1st Semifinal: Mumbai vs Tamil Nadu at Rajkot
After taking the first innings lead against Tamil Nadu, the defending champions were brought down to earth by a brilliant counter-attacking batting display by the Tamil Nadu batsmen.
The South Indian side was known for batting at an extremely low run-rate throughout the Ranji Trophy, but they looked a completely different unit today as former Indian batsman Abhinav Mukund and youngster Baba Indrajith took the attack to the Mumbai bowlers.
The duo smashed scintillating centuries and put on a partnership of 185 runs for the third wicket. Mukund, who last played for India in scored 122 runs off 186 deliveries with 11 fours, while Indrajith who has had a good outing this year remains scored 138 off 169 balls.
The opposition bowlers did not have much to say for as Balwinder Sandu and Vijay Gohil picked up two wickets each, while Akshay Girap and Shardul Thakur chipped in with one wicket each.
The South Indian side declared after taking a lead of 255 runs. The defending champions ended the day with 5 runs on the board without losing any wickets. They require another 251 runs in 90 overs to reach the finals once again.
Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu 305 & 356/6d against Mumbai 406 & 5/0
2nd Semifinal: Gujarat vs Jharkhand at Nagpur
In an incredible turnaround, Gujarat defeated Jharkhand by 123 runs to reach the finals of the tournament after a gap of 67 years. The last time they reached the finals was way back in 1950 where they lost to Holkar.
Star Indian T20 bowler Jasprit Bumrah was on top of his game as he ripped through the Jharkhand attack. His figures of 6-29 also turned out to be his best bowling figures in his first-class career. Veteran Indian bowler RP Singh, who picked up 6 wickets in the first innings chipped in with three vital wickets in the 2nd innings as well
Earlier in the day, after beginning the day at 100-4, the Jharkhand bowlers did not allow the Gujarat batsmen to stick at the crease for too long as they were bowled out for 252. The leading wicket taker Shahbaz Nadeem was the star of the bowling line-up once again as he picked up another five-wicket haul.
Jharkhand, who required 235 runs to win with more than enough overs in hand had no answer to Bumrah’s skillful bowling.
Brief Scores: Gujarat 390 & 252 beat Jharkhand 408 & 111 by 123 runs.
The finals of the prestigious tournament is set to take place at the Holkar cricket stadium in Indore between Jan 10th-14th.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download Cric Rocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more!
