Ranji Trophy 2017-18, Quarterfinals: Day 4 Review

Karnataka became the first team to seal their spot in the semifinal on the fourth day of the ongoing knockout games in the Ranji Trophy. They defeated Mumbai by an innings and 20 runs in the game which was completely dominated by them from the word go. In the remaining three matches, Bengal and Vidarbha have virtually batted their opposition out of the game by extending their respective leads beyond 600 and 500 runs. However, Delhi needs 208 more runs on the final day against Madhya Pradesh and are expected to chase it down easily.

Mumbai go down fighting

Mumbai’s indifferent Ranji campaign this year came to an end finally on the fourth day after the clash of the heavyweights was won by Karnataka who were at their best from the first day. Mumbai started the day with only seven wickets in hand and fought until the end but to no avail. Suryakumar Yadav smashed a brilliant century as Shivam Dubey also tried to delay the inevitable but the writing was on the wall for them. Yadav was run-out on 108 as Akash Parkar was also dismissed for a well-made 65.

It was Dubey’s knock of 71 which took them close to the first innings lead of Karnataka. K Gowtham starred with the ball in the second innings and took a six-fer to break the back of the star-studded Mumbai line-up. Vinay Kumar, the hat-trick bowler from the first innings, also picked a couple of wickets and was also named Man of the Match for his efforts. Karnataka would have an extra day off now and would be eagerly watching other games to know their opponent in the semifinals.

Kerala and Gujarat virtually knocked out

Vidarbha owned the day and match completely with an improved batting effort in the second attempt as they have extended their lead beyond 500 runs going into the final day. The skipper Faiz Fazal and Apoorv Wankhede slammed centuries and they were well supported by the half-centuries of Ganesh Satish and Wasim Jaffer. Kerala bowlers were toothless and could pick only 5 wickets in the whole day conceding 359 runs. Vidarbha are on the brink to qualify for the last four and the final day proceedings will confirm it.

Much like Vidarbha, Bengal too have annihilated Gujarat with the bat in the second innings. Writtick Chatterjee scored a heroic double century and batted whole day to remain unbeaten on 213 runs. They have extended their lead up to 613 runs which is impossible to chase now for the defending champions. Gujarat surrendered their strong position on day 1 with a poor batting effort and Bengal have dominated the game since then. Only formalities are left now on the final day to confirm their entry in the semifinals as Ranji Trophy is set to have a new winner this season.

Delhi favourites to win against MP

Delhi openers saw out the tricky period of three overs before stumps while chasing the target of 217 runs against Madhya Pradesh. The first innings lead proved to be gold dust for them as they skittled out MP for 283 in the second innings. Vikas Mishra and Vikas Tokas shared seven wickets between them as they bamboozled MP batsmen. Harpreet Singh and Puneet Datey fought with their timely half-centuries but they couldn’t stretch the lead past 216.

Having said that, MP sill have a realistic chance as it would not be easy to chase 200+ score on the fifth-day wicket. Few quick wickets in the mornings would surely make the things interesting for them. Delhi, on the other hand, would bank on their seniors to steer them home in a tricky chase and make it to the semis in what has been a breakthrough season for them.

Brief Scores:

1st Quarterfinal: Gujarat v Bengal

Bengal 354 (A Easwaran 129, A Majumdar 94; I Chaudhary 5/87) & 483/4 (W Chatterjee 213*, A Easwaran 114)

Gujarat 224 (B Merai 67, P Patel 47; A Dinda 3/48, A Boddupalli 3/53)

2nd Quarterfinal: Delhi v Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh 338 (H Singh 107*, A Dane 59; M Sharma 4/46) & 283 (H SIngh 78, P Datey 60; V Mishra 4/59, V Tokas 3/64)

Delhi 405 (D Shorey 78, K Chandela 81, H Singh 71; M Hirwani 5/89) & 8/0

3rd Quarterfinal: Kerala v Vidarbha

Vidarbha 246 (A Wadkar 53; KC Akshay 5/66) & 431/6 (F Fazal 119, A Wankhede 107; J Saxena 3/106)

Kerala 176 (J Saxena 40; R Gurbani 5/38)

4th Quarterfinal: Kerala v Mumbai

Mumbai 173 (D Kulkarni 75; V Kumar 6/34, S Aravind 2/45) & 377 (S Yadav 108, S Dubey 71; K Gowtham 6/104)

Karnataka 570 (S Gopal 150*, M Agarwal 78, CM Gautam 79, M Abbas 50; S Dubey 5/98)