Mumbai, Jan 29 (IANS) Mohit Avasthi’s sixth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket left Mumbai in control of the Elite Group D by reaching a strong position in the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 against Delhi at the BKC-Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy in Mumbai on Thursday, despite Sanat Sangwan hitting 118 off 218 balls.

Delhi were bowled out for 221 late in the day, with Avasthi claiming 5-62, including taking three scalps in a span of six runs, while Shams Mulani and Tushar Deshpande took two wickets apiece. Apart from a gritty Sangwan being the top run-getter for Delhi, Vaibhav Kandpal and Pranav Rajvanshi added 32 and 39, respectively.

Mumbai, who have already qualified for the knockouts, ended the day at 13/1 after Divij Mehra dismissed Akash Anand, with the play ending early due to poor visibility caused by dust coming from construction in the nearby areas, which led to the likes of Sarfaraz Khan and Musheer Khan wearing masks while fielding.

In Amtar, left-arm seamer Sunil Kumar picked up five wickets to bowl Himachal out for 168 and put Jammu and Kashmir in a strong position. J&K ended the day at 20 without loss and already holds the advantage over HP in a must-win tie to enter the knockouts.

In Pondicherry, Rajasthan were dismissed for 168 against Puducherry, with Karan Kannan taking 5-37 and Sagar Udeshi picking 3-54. Deepak Choudhary’s 64 was the lone batting resistance act for Rajasthan. Puducherry replied with 77/2, captain Neyan Shyam Kangayan unbeaten on 41 alongside Ramamoorthy Ragavan, who’s not out on 20.

In Hyderabad, Chhattisgarh posted 283 against the hosts, thanks to Prateek Yadav’s 106 and Vikalp Tiwari’s 94. India pacer Mohammed Siraj led Hyderabad’s attack with 4-56. Hyderabad replied strongly, reaching 56-0 at stumps with Aman Rao on 32 and Abhirath Reddy on 23 and trailing Chhattisgarh by 227 runs.

This round of Ranji Trophy Elite Group matches is quite important, as the event moves into the final phase of the season.

--IANS

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