Gujarat completed their third straight win from as many games after they thumped Haryana by 238 runs in Valsad. They needed less than 10 overs on the final morning after Haryana added only 28 runs to their overnight score of 94 for 7. Seventeen-year-old left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai picked up his second five-wicket haul in only his second first-class game and finished with a match-haul of eight wickets. Veteran legspinner Piyush Chawla, meanwhile, claimed his 23rd five-for to go with his four wickets in the first innings.
Overnight batsman Harshal Patel was the first to be dismissed in the morning by Desai, following which Sanjay Pahal (41), the top-scorer for Haryana, was bowled by Chawla. Chawla then wrapped up things in his next over by having the last man Ashish Hooda caught behind. While Gujarat are on top of Group B with 19 points, Haryana are at the bottom after having lost all their three games.
Kerala needed only 8.5 overs on the final morning to brush aside Jammu & Kashmir by 158 runs and collect their third win from four games in Thiruvananthapuram. With 18 points, they are now second-placed behind Gujarat having played one extra game. Debutant right-arm spinner KC Akshay picked up all the three wickets to fall on the morning to claim his maiden five-wicket haul. Akshay, 21, ended up with a match haul of 9 for 58.
Resuming on 56 for 7, J&K lost their first wicket in the third over of the day after Asif Khan was cleaned up by Akshay. The remaining batsmen put up little resistance, as they were bowled out for 79. Only three batsmen got into the double digits. J&K are just one rung above bottom-placed Haryana in the standings. Sanju Samson was named man-of-the-match for his century in the first innings.
Saurashtra beat Jharkhand by six wickets to register their third win on the trot. Chasing 59, Saurashtra lost the opportunity to score seven points as they lost a few early wickets, but eventually completed it without much trouble. That meant they now have 20 points and have leapfrogged Kerala and Gujarat to the top of the table.
Resuming on 139 for 1 after being made to follow-on, Jharkhand lost Nazim Siddiqui, in the ninth over for 75. Sumit Kumar, who made 108, and Saurabh Tiwary put on 77 runs before the latter was bowled by left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja. Six overs later, Dharmendrasinh removed Sumit to leave Jharkhand on 259 for 4. Ishank Jaggi (35) and Ishan Kishan (34) added 56 runs before the floodgates opened, with Jharkhand slipping from 315 for 5 to 341 all out. Dharmendrasinh finished with four wickets.
