The fourth week of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 came to an end on Monday, with several notable performances grabbing the limelight across the participating teams. Vidarbha, Mumbai, Karnataka, Baroda, and Hyderabad have taken the top spot in the points table in their respective groups. The next round of matches is slated to begin on February 2.
Among the performances that stood out this past week was Rajasthan's Kunal Singh Rathore, who registered his maiden hundred in first-class cricket. Playing against Manipur at the Gujarat College Ground in Ahmedabad, Kunal smashed a swashbuckling 156 in 138 deliveries, which included 13 fours and 8 massive sixes. Courtesy of Kunal's ton and teammate Mahipal Lomror also getting to his century, Rajasthan posted an enormous total of 399/6 in response to Manipur's 159. The second innings saw Manipur folding for 198, conceding an innings defeat to Rajasthan.
His heroics with the bat aside, Kunal also shone with the wicketkeeping gloves. The 21-year-old took as many as 10 catches in the entire match, 7 of which came in the first innings itself.
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On the other hand, fast bowler Navdeep Saini was on song with the ball in Delhi's match against Uttarakhand at Mohali. Batting first, Delhi were bundled out for a miserly total of 147. In response, Uttarakhand managed to post 239, a score that could have been much more if it wasn't for Saini's attacking spells that disrupted the top and the middle order. The Royals pacer bowled 15 overs and gave away just 57 runs, maintaining an economy of under 4. He finished with four wickets in the match, his 5th such four-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Delhi bounced back strongly in the second innings on the back of their captain Himmat Singh's daring hundred and then dismissed Uttarakhand for a narrow 7-wicket win, a much-needed first victory in the tournament.
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