With a win against Haryana, Jharkhand are set to make their maiden appearance in the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy. Shahbaz Nadeem played a key role in the team’s win the 2016-17 quarter-final. The spinner claimed 11 (7/79 and 4/78) wickets in the game and is the highest wicket-taker for the season for the second time in a row. While Virat Singh scored a crucial century in the first innings, Ishan Kishan propelled Jharkhand’s chase with a sparkling 61-ball 86 comprising six sixes.
The match in Raipur witnessed another exciting day as Mumbai and Hyderabad fought hard on for the fourth day as well. However, Vijay Gohil’s five-for after setting Hyderabad a stiff target has put the defending champions in a commanding position at stumps.
Powered by Samit Gohil’s maiden double-century (261*), Gujarat extended their lead to 578 runs against Odisha. The Parthiv Patel-led team are set to enter the next phase of the tournament.
Ranji Trophy 2016-17 QF, Day 4 Re-cap:
Mumbai vs Hyderabad in Raipur: Mumbai 1st inn 294/10 (S Lad 110, A Nayar 59, CV Milind 5/80, Mohd. Siraj 4/64); Hyderabad 1st inn 280/10 in 125.1 overs (T Agarwal 82, S Kolla 44, A Nayar 4/60, V Gohil 3/59, S Thakur 2/45); Mumbai 2nd inn 217/10 in 83.2 overs (A Tare 57, S Lad 46, Mohd. Siraj 5/52); Hyderabad 2nd inn 121/7 in 42 overs (B Anirudh 40*, V Gohil 5/28) Need 111 to win
With the match precariously poised when play began on the fourth day, Praful Waghela and Aditya Tare had added eight runs to the total when the former was bowled by CV Milind reducing Mumbai to 110 for four. 37 runs later, the Mumbai captain’s stumps were disrupted by Mohammed Siraj. While left-arm spinner Mehdi Hassan accounted for Abhishek Nayar, leg-spinner Akash Bhandari claimed Siddhesh Lad and Shardul Thakur to reduce Mumbai to 202 for eight.
Pacers Milind and Siraj then claimed the tail-enders to bowl Mumbai out for 217 in the second session and give Hyderabad an opportunity to chase a competitive target.
Having set Hyderabad a 232-run target, Nayar claimed Akshath Reddy in the fourth over to give Mumbai their first breakthrough. While the medium-pacer also claimed B Sandeep later in the innings, Vijay Gohil tipped the balance in Mumbai’s favour with his second five-for of the season. The 21-year old left-arm spinner claimed the key wicket of S Badrinath (1) as he ran through the middle-order.
At the end of day’s play, B Anirudh was batting on 40 with Milind yet to open his account. At stumps, Hyderabad needed 111 runs to win with three wickets in hand while Mumbai need three wickets to claim a spot in the semi-finals.
Gujarat vs Odisha in Jaipur: Gujarat 1st inn 263/10 in 95.4 overs (C Gandhi 81, R Kalaria 73, B Mohanty 5/68); Odisha 1st inn 199/10 in 73.1 overs (D Behera 41*, J Bumrah 5/41); Gujarat 2nd inn 514/8 in 176 overs (S Gohil 261*, D Singh 5/139) Lead by 578 runs
Resuming Gujarat’s second innings on 246 for three, Samit Gohil anchored the team to 514 until the end of day’s play. He was batting on 261 at the end of day’s play and had taken the team’s lead to a mammoth 578 runs. Blunting the Odisha attack, he has put the Parthiv Patel-led team firmly in the driver’s seat as they look forward to the spot in the semi-final.
Haryana vs Jharkhand in Vadodara: Haryana 1st inn 258/10 in 95.3 overs (S Pahal 39, S Nadeem 7/79); Jharkhand 1st inn 345 all out (V Singh 107, I Jaggi 77, S Nadeem 34, H Patel 4/46, Y Chahal 3/85); Haryana 2nd inn 262/10 in 97.1 overs (C Bishnoi 52, S Nadeem 4/78, S Quadri 3/75); Jharkhand 2nd inn 178/5 in 30.2 overs (I Kishan 86, S Pahal 2/36) Jharkhand won by 5 wickets
After resuming on 146 for two on the fourth morning, Haryana were bowled out for 262 by the Shahbaz Nadeem-led attack. The senior left-arm spinner who has tested Jharkhand’s opponents on various occasions wrecked the lineup on the penultimate day. He set the tone of for the day with the wicket of Shivam Chauhan followed by Rajat Paliwal. While C Bishnoi was sent back by Kaushal Singh, RP Sharma was Nadeem’s third scalp which left Haryana on 188 for six. As they bowled Haryana out to set up the win, the spinner finished with a four-for in the second innings.
Ishan Kishan then led the 176-run chase with a blistering 61-ball 86. Opening the innings for Jharkhand, the youngster helped the team to 139 until he was sent back by S Pahal. With the victory in sight, Jharkhand lost three more wickets before Kaushal took the team to finish line with a day to spare.
Tamil Nadu vs Karnataka in Vizag: Kar 1st inn 88/10 in 37.1 overs (M Pandey 28, A Crist 6/31, T Natarajan 3/18); TN 1st inn 152/10 in 53.3 overs (D Karthik 31, Sreenath Arvind 3/16, S Gopal 2/1); Kar 2nd inn 150/10 in 38.1 overs (KL Rahul 77, K Vignesh 4/53, T Natarajan 3/40); TN 2nd inn 87/3 in 19.3 overs (D Karthik 41*, A Mithun 1/7) TN won by 7 wickets
