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International Domestic

Ranji Trophy 2019-20, Eighth Round: Gujarat, Saurashtra qualify for quarterfinals

7th Feb, 2020

Gujarat, Saurashtra qualified for the quarterfinals while Bengal and Bihar sealed come-from-behind wins as the Round VIII of the Ranji Trophy 2019-20 came to an end.

Hereā€™s how the action unfolded on Friday:

Bengal sealed a sensational win to pocket six points, beating Rajasthan by two wickets. Benagl had conceded a 118-run win in the first innings. However, Bengal bowlers kept their side in the game, limiting Rajasthan to 201. Bengal, who needed 320 runs to win, were 237/7 but Shahbaz Ahmed scored an unbeaten 61 to steer Bengal towards a victory. Arnab Nandi and Akash Deep, meanwhile, chipped in with 20 and 22 respectively.

In Patna, meanwhile, Rahmat Ullah, who scored hundreds in both the innings, starred as Bihar overcome their first-innings deficit to seal a six-wicket win over Arunachal Pradesh to bag six points. Despite conceding a 60-run lead in the first innings,

Bihar kept their hopes alive as skipper Ashutosh Amanā€™s six-wicket haul helped them restrict Arunachal Pradesh to 163. Needing 224 runs to win, Bihar were 15/3 before Rahmat Ullah, who had scored 140 in the first innings, once again came to Biharā€™s rescue, scoring an unbeaten 113. He was ably supported by Vikash Ranjan, who scored 55*, as Bihar beat Arunachal Pradesh.

In Rajkot, a Dharmendrasinh Jadeja-Kamlesh Makwana rearguard denied Mumbai a win and gave Saurashtra three points. Mumbai had conceded a 73-run lead in the first innings. However, they scored 362/7d on the back of Suryakumar Yadavā€™s quickfire 134 and Shams Mulaniā€™s 92. Shashank Attarde and Mulani then shared the spoils as Mumbai reduced Saurashtra to 83/7 in the chase of 289.

However, Jadeja and Makwana, who stitched an unbeaten 75-run partnership, batted for close to 40 overs, scoring 33* off 125 and 31* off 116 balls.

Maharashtra, meanwhile, sealed an outright win against Odisha to bag seven points. Maharashtra, who had taken a 250-run lead after scoring 543/5d, restricted Odisha to 289 in the second innings. Needing 40 runs to win, Maharashtra sealed a ten-wicket win as Rahul Tripathi and Ankit Bawne, who had scored an unbeaten double hundred in the first innings, chased down the target in 10 overs to seal Maharashtraā€™s fourth successive win.

Madhya Pradesh, meanwhile, pocketed three points after securing a first-innings lead against Karnataka in Shimoga. Karnataka, batting first, scored 426 but Madhya Pradesh rode on Aditya Shrivastavaā€™s 192 to sneak a five-run lead. Karnataka then scored 62/1 before the teams settled for a draw.

Gujarat and Railways too picked up three points against Delhi and Himachal Pradesh respectively.

Gujarat had taken a first-innings lead of 42 runs, scoring 335 and helped them bag three points and also qualified for this seasonā€™s Ranji Trophy quarterfinals. After declaring at 333/8 in the second innings, Delhi set a 292-run target for Gujarat. Gujarat then were 128/2, with the first-innings centurion Manprit Juneja batting on 51, before both the teams decided to shake hands.

At the Karnail Singh Stadium, Railways too rode on their first-innings lead to pocket three points. After limiting Himachal Pradesh to 283, Railways scored 545/7d on the back of Arindam Ghoshā€™s unbeaten 204. Himachal Pradesh though denied Railways an outright win, scoring 165/3 in the second innings.

There was no play on the final day of the Chhattisgarh versus Jharkhand game in Jamshedpur. Chhattisgarh had scored 559 in the first innings, and had enforced the follow-on after bowling out Jharkhand for 242 in the first innings. Jharkhand were 51/0 before stumps on Day three and with no play on the final day, Chhattisgarh had to settle for three points.

In Nagpur, Vidarbha and Kerala added a point each to their account. The wet outfield had denied any play on the third day and the same happened on the final day. Before that, Vidarbha had scored 326 in the first innings and in response, Kerala scored 191/3.