A round-up of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final matches played on Sunday.
Sai Kishore rules again as Tamil Nadu outlasts Saurashtra to enter semis
Tamil Nadu skipper R Sai Kishore stole the spotlight, this time with the ball, as his four-wicket haul helped his side thrash Saurashtra by an innings and 33 runs on Day 3 of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final in Coimbatore on Sunday.
As a result, TN became the first team to enter the semi-final this season, which will be played on March 2.
Resuming at the overnight score of 300 for 6 in their first innings, TN managed to add just 38 more to their total, with Ajith Ram staying unbeaten on 23.
However, TN took a lead of 155 against Saurahstra's 183, thanks to some commendable knocks from Sai Kishore (60), Baba Indrajith (80) and Boopathi Kumar (65).
It was a collective effort from the visiting bowling unit, with everyone chipping in with wickets, barring Prerak Mankad, who was the most economical of the lot (1.00). Chirag Jani claimed three.
Saurashtra began their second innings on a nervous note, losing three wickets for 48 runs, with Sandeep Warrier getting two of their top-order batters out cheaply -- Harvik Desai (4) and Sheldon Jackson (2).
The pair of Cheteshwar Pujara (46) and Arpit Vasavada (20) then stitched a 55-run stand for the fourth wicket and tried to bring Saurashtra innings somewhat back on track.
However, Mohamed Ali managed to get rid of Vasavada as the score read 103 for 4, before the floodgates were opened.
Saurashtra batters thereon were all dismissed for single-digit figures. Pujara, their highest scorer in this innings and this season, was the eighth wicket to fall at 111, with Sai Kishore, the competition's highest wicket-taker of the season, earning the prized wicket.
Eventually, the entire Saurashtra side were shot out for 122, handing the hosts their spot in the semi-final.
Besides Sai Kishore, who has an economy of 1.01, Warrier also provided great support in the TN bowling unit, capturing three wickets.
Brief Scores: Saurashtra 183 & 122 in 75.4 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 46; Sai Kishore 4/27) lost to Tamil Nadu 338 (Baba Indrajith 80; Chirag Jani 3/22) by an innings and 33 runs. PTI AYG
Mumbai take slender lead against Baroda
Mumbai: Mumbai were ahead by 57 runs at stumps after Baroda conceded a slender lead in the first innings, despite centuries from Shashwat Rawat and Vishnu Solanki on the third day of their ongoing Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, here on Sunday.
Mumbai, who posted 384 in the first innings, fought hard on the third day with the ball to eke out a lead of a mere 36 runs, with the visitors being bowled out for 348 on day three.
Shams Mulani took four for 121 to lead the fight for the hosts at the BKC Ground after the pair of Rawat and Solanki kept Mumbai wicketless for the first session, with both the Baroda batters eventually bringing up their respective centuries.
Rawat, who has been Baroda's leading run-scorer in the Ranji Trophy this season, scored 124 from 194 balls with 15 boundaries.
Rawat put on 174 runs for the third wicket with Solanki to consolidate for Baroda, as at one stage it appeared that the visiting side would be able to take the lead in the first innings — a vital aspect if the game ends in a draw.
On the other hand, Solanki led by example as the Baroda captain faced 291 balls with 14 fours to make 136 for his side in the first innings, but the others just could not produce much to stop Mumbai from taking the lead.
But Mumbai fought back through Tushar Deshpande (2/52) who accounted for both the centurions, while spinners Mulani and Tanush Kotian (2/49) teamed up to put the 41-time champions back in a commanding position.
None of the remaining Baroda batters troubled the scorers as Ninad Rathva's 18 was the highest individual contribution after the pair of Rawat and Solanki was separated.
Baroda were eventually bowled out for 348 and in reply, Mumbai reached 21 for one with Bhupen Lalwani dismissed for just six runs.
At the crease were wicketkeeper-batter Hardik Tamore on 12, who scored a crucial fifty in the first innings, with night-watchman Mohit Avasthi on three.
Bhargav Bhatt, who took a seven-wicket haul in the first innings, got Baroda the much-needed breakthrough when he had Lalwani caught by Rathva in the second innings.
Brief scores: Mumbai 384 & 21/1 in 12 overs (Hardik Tamore 12*; Bhargav Bhatt 1/12) lead Baroda 348 (Jyotsnil Singh 32, Shashwat Rawat 124, Vishnu Solanki 136; Shams Mulani 4/121) by 57 runs.
MP, Andhra set for thrilling finish
Indore: The Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match between Madhya Pradesh and Andhra was evenly poised at stumps on the third day here on Sunday, with both the teams having an equal opportunity to win the game and make it to the final four.
A contest in which the bowlers have dominated from the word go, Andhra were placed precariously at 95/4 and requiring another 75 runs to win with two days left, while the task for the hosts Madhya Pradesh at the Holkar Stadium would be to take the remaining six wickets.
But Andhra would feel confident going into the fourth day knowing that India batter Hanuma Vihari had dropped anchor to reach 43 not out from 109 balls with four boundaries.
Vihari's experience would be required for Andhra to get over the line especially when skipper and the leading run-scorer this season, Ricky Bhui (9), was dismissed cheaply for the second time in the game.
It all expedited with Madhya Pradesh being shot out for just 107 in their second innings in a little over 40 overs, with Nithish Kumar Reddy returning 10-2-28-4 and the others in KV Sasikanth and Lalith Mohan claiming three wickets apiece.
For Madhya Pradesh, wicketkeeper-batter Himanshu Mantri once again provided a crucial contribution scoring 43 from 107 balls with six hits to the fence as none of the other batters could make a dent.
Madhya Pradesh, who had taken a lead of 62 runs in the first innings and had resumed the third day's play at 21 for no loss, rolled over without any fight in the second innings which handed the advantage to the visiting side.
But Andhra were themselves guilty of being tentative with the bat in a chase of 170, losing their openers cheaply before the pair of Nithish and Vihari got together to settle the nerves.
Having taken a fine three-wicket haul in the first innings, Anubhav Agarwal was once again back to haunt the Andhra batters as he accounted for Revanth Reddy (9) and Nithish (20), while Kumar Kartikeya removed Prashant Kumar from the equation for six.
Saransh Jain produced a measly spell of 7-2-7-1 while accounting for the dangerous Bhui to keep the hopes high for his side heading into what should be the final day of this quarterfinal clash.
The tension in the Andhra camp was palpable with the fact that they took as many as 44 hours to get to 95/4.
At stumps, Vihari was holding on to one end with Karan Shinde unbeaten on five at the other end.
Brief scores: Madhya Pradesh 234 and 107 in 40.5 overs (Himanshu Mantri 43; Nithish Kumar Reddy 4/28, Lalith Mohan 3/20, KV Sasikanth 3/20) lead Andhra 172 and 95/4 in 44 overs (Hanuma Vihari 43*; Anubhav Agarwal 2/22) by 75 runs.
Thakur, Sarwate give Vidarbha command over Karnataka
Nagpur,: Yash Thakur and Aditya Sarwate shone bright as Vidarbha moved into a commanding position against Karnataka after swelling their lead to 224 runs on the third day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match here on Sunday.
Left-arm spinner Sarwate (3/50) and pacer Thakur (3/48) shared six wickets equally among them as Karnataka were bundled out for 286 in their first innings after resuming from overnight 98 for two.
It helped the hosts take a huge innings lead of 174 runs and Vidarbha closed day three at 50 for no loss in their second innings with openers and first-innings centurion Atharva Taide (21) and Dhruv Shorey (29) manning the crease.
Karnataka had an arduous task of closing the gap with Vidarbha.
Their biggest hope for that was the presence of in-form veteran Manish Pandey and handy middle and lower-order batters like Hardik Raj, Sharath Srinivas and Vysakh Vijayakumar.
But Pandey, a hundred-maker in the last match against Chandigarh, perished in the first session itself for 15, getting castled by Thakur.
Vice-captain Nikin Jose (82, 212b, 11x4) and Hardik combined to milk 50 runs for the fourth wicket as Karnataka innings seemed to have got back on tracks.
However, the Thakur-Karun Nair combine spelt doom for Hardik as Karnataka lost their fifth wicket for 198.
There was another useful stand of 53 between Jose and Srinivas, another centurion from Karnataka last encounter, as it took them past 250.
But Sarwate elicited an edge from Srinivas which nestled in the big gloves of Akshay Wadkar.
At 251 for six, Karnataka did not have any genuine chance to overtake Vidarbha's first-innings total of 460 and Jose's dismissal on the team score of 286 was the end of their slender hopes.
Karnataka lost two more wickets on that score as veteran pacer Umesh Yadav upended the stumps of Vysakh and Vasuki Koushik to bring curtains on the visitors' innings.
Brief score: Vidarbha: 460 & 50 for no loss in 14 overs vs Karnataka: 286 all out in 90.3 overs (Nikin Jose 82, R Samarth 59; Yash Thakur 3/48, Aditya Sarwate 3/50).
