Mumbai, who have won the Ranji Trophy 41 times, were knocked out of the tournament on Sunday by Karnataka. Beginning the day on 120/3 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, Mumbai were bowled out for 377 as Karnataka won by an innings and 20 runs with a day to spare in the quarter-final clash.
Mumbai’s Surya Kumar Yadav made a defiant 108 before he was run out to open the doors for the eight-time title winners Karnataka to press ahead and complete the rout. Akash Parkar made 65, besides adding 98 runs for the fourth wicket with Yadav as the duo began the day for Mumbai.
Parkar also added 52 runs with Siddhesh Lad for the fifth wicket before being dismissed by off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham.
Captain Vinay Kumar, who bagged a hat-trick in his six-wicket haul in the first innings, got two crucial wickets of Lad and Mumbai captain Aditya Tare for a duck. Gowtham ran through the lower order to finish with a haul of 6 for 104.
There was some resistance towards the end when debutant Shivam Dube smashed four sixes and seven fours in making a brisk 71.
Dube, who also bagged a five-wicket haul in the Karnataka innings and became only the third Mumbai player to take five wickets and hit a half ton on debut, was finally caught at long on off Dube while trying to launch the bowler for his second six in the same over.
He had smacked leg spinner Shreyas Gopal for three sixes and added 44 runs for the tenth wicket with debutant Shivam Malhotra for company before falling to signal an end to his and Mumbai’s fight.
Brief scores: Mumbai 173 and 377 (Surya Kumar Yadav 108, Akash Parkar 65, Shivam Dube 71; K Gowtham 6 for 104) lost to Karnataka 570 by an innings and 20 runs.
Bowlers put Delhi on the brink of semis
Bowlers put Delhi on course for a memorable win by bowling out Madhya Pradesh for 283 in their second innings, giving their team a 217-run target to chase on day five of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal in Vijayawada.
Pacer Vikas Tokas (3/64) and left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra (4/59) did the bulk of the damage on day four to put their team in a strong position.
Delhi were eight for no loss at stumps with Kunal Chandela and Tokas in the middle.
MP, resuming the day at 37 for two, were on the backfoot straightaway on day four with the fall of Shubham Sharma and Naman Ojha.
Puneet Datey (60) and Devendra Bundela (33) then shared a 100-run stand, providing their team some much needed momentum before getting out in a space of four balls to make it 153 for six.
First innings centurion Harpreet Singh came to MP’s rescue once again with a fighting 78 off 126 balls. He also got good support from Mihir Hirwani (22) and Ankit Sharma (18) in taking his team past the 250-run mark.
Brief scores: Delhi 405 and 8/0 (Kunal Chandela 4, Vikas Tokas 4) versus Madhya Pradesh 338 and 283 (Harpreet Bhatia 78, Puneet Datey 60; Vikas Mishra 4/59).
Chatterjee bats Gujarat out of the contest
Writtick Chatterjee struck an unbeaten double hundred as Bengal took firm control of the contest against defending champions Gujarat with a day’s play left.
After Abhimanyu Easwaran (114) had done the primary job of deflating the Gujarat bowlers on the third day, Chatterjee scored a career-best 213 with Bengal grinding with a total of 483 for 4.
Easwaran duly completed his second century of the match – seventh in his 30-match first-class career. Easwaran’s knock had 13 boundaries and two sixes.
With an overall lead of 613, the final day’s play is as inconsequential as it can be unless Manoj Tiwary wants to press for an outright win against Parthiv Patel’s men.
Brief scores: Bengal 354 and 483/4 (Writtick Chatterjee 213, Abhimanyu Easwaran; Ishwar Chaudhary 2/70) versus Gujarat 224
Fazal, Wankhade tons pile the misery on Kerala
Centuries from captain Faiz Fazal (119) and Apoorv Wankhade (107) enabled Vidarbha take a firm control of their quarterfinal match against Kerala at the end of the fourth day’s play.
At the close of play, Vidarbha were comfortably placed at 431 for six, with an overall lead of 501 runs.
Resuming on 77 for one, overnight batsman Fazal, starting at a personal score of 51, went on score a 209-ball 119 that included 15 hits to the fence.
Wasim Jaffer (58) and Ganesh Satish (65) then contributed with half-centuries each, while lower-order batsman Wankhade’s quickfire 107 that came off just 94 deliveries, studded with six boundaries and five sixes, put the hosts in the driver’s seat.
Akshay Wadkar was batting on 20 and Karn Sharma was unbeaten on 4 when the stumps were drawn.
With Vidarbha already having taken a first-innings lead, they have all but made it to the semifinals.
For Kerala, Jalaj Saxena chipped in with three for 106.
Brief scores: Vidarbha: 246 & 431/6 in 124 overs (Faiz Fazal 119, Apoorv Wankhade 107; Jalaj Saxena 3/106) versus Kerala 1st innings: 176 all out