Ranji Trophy: Determined Saurashtra hold off reticent Karnataka to earn draw
Rajkot (PTI): Karnataka’s reluctance for an early declaration robbed them of the time to bowl out Saurashtra in their second innings as the Ranji Trophy Elite B match ended in a draw on the fourth and final day here on Saturday.
Saurashtra were 128 for five in their second innings on an uneven pitch when the match came to a close.
Just like in the first innings, leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal was Karnataka’s star in the second dig too, bagging three wickets to complete a match-haul of 11 wickets.
Chasing an improbable 229 in one and half sessions, Saurashtra were in a spot of bother at 43 for four in the 13th over, and they had 40 overs more to negotiate. Shreyas did all the damage upfront using the unpredictability of the track to the hilt, and the batters struggled to pick his quick off the surface googlies.
His delivery to dismiss Ansh Gosai underlined that point, as the Saurashtra right-hander looked to play a googly with static feet, but the ball zipped past him to crash on to the stumps. But Saurashtra’s fifth wicket pair of Gajjar Sammar (43 not out, 110 balls) and Jay Gohil (41, 73 balls), the concussion substitute for
Taranggohel, batted resolutely while adding 81 runs.
The stand, which lasted for 26 overs, ensured three points for Saurashtra, and Karnataka would rue their call to bat on well into the second session despite having a handy 180-plus lead.
A bold declaration at that point might have given Karnataka an extra hour to have a go at the hosts' batters, but they preferred to build a safety net around them with a few extra runs.
Earlier, in their second innings, Karnataka adopted a rather aggressive approach with skipper Mayank Agarwal leading their effort with a 64.
Wicketkeeper batter KL Shrijith gave him good backing with a 30-ball 31.
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Rupee falls 9 paise to record low of 90.87 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee plunged 9 paise to a record low of 90.87 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday, weighed down by sustained FII outflows and no breakthrough in the India-US trade deal.
However, a weaker greenback and a decline in global crude oil prices capped further losses in the domestic unit, according to forex traders.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at its all-time low of 90.87 against the US dollar, down 9 paise from its previous close, and traded in a narrow range of 90.77- 90.87 in early trade.
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The rupee on Monday settled at a new all-time low of 90.78 against the US dollar, registering a loss of 29 paise over its previous close, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
"The US-India trade deal still seems to be off by a distance with the Commerce Secretary saying the first phase will be signed before the end of the year and news that we are closest to the deal being signed. The uncertainty has clouded the recovery on the USD/INR pair as the rupee opened lower with dollar buying happening every day," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.
Even a reduction in trade deficit on Monday could not bring about a recovery in the rupee with Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) outflows continuing, he added
According to the latest government data released on Monday, India's trade deficit narrowed to a five-month low of USD 24.53 billion in November, as exports rebounded by 19.37 per cent to a six-month high of USD 38.13 billion after contracting in October, driven by higher shipments of engineering and electronics goods.
At the same time, the country's imports dipped by 1.88 per cent to USD 62.66 billion due to a fall in the inbound shipments of gold, crude oil, coal, and coke.
FIIs sold equities worth Rs 1,468.32 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
Also, wholesale price inflation stayed in the negative for the second consecutive month in November at (-) 0.32 per cent, even though there was an uptick in prices of food articles like pulses and vegetables on a month-on-month basis, government data showed on Monday.
Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was at (-) 1.21 per cent in October and 2.16 per cent in November last year.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.03 per cent lower at 98.27.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.61 per cent lower at USD 60.19 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index, Sensex, declined 363.92 points to 84,849.44 in early trade while the Nifty was down 106.65 points to 25,920.65.
