Off-spinner Saransh Jain starred with best match figures of his first-class career as Madhya Pradesh crushed Bihar by an innings and 174 runs inside two days in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match at Holkar Stadium in Indore on Tuesday.The 33-year-old India bowler was virtually unplayable across both innings, claiming 13 wickets for 89 runs in the match. After rattling Bihar with figures of 7/40 in the first innings, Jain returned to grab 6/49 in the second as Bihar were bowled out for 134. The visitors had managed only 99 in their first essay.Jain’s match haul surpassed his previous career-best return of 9/71 and helped MP register their first victory of the season, including a bonus-point.For Bihar, the defeat marked a third consecutive loss of the campaign, leaving them searching for answers after another disappointing batting performance.Resuming Day 2 at 261 for three, the hosts built on their strong overnight position before declaring at 407 for eight. Captain Rajat Patidar converted his overnight unbeaten 21 into a pacy century, scoring 109 off 133 deliveries with 13 boundaries.It was Patidar’s second successive Ranji Trophy hundred after his 122 against Puducherry and continued a rich run of form that also included impressive performances for India A in the recent unofficial series against Australia A.Twenty-year-old debutant Saksham Purohit, who had reached three figures on the opening day, added 19 more runs before being dismissed for 132 by left-arm spinner Aditya Raj, who took two for 94. Amod Yadav was Bihar’s most successful bowler with 3 for 54.Facing a massive deficit, Bihar’s hopes of extending the contest evaporated quickly. Their second innings stumbled to 25 for two and then 45 for four as Jain once again found significant assistance from the surface.The lone bright spot for the visitors was Ayush Loharuka, who played a spirited counter-attacking knock of 76 not out off 66 balls, striking 10 fours and two sixes. Wicketkeeper-batter Sraman Nigrodh contributed 23, and together the pair stitched a 55-run stand for the fifth wicket.However, once Nigrodh departed with the score on 100, Bihar’s resistance ended abruptly. The visitors lost their last six wickets for just 34 runs, with no other batter reaching double figures.
