Ranji Trophy 2017-18, Quarterfinals: Day 5 Review

The quarterfinals of the ongoing Ranji Trophy ended on Monday with four teams making it to the semifinals of the first-class tournament in the India. Delhi became the second team after Karnataka to seal their semi-final spot as they chased down the required total on the final day in a canter. Kerala lost all their wickets on the final day in quest of quick runs against Vidarbha as the defending champions were knocked out by Bengal officially on the last day as the latter side batted throughout the last couple of days.

Gambhir shines for Delhi

The veteran Gautam Gambhir brought all his experience to the fore for Delhi on the final day during the chase of 217 against Madhya Pradesh. He missed out on a well-deserved century and was run-out agonisingly on 95 with only 13 runs required to win. Though he played extremely well coming in to bat after losing the first wicket early in the morning. He was well-supported by Kunal Chandela (57) and Dhruv Shorey (46*) as Delhi sealed their spot in the semi-finals with seven wickets in hand. They scored runs quickly and finished the game in the post-lunch session itself denying any slim chances to their opposition.

Vidarbha register huge win

Vidarbha defeated the spirited Kerala side by a huge 412 runs who looked to go after the improbable target of 577 on the last day. Their opponents declared on 507/9, a much better batting effort after taking a crucial lead of 70 runs in the first innings. Aditya Sarwate scalped a six-wicket haul for Vidarbha as Kerala capitulated trying to go after the target. Only Salman Nizar connected few shots as he scored 64 runs which included 4 fours and four sixes. Eventually, they were bundled out for 165 in the 53rd over.

Bengal knock Gujarat out

Bengal knocked the defending champions Gujarat out of the tournament on the basis of the first-innings lead. They batted for a whopping 231 overs and scored a gigantic total of 695 runs for the loss of just six wickets. Gujarat bowlers looked resigned to their fate as the result was confirmed on the fourth day itself. Writtick Chatterjee was dismissed on 216 as Anustup Majumdar scored the third century of the innings and remained unbeaten on 132. Both the sides shook hands during the second session as the play was also stopped for some due to bad light on the final day.

After five days of action, the semi-finalists have been decided as Delhi will take on Bengal in the first semi-final and Karnataka will lock horns with Vidarbha in the other one.

Brief Scores

1st Quarterfinal: Gujarat v Bengal

Bengal 354 (A Easwaran 129, A Majumdar 94; I Chaudhary 5/87) & 695/6 (W Chatterjee 216,A Majumdar 132*, A Easwaran 114)

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

Result: Draw (Bengal qualified for the semi-final on the basis of the first innings lead)

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) & 217/3 (G Gambhir 95, K Chandela 57)

Result: Delhi won by 7 wickets

3rd Quarterfinal: Kerala v Vidarbha

Vidarbha 246 (A Wadkar 53; KC Akshay 5/66) & 507/9decl (F Fazal 119, A Wankhede 107; KC Akshay 4/118)

Kerala 176 (J Saxena 40; R Gurbani 5/38) & 165 (S Nizar 64; A Sarwate 6/41)

Result: Vidarbha won by 412 runs

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)

Result: Karnataka won by an innings and 20 runs