Maharashtra ensure bonus point with 10-wicket victory over Himachal Pradesh

Pune: Hosts Maharashtra took home a bonus point with an emphatic 10-wicket victory over Himachal Pradesh in their Group C Ranji Trophy match, here on Wednesday.

Maharashtra got seven points from the encounter after successfully chasing down the victory target of 60 runs on the fourth and final day of their match. Trailing by 260 runs in their second innings, Himachal Pradesh were bowled out for 319 runs in 98.1 overs, leaving a target of 60 runs for the hosts which they reached without any fuss. For Himachal Pradesh, it was a matter of getting a point from the match by batting through the day. Lot of hopes were pinned on Paras Dogra and skipper Rishi Dhawan to bat long hours. However, Dogra (62) and Dhawan (60) could not carry on for long and any hopes of saving the match was gone for the visitors. Abhinav Bali too played a handy knock of 54 but it was the lack of big partnerships which did them in. For Maharashtra, medium pacer Anupam Sanklecha shone with the ball with a three-wicket haul. He was ably supported by Samad Fallah (2/89), Shrikant Mundhe (2/71) and Chirag Khurana (2/45). Maharashtra did not take much time to complete the formalities and required 13.1 overs to overhaul the target with Harshad Khadiwale (26) and Rohit Motwani (33) remaining unbeaten. Brief Scores: Himachal Pradesh 228 & 319 all out in 98.1 overs Maharashtra: 488 for 6 decl and 63 for 0 in 13.1 overs. Points: Maharashtra 7, Himachal Pradesh 0.