

At stumps, Uttarakhand was 9 for one in its second innings after Sai Kishore dismissed opener Aarav Mahajan in the first over.

Earlier, resuming at 85 for two, Pradosh and B. Indrajith (77) showed strong technique and temperament to keep the visitors at bay in the opening session.

The duo relied on solid defence and were content to chip away gradually, without being aggressive, during their 171-run third-wicket alliance.

While the Uttarakhand tweakers bowled tight lines and attacked the stumps, their lengths were a touch too full as they tried to bowl into the rough, allowing the batters to get away without risk. Pradosh started the day by hitting J. Suchith down the track for a boundary and guided Janmejay Joshi to the third-man fence to bring up his half-century.

Unlike the first day, the pacers had little to work with. Though the spinners got some assistance, the slowness of the surface allowed the batters to comfortably play off the back foot.

Indrajith, known for his strong technique against spin, used the depth of the crease to work the bowlers away off the back foot. He also stepped down occasionally to smother the spin, forcing the bowlers off their lengths.

As he neared his century, Pradosh hit Aditya Rawat for a couple of boundaries down the ground to bring up his ninth First-Class ton.

The visitors, though, fought back with the second new ball after lunch. Left-arm spinner Mayank Mishra was the pick of the bowlers, scalping five for 118.

The harder ball enabled the spinners to extract more from the pitch, with the odd delivery keeping low as Mishra and off-spinner Avneesh Sudha (four for 34) ran through the middle and lower order.

Mishra trapped Indrajith leg-before with a delivery that scooted low, and then accounted for vice-captain Andre Siddarth, who dragged one onto his stumps while attempting a cut.

For the second game in succession, T.N. collapsed from a solid platform, going from 235 for two to 313 all out. However, Pradosh’s fine knock has ensured Sai Kishore’s men hold a decisive edge in this contest.

Scorecard

Uttarakhand — 1st innings: 134

Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: R. Vimal Khumar c Saurabh b Bora 0, N. Jagadeesan b Sudha 37, Pradosh Ranjan Paul lbw b Mishra 136, B. Indrajith lbw b Mishra 77, Andre Siddarth b Mishra 18, Nidhish Rajagopal b Avneesh 12, R. Sai Kishore c & b Mishra 3, J. Hemchudeshan b Avneesh 0, S. Ajith Ram lbw b Mishra 3, Gurjapneet Singh b Raichandani b Avneesh 7, Saravana Kumar not out 6; Extras (b-12, nb-2 ): 14

Total (in 109): 313.

Fall of wickets: 0-1, 2-64, 3-235, 4-257, 5-282, 6-295, 7-296, 8-298, 9-307

Uttarakhand bowling: Bora 16-3-37-1, Joshi 9-1-35-0, Aditya 7-1-27-0, Mishra 37-5-118-5, Avneesh 20-6-34-4, Suchith 19-5-44-0, Raichandani 1-0-6-0.

Uttarakhand – 2nd innings: Aarav Mahajan c Indrajith b Sai Kishore 0, Dega Nischal not out 5, Kunal Chandela not out 4,

Fall of wickets: 0-1

Total (for one wicket in 7 overs): 9

Tamil Nadu bowling: Sai Kishore 4-2-6-1, Gurjapneet Singh 1-0-1-0, Ajith Ram 2-0-2-0.

Published – October 19, 2026 07:21 pm IST

If Andhra seized the initiative on day one, Hyderabad needed little time to wrest it back in their Ranji Trophy 2026-27 clash at the ACA Stadium in Mulapadu on Monday.

Mohammed Siraj set the tone early, a pinpoint yorker sending Abhishek Reddy’s off stump cartwheeling with the first ball of the day. He extracted both swing and bounce, and on more than one occasion came within a whisker of another breakthrough.

When the seamers could make no further inroads, the ball went to Tanay Thyagarajann, and the spinner struck with his very first delivery. Hemanth Reddy danced down the track to smother the turn, only to miss, and wicketkeeper Pragnay Reddy whipped off the bails.

Ricky Bhui and Shaik Rasheed then began to stitch Andhra’s innings back together, until Tanay ran out Bhui to end a promising 59-run stand. Rasheed dug in, his 92-ball fifty keeping Andhra steady going into lunch.

“More than my five-wicket haul, the run out was more important. That partnership looked threatening and Andhra would’ve done much better if they could build on it,” Tanay told The Hindu.

If the home side had grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck in the second session on Sunday, it was Hyderabad’s turn to do the same on day two, with Tanay once again at the heart of it, as he had been against Tripura in the previous round.

Rasheed was trapped leg before by the left-armer, and with him went Andhra’s resistance. S.V. Rahul and Revanth Reddy, who had both shone with the bat against Karnataka, fell leg before to Aniketh Reddy and Tanay, respectively, leaving Andhra reeling at 148 for six. Andhra eventually capitulated for 184, with Tanay snapping up two more wickets.

In a role reversal from the first innings, Tanmay Agarwal played the aggressor as Abhirath Reddy happily settled in as anchor, with Hyderabad briskly building on a 91-run lead.

Tanmay got a slice of luck when the on-field umpire adjudged him leg before off K. Sai Teja, only for the third umpire to step in and rule it a no-ball. But the medium pacer would not be denied later, removing both Abhirath and Rahul Singh as Hyderabad closed the day on 78 for two.

Scoreboard

Hyderabad: 1st innings: 275

Andhra:

1st innings: Hemanth Reddy st Pragnay b Tanay 10, Abhishek Reddy b Siraj 5, Shaik Rasheed lbw b Tanay 61, Ricky Bhui run out 28, S.V. Rahul lbw b Aniketh 27, Revanth Reddy b Tanay 12, K.V. Sasikanth lbw b Tanay 14, Saurabh Kumar b Tanay 1, T. Vijay (batting) 25, Lalith Mohan b Aniket 0, K. Sai Teja run out 0; Extras (nb-1): 1; Total (in 63 overs): 184.

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-32, 3-91, 4-112, 5-128, 6-148, 7-149, 8-164, 9-165.

Hyderabad bowling: Tanay 20-4-63-5, Aniketh 18-1-60-2, Siraj 11-2-31-1, Milind 7-1-13-0, Ruthik 7-0-17-0.

Hyderabad:

2nd innings: Tanmay Agarwal (batting) 49, Abhirath Reddy lbw b Sai Teja 23, Rahul Singh lbw b Sai Teja 2; Extras (lb-3 nb-1): 4; Total (for two wkts. in 23 overs): 78

Fall of wickets: 1-71, 2-78.

Andhra bowling: Saurabh 9-1-24-0, Vijay 8-0-36-0, Lalith 3-0-11-0, Sai Teja 3-1-4-2.

Published – October 19, 2026 07:14 pm IST

Honours were even between Karnataka and Saurashtra on day two of their Ranji Trophy match at the Alur Grounds near here on Monday.

From an overnight 281 for eight, Karnataka finished on 342, with Manvanth Kumar completing his maiden First Class century (135, 214b, 11×4, 6×6).

Saurashtra began its reply strongly as Hetvik Kotak (46, 127b, 5×4) and Harvik Desai (77, 78b, 11×4, 1×6) put on 110 for the opening wicket.

But the hosts pulled things back either side of tea, reducing Saurashtra to 128 for four. Arpit Vasavada (25 batting) and Prerak Mankad (13 batting) kept vigil for a little over 13 overs to help their side close at 164 for four. But the visitors are still 178 runs in the red.

Setback for Kaverappa

For Karnataka, a source of worry will be the fitness of pacer Vidwath Kaverappa as he limped off holding his right calf while bowling his 13th over. The 27-year-old had just returned after recovering from a left ankle injury sustained in the Duleep Trophy a month and a half ago.

On the day, it was the short-ball ploy that worked well for Karnataka, with Harvik, Gohil and Hetvik all falling prey. Chirag Jani was the other batter to be dismissed, playing on to a delivery from Abhilash Shetty.

Kaverappa precipitated the fall, forcing Harvik to attempt an ill-advised pull and having him caught by wicket-keeper K.L. Shrijith. Until then, the 27-year-old had played a chanceless knock, replete with pleasing drives and cuts. The six he hit off Karnataka captain Shreyas Gopal went out of the ground.

Lethal spell

Abhilash then accounted for Jani and Gohil in a seven-over spell that cost just 16 runs. The latter’s catch by Manvanth at the fine-leg boundary was stunning as he reached high for the ball, lobbed it up, skipped over the rope and came back in time to catch it again.

V. Vyshak excised the dogged Hetvik, with the batter’s hook landing in Aneeshwar Gautam’s safe palms at fine-leg. That wicket would have brought a sigh of relief, for Hetvik was grassed by Mayank Agarwal at gully off Manvanth when on 39.

Earlier in the morning, Manvanth got to a deserved hundred from 147 balls with a boundary to the third-man fence. The 22-year-old southpaw was reprieved on 94 by ‘keeper Harvik, but fortune, more often than not, favours the brave.

Manvanth was eventually caught off left-arm spinner Parth Bhut by the deep mid-wicket fielder running in, but not before giving Karnataka a solid footing in the contest.

Scoreboard

Karnataka:

1st innings: Rohan Patil lbw b Unadkat 6, Mayank Agarwal lbw b Unadkat 42, V. Vyshak b Sakariya 1, K.V. Aneesh c Harvik b Sakariya 59, Karun Nair c Kotak b Bhut 46, Aneeshwar Gautam c Harvik b Unadkat 4, K.L. Shrijith lbw b Bhut 21, Shreyas Gopal c Gajjar b Bhut 3, Manvanth Kumar c sub b Bhut 135, Abhilash Shetty (not out) 14, Vidwath Kaverappa c Sakariya b Bhut 1; Extras (lb-9, w-1): 10; Total (in 111.3 overs): 342.

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-13, 3-111, 4-131, 5-140, 6-183, 7-187, 8-194, 9-340.

Saurashtra bowling: Unadkat 24-3-61-3, Sakariya 23-3-67-2, Panwar 11-2-32-0, Jani 8-0-45-0, Bhut 28.3-4-89-5, Prerak 15-6-30-0, Gajjar 2-0-9-0.

Saurashtra:

ranji1st innings: Hetvik Kotak c Aneeshwar b Vyshak 46, Harvik Desai c Shrijith Kaverappa 77, Chirag Jani b Abhilash 1, Jay Gohil c Manvanth b Abhilash 0, Arpit Vasavada (batting) 25, Prerak Mankad (batting) 13; Extras (w-2): 2; Total (for four wkts. in 53 overs): 164.

Fall of wickets: 1-110, 2-113, 3-115, 4-128.

Karnataka bowling: Kaverappa 12.1-4-31-1, Vyshak 11-2-47-1, Abhilash 12.5-3-26-2, Manvanth 9-1-29-0, Shreyas 7-0-26-0, Karun 1-0-5-0.

Published – October 19, 2026 07:03 pm IST

Gurjapneet Singh celebrates the wicket of Dega Nischal.
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam