Ranji Trophy 2016-17 wrap: Tamil Nadu oust Karnataka to reach semis

Ranji Trophy 2016-17 wrap: Tamil Nadu oust Karnataka to reach semis

Tamil Nadu vs Karnataka, Visakhapatnam

Despite a green track, not many would have expected the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 quarter-final clash between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam to finish in two days. But that is exactly what happened as 33 wickets went down over the course of the two days before Tamil Nadu emerged victorious by seven wickets to book a berth in the semi-finals. The victory was also Tamil Nadu's first over Karnataka since defeating them in November 2003.

Having restricted Tamil Nadu to 152, which kept their lead to 64, Karnataka failed with the bat once again. After being bowled out for 88 in their first innings, Karnataka folded meekly again - for 150 - in their second innings. Tamil Nadu had a jittery start in the fourth innings but the target of 87 was overcome in the 20th over.

Starting the day at 111 for 4, Tamil Nadu could only add 41 to their overnight total as Sreenath Aravind, Vinay Kumar and Shreyas Gopal ran through the batting order. Karnataka started well in their second innings with KL Rahul and Mir Kaunain Abbas adding 61 runs for the second wicket. But what followed was a procession of wickets as K Vignesh and T Natarajan combined to bowl Karnataka out cheaply for the second time. Rahul top-scored with 77, while the next best contribution was Abbas's 15.

With Abhinav Mukund off the field again because of tonsillitis, it was Baba Aparajith opening with L Suryapprakash. They added 18 runs before Aravind struck to send back the latter. Kaushik Gandhi and Aparajith fell cheaply as Tamil Nadu were reduced to 35 for 3. However, Dinesh Karthik took the attack to the Karnataka bowlers and received solid support from Baba Indrajith as they restored calm to Tamil Nadu's innings before taking the team over the finish line.

Brief Scores: Karnataka 88 (Manish Pandey 28; Aswin Crist 6-31, T Natarajan 3-18) and 150 (KL Rahul 77; K Vignesh 4-53, T Natarajan 3-40) lost to Tamil Nadu 152 (Vijay Shankar 34, Dinesh Karthik 31; S Aravind 3-16, Shreyas Gopal 2-1) & 87/3 (Dinesh Karthik 41*; Abhimanyu Mithun 1-7) by 7 wickets.

Haryana vs Jharkhand, Vadodara

Shahbaz Nadeem's seven-wicket haul and solid knocks from Virat Singh and Ishank Jaggi put Jharkhand in a strong position at the end of Day 2 of the fourth quarterfinal match at the Motibaug Cricket Ground in Vadodara. Nadeem picked up 7 for 79 to bowl Haryana out for 258. In reply, Jharkhand rode on an unbeaten 146-run-stand for the fourth wicket between Virat and Jaggi to reach 228 for 3 at stumps, 30 away from erasing the deficit.

Starting the day at 251 for 7, Haryana suffered an early setback as overnight batsman Harshal Patel fell to Nadeem for 22. Sanjay Pahal, the other overnight batsman followed soon after, becoming the left-arm spinner's seventh scalp while Mohit Sharma was bowled by Rahul Shukla as Haryana folded after adding only seven runs to their Day 1 total.

Jharkhand did not have the best of starts as Anand Singh fell early, handing a catch back to Yuzvendra Chahal. Haryana kept striking at regular intervals and reduced Jharkhand to 82 for 3. While they would have hoped to make further inroads, Virat and Jaggi came up with a solid partnership to keep the bowlers at bay. They went about their partnership in a watchful manner, frustrating the Haryana bowlers as they registered individual fifties to reduce the deficit. Both batsmen will look at three figure scores on Day 3 to further strengthen Jharkhand's hold on the game.

Brief scores: Haryana 258 (Rajat Paliwal 42, Chaitanya Bishnoi 41; Shahbaz Nadeem 7-79) lead Jharkhand 228/3 (Virat Singh 81*, Ishank Jaggi 77*; Harshal Patel 1-24) by 30 runs.

Gujarat v Odisha, Jaipur

Jasprit Bumrah's inspirational spell on either side of the tea-break helped Gujarat wrest control at stumps on Day 2 against Odisha at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur. Replying to Gujarat's first-innings score of 263, Odisha batted with a great degree of comfort, despite the early loss of opener, Ranjit Singh (1), before Bumrah returned for a fresh spell and dismissed Subhranshu Senapati (30) and skipper, Govinda Poddar (0) in quick succession. He then scalped Abhishek Yadav (8) and Biplab Samantray (0) as Odisha crashed from 83/1 to 101/7. Suryakant Pradhan took matters in his own hands, making a 27-ball 47 that included four sixes off an over from Hardik Patel.

However, he was dismissed just before stumps and Poddar's men closed the day's play at 184/8, still 79 runs short of Gujarat. Deepak Behera stood firm on 34* and his team would look forward to him taking the score closer or beyond Gujarat's 263. Earlier, resuming at 197/6, Gujarat lost both overnight batsmen, Rush Kalaria (73) and Chirag Gandhi (81) early, and only an enterprising 28 from Mehul Patel helped them pass the 250-run mark. For Odisha, Basant Mohanty finished with yet another five-wicket haul.

Brief Scores: Gujarat 263 (Chirag Gandhi 81, Rush Kalaria 73, Basant Mohanty 5-68, Deepak Behera 3-50) lead Odisha 184/8 (Suryakant Pradhan 47, Jasprit Bumrah 4-33, Rush Kalaria 2-32) by 79 runs.

Mumbai v Hyderabad, Raipur

Hyderabad wrested control in their quarter-final encounter against Mumbai after a professional display on the second day in Raipur. Resuming at their overnight score of 250/5, Mumbai's famed lower-order for once came unstuck in front of disciplined bowling from Hyderabad. Siddesh Lad was dismissed for 110, Abhishek Nayar was dismissed for 59 and the rest fell in a heap as the defending champions finished with 294 all-out. Chama Milind took five wickets while Mohammed Siraj chipped in with four.

Mumbai threatened a fightback of sorts, getting two quick wickets - courtesy Abhishek Nayar, as Hyderabad slipped to 30/2. Subramanium Badrinath and Tanmay Agarwal then joined forces to add 105 runs for the third wicket before the former was castled by Nayar for 56. Agarwal batted with extreme patience to remain unbeaten on 63 as Hyderabad reached 166/3 when stumps were called for the day. Nayar was the most impressive of the Mumbai lot, finishing with three for 26 from 17 overs.

Brief Scores: Mumbai 294 (Siddesh Lad 110, Aditya Tare 73, Abhishek Nayar 59, Chama Milind 5-80, Md. Siraj 4-64) lead Hyderabad 166/3 (Tanmay Agarwal 63*, S Badrinath 56, Abhishek Nayar 3-26) by 128 runs.