Debutant Digvijay Deshmukh displayed grit in his knock of 83 but ended up on the losing side as Jammu & Kashmir defeated Maharashtra by 54 runs in a Group C contest at the MCA stadium here on Friday.

The 21-year-old Deshmukh was the only batsman from his team to provide resistance on Day Four as the rest of the batting crumbed around him. Set a target of 364, Maharashtra began Day Four on 192 for 5, and folded for 309.

Pace test

Among J&K’s bowlers, right-arm medium-pacers Mohammad Mudhasir (4 for 83) and Umar Nazir (4 for 86) did most damage. Nazir accounted for the crucial wicket of the experienced Ankit Bawne (32, 59b, 5x4), who could add only one run to his overnight score.

ROUND 2 DAY 4 | AS IT HAPPENED

Maharashtra couldn’t build on the solid foundation provided by its top order. Openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and M. S. Trunkwala put on 108 runs for the first wicket, but the quick fall of three wickets pegged the side back; it was a blow from which it couldn’t sufficiently recover.

Two out of two

With this win, J&K took its tally in Group C to 12 points.

In other Group C matches, Chhattisgarh thrashed Uttarakhand by an innings and 65 runs and Odisha defeated Services by an innings and 31 runs.

Brief scores In Pune: Jammu & Kashmir 209 (Ahmed Banday 76, Abid Mushtaq 50; A Sanklecha 4 for 56) and 263 (Suryansh Raina 83, Abdul Samad 78, D. R. Deshmukh 4 for 46) beat Maharashtra 109 (Umar Nazir 5 for 40) and 309 (Digvijay Deshmukh 83, Ruturaj Gaikwad 71, M. S. Trunkwala 54; M. Mudhasir 4 for 84, Umar Nazir 4 for 86) by 54 runs.

Points: J&K 6, Maharashtra 0.

In Raipur: Uttarakhand 120 (A. J. Mandal 3 for 17) and 335 (D. Negi 69, S. A. Rawat 61, Tanmay Srivastava 58; A. J. Mandal 5 for 60) lost to Chhattisgarh 520 for 7 dec. (Ajay Mandal 241 n.o., A. N. Khare 192, Pradeep Chamoli 4 for 95) by an innings and 65 runs.

Points: Chhattisgarh 7, Uttarakhand 0.