Ranji Trophy Group A: Mayank Agarwal guides Karnataka to quarter-finals

Mayank Agarwal hit his third hundred of the season as Karnataka plundered a hapless Uttar Pradesh bowling on the final day of their group A Ranji encounter to remain on top of the table with 26 points.

New Delhi: Mayank Agarwal hit his third hundred of the season as Karnataka plundered a hapless Uttar Pradesh bowling on the final day of their group A Ranji encounter to remain on top of the table with 26 points.

Karnataka along with Delhi (24 points) have now assured their entry into the quarter-finals with a match left.

None of the other five teams --- Hyderabad (15), Railways (14), Maharashtra (10), UP (5) and Assam (2) have any mathematical possibility of qualification even if they get bonus points in their last game.

While, Suresh Raina, again failed to lead the team to victory. He himself registered a three-ball duck on Sunday.

Having scored 655 runs in the first essay, Karnataka bowled out UP for 331 taking a huge lead of 324 runs.

However Karnataka skipper Vinay Kumar decided to give his bowlers a break as it would have been difficult to get 10 wickets in two sessions.

It was Agarwal (133 no) and fellow opener Ravikumar Samarth (126 no), who got easy runs against a demoralized UP attack adding 262 runs for the unbroken opening stand.

Agarwal played 171 balls hitting 12 boundaries and two sixes while Samarth played 11 boundaries and two sixes.

Agarwal now has 757 runs from five games at an astonishing average of 126.16 and is cirrently leading the run-scorers' charts.

In the first innings, Agarwal had scored 90. His career- best 304 came against Maharashtra while he hit 176 against Delhi in the previous game.

Brief Scores

In Kanpur: Karnataka 655 and 262/0 (Mayank Agarwal 133 no, Ravikumar Samarth 126). UP 331 (Umang Sharma 89, Rinku Singh 73, Shreyas Gopal 3/63). Match Drawn

Points: Karnataka 3; UP 1.

In Guwahati: Hyderabad 326 and (target 142) 144/6 (Ambati Rayudu 52). Assam 136 and 331 (Amit Sinha 122, M ravi Kiran 3/75). Hyderabad won by 4 wickets.