Written by Tanisha Cardozo || Team Allycaral Sports Desk
Goa suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Madhya Pradesh by three wickets in their Ranji Trophy Group B encounter at the GCA Academy Ground in Porvorim. Despite entering the final day with hopes of dismissing the visitors by taking the remaining nine wickets, Goa could only manage six, as Madhya Pradesh successfully chased down a 328-run target in 94 overs, finishing at 7 for 328.
Resuming their innings at 21 for 1 on the fourth and final day, Madhya Pradesh’s openers Harsh Gawali and captain Himanshu Mantri extended the total to 49 before Arjun Tendulkar dismissed Mantri for 22, giving Goa their first breakthrough of the day. Gawali went on to complete a fine half-century, scoring 54 before falling to left-arm spinner Darshan Misal. His partnership of 57 runs with Shubham Sharma for the third wicket kept Madhya Pradesh steady in their pursuit.
Shubham Sharma, who top-scored with 72, added another crucial 70-run stand with Harpreet Singh Bhatia (35), putting Goa under increasing pressure. Off-spinner Lalit Yadav broke through twice in quick succession, dismissing both Harpreet and Sharma to reduce Madhya Pradesh to 176 for 4. Goa seemed to regain some control when they removed Rishabh Chauhan and Aryan Pandey, leaving the visitors wobbling at 263 for 7, still 65 runs away from victory.
However, Saransh Jain and Arshad Khan displayed composure under pressure, putting together an unbeaten partnership that sealed the match. Jain remained not out on 82, while Arshad contributed 25 as Madhya Pradesh reached the target with three wickets to spare.
For Goa, Lalit Yadav and Darshan Misal were the pick of the bowlers, claiming two wickets apiece. Arjun Tendulkar, V. Koushik, and Mohit Redkar chipped in with one each but were unable to make decisive breakthroughs on the final day.
With this result, Goa slipped to third place in the Group B standings with one win, one loss, and two draws from four matches, accumulating 11 points. They will next face Saurashtra at the Niranjan Shah Stadium Ground ‘C’ in Rajkot from November 16, hoping to bounce back strongly and reclaim their momentum in the domestic season.
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