Tripura beat former champions Saurashtra by 133 runs for their first win of the season

Tripura bowled Saurashtra out for 208 on the final morning in Agartala to win by 133 runs and claim their first victory of the Ranji Trophy season

Saurashtra resumed the fourth day at 131 for 7, chasing 342 at the Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium, and lost Chetan Sakariya in the first over of the morning to Abhijit Sarkar.

Only Arpit Vasavada held Tripura up for any length of time. His 89 was more than twice the next-highest score of the innings, and Saurashtra were all out for 208 inside the first session.

The win comes a round after Tripura were beaten by an innings by Karnataka, and lifts them to seventh in Elite Group B on 6 points from four matches. Saurashtra, former champions, stay third on 13.

Sultan's five-for turns the first innings

Saurashtra won the toss and chose to field, and for a session the decision looked sound. Parth Bhut took 5-65 from 27 overs and Chetan Sakariya 3-39 as Tripura were dismissed for 268 in 92 overs.

Sridam Paul made 86 from 136 balls and Bikramjit Debnath 61 from 97, the pair carrying the innings past 250 after the top order had gone cheaply.

What followed decided the match. Parvez Sultan returned 5-25 from 15 overs and Sandip Sarkar 4-48 as Saurashtra were bowled out for 118 in 45.5 overs, a first-innings lead of 150 to the home side.

Vasavada top-scored with 38 from 97 balls. Sakariya's 31 was the only other score above 25.

Tripura make the target awkward

Tripura's second innings was no more comfortable than their first. Bhut took 3-52 from 22 overs for a match haul of eight wickets, and they were out for 191 in 64.4 overs.

Paul again led the batting with 50 from 84 balls, his second score of the match, and Sentu Sarkar made 46 from 95. Paul was named player of the match.

It left Saurashtra 342 to win on a surface that had already produced three completed innings inside three days, and no side in the match had passed 268.

Vasavada's lone resistance

Vasavada reached his fifty from 122 balls and batted on for 189 in all, farming the strike as the lower order fell away around him. Hetvik Kotak's 31 from 57 balls was the only supporting innings of substance.

His ninth-wicket stand of 59 with Neel Pandya was the one passage that troubled Tripura on the final morning, and it ended when Abhijit Sarkar dismissed Pandya for 9 to leave Saurashtra 191 for 9.

Vasavada was eventually run out for 89, beaten by a throw from the Tripura captain, Manishankar Murasingh.

The Sarkars finish it off

Sandip Sarkar took 4-81 from 26.3 overs in the second innings and eight wickets in the match. Abhijit Sarkar's 3-26 from 12 overs accounted for both ends of the Saurashtra resistance.

Between them the off-spinner and the seamer took seven of the ten second-innings wickets, Abhijit removing both Sakariya and Pandya on the final morning.

Where it leaves both sides

Tripura had beaten Himachal Pradesh and Goa in the Elite Group before this, but a win over a side of Saurashtra's standing on home soil is the most substantial result of their season so far.

Saurashtra, former champions, were dismissed for under 220 in both innings, and the defeat leaves them third in Elite Group B on 13 points from four matches.

Scorecard: Tripura 268 (Sridam Paul 86, Bikramjit Debnath 61; Parth Bhut 5-65, Chetan Sakariya 3-39) and 191 (Paul 50, Sentu Sarkar 46; Bhut 3-52) beat Saurashtra 118 (Arpit Vasavada 38; Parvez Sultan 5-25, Sandip Sarkar 4-48) and 208 (Vasavada 89, Hetvik Kotak 31; Sandip Sarkar 4-81, Abhijit Sarkar 3-26) by 133 runs.

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