J and K beat Maharashtra by 54 runs in Ranji Trophy Group C match

Debutant Digvijay Deshmukh's gritty 83 while batting at number 8 went in vain as Jammu and Kashmir beat Maharashtra by 54 runs on the final day of their Ranji Trophy Group C match here on Friday.

In his debut first class match, the 21-year-old Deshmukh was the lone Maharashtra batsman who made a semblance of a fight as his 83 came from just 71 deliveries from which he hit seven boundaries and five sixes but his effort came too late in the day and he did not get support from the other end.

Set a big target of 364 for a win, Maharashtra resumed at their overnight score of 192 for 5, requiring 172 more runs, but they were bowled out for 309 in 86.1 overs in their second innings.

For Jammu & Kashmir, right-arm medium-pacers Mohammed Mudhasir (4 for 83) and Umar Nazir (4/86) did most of the damage. Nazir finished with match figures of 9 for 116. He got the crucial wicket of experienced Ankit Bawane (32), who could add only one more run to his overnight score.

The home team could not build on the century partnership of the first wicket between Ruturaj Gaikwad (78), who is part of the Chennai Super Kings squad in the IPL, and MS Trunkwala (54).

However, the fall of three wickets in the space of 13 runs pegged Maharashtra back from which they could not recover.

J & K took their tally in Group C to 12 points after Friday's win.

In other matches of the group, Chhattisgarh thrashed Uttarakhand by an innings and 65 runs while Odisha also outplayed Services by an innings and 31 runs.

Brief Scores:

Jammu & Kashmir 209 all out in 63.5 overs (Ahmed Banday 76, Abid Mushtaq 50; A Sanklecha 4/56, DR Deshmukh 2/15) and 263 all out in 71.3 over (Suryansh Raina 83, Abdul Samad 78, Fazil Rashid 43; DR Deshmukh 4/46, SS Bachhav 3/35) beat Maharashtra 109 all out in 41.1 overs (MS Trunkwala 31; Umar Nazir 5/40, Abid Mushtaq 2/23) and 309 all out in 86.1 overs (Digvijay Deshmukh 83, Ruturaj Gaikwad 71, MS Trunkwala 54, Ankit Bawane 32; M Mudhasir 4/84, Umar Nazir 4/86).

J&K: 6 points, Maharashtra: 0.

At Raipur: Uttarakhand 120 all out in 37.5 overs (D Negi 29; AJ Mandal 3/17, PM Datey 3/42) and 335 all out in 132.4 overs (D Negi 69, SA Rawat 61, Tanmay Srivastava 58; AJ Mandal 5/60, Omkar Verma 3/40) lost to Chhattisgarh 520 for 7 declared for 6 in 122 overs (AN Khare 192, Ajay Mandal 241 not out, Pradeep Chamoli 4/95).

Chhattisgarh: 7, Uttarakhand: 0.

At Cuttack: Services 271 all out in 66.1 overs (NH Verma 53, RS Paliwal 58, Rahul Singh 55; Basant Mohanty 6/69) and 238 all out in 81.1 overs (VS Hathwala 71, AM Bamal 40; Rajesh Mohanty 3/44, AS Raut 3/47) lost to Odisha 540 in 160.2 overs (Debasish Samantray 195, Biplab Samantray 73, Suryakant Pradhan 64, Debrata Pradhan 57, AR Sarangi 37; AM Bamal 4/116).

Odisha: 7 points, Services: 0.