Ranji Trophy: Anukul Roy, Shahbaz Nadeem spin Jharkhand to victory

All-rounder Anukul Roy returned with 4 for 63 while his senior partner Shahbaz Nadeem took his 25th five-for in first-class cricket as hosts Jharkhand romped to a nine-wicket victory over Services in their third-round match of Ranji Trophy in Jamshedpur on Friday.
The left-arm spinner duo shared all the nine Services wickets to fall on the last day of the Elite Group C match at Keenan Stadium between them to restrict the visitors’ second innings to 214, thereby needing just 31 to seal an outright win.
Jharkhand reached home easily in 7.5 overs, however, they missed the opportunity to secure the bonus point, too, as opener Ishan Kishan returned to the pavilion just two runs short of the target.
The win moved Jharkhand up to third position on the eight-team table with 10 points after three rounds. Services remained rooted to seventh spot with a solitary point, just above Puducherry who are yet to get any points.
For young left-arm orthodox spinner Roy, the game turned out to be his best outing in whites so far as his four-for in the second innings helped him to his maiden 10-wicket match haul in first-class cricket. His 10/130 from the game and a quick-fire 57 in the first innings also helped him to take home the Player of the Match award.
None of the Services batters except Arpit Guleria (77 off 118 balls, 11x4, 3x6) could offer much resistance to Nadeem and Roy’s spin on the last-day track as they lost wickets at regular intervals.
Meanwhile, in another match of the group, Kerala knocked off the target of 126 in just 19.1 overs to beat Chhattisgarh by seven wickets to pocket six points. Opener P Rahul hammered 66 off 58 balls (5 fours, 2 sixes) and added 86 runs for the first wicket with Rohan Kunnummal (40, 27 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes) to power the chase.
Brief scores: Services 367 & 214 all out in 74.2 overs (A Guleria 77, R Gahlaut 36; S Nadeem 5/78, A Roy 4/63). Jharkhand 551/8 decl. & 31/1 in 7.5 overs. Jharkhand won by an innings & 9 wkts. Points: Jharkhand 6, Services 0.