Ranji Trophy 2016-17, Quarter-finals Review

The prestigious Ranji Trophy 2016/17 today got its semi-finalists with the conclusion of the final two remaining matches in the quarterfinal leg. Mumbai and Gujarat reigned supreme over their respective opponents and have advanced to join Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand to decide the two finalists of the tournament.

Mumbai, the 42-time champions, secured a well fought 30 runs win over the Hyderabad while Gujarat moved ahead with the help of the giant first innings lead they secured over an incompetent looking Orissa team.

Hyderabad, who was reduced to 121/7, decided to add some spice to the contest. After being set a target of 232 runs to win, Hyderabad despite getting to a good start lost the steam gave away the advantage to the bowling side. Vijay D Gohil rose up to the occasion for Mumbai and produced a match-defining 5 wicket haul to put Mumbai in a match-winning position.

Hyderabad on the final day morning with 111 runs to chase with only three wickets in hands, sprung up a surprise as the tail-enders showed an unexpected fight back, making the chase look really exciting. However, the experienced Abhishek Nayar proved to be the man for Mumbai and effectively got rid of the final three Hyderabadi batsmen to give Mumbai a simple win eventually.

While Mumbai was made to fight heavily for a place, Gujarat grabbed the place in the last four with ease. In fact, with utmost dominance. Though they were not able to gain a straightforward victory, the batting order, led by opener SB Gohil made a mockery of the Oriya bowling attack and advanced on the basis of the first innings lead they gained.

SB Gohil, who converted his century into a double century yesterday, today piled on a record-breaking undefeated 359 runs knock to propel Gujarat to a massive 641 in the second innings. For the record, they had virtually booked their place in the semi-finals on day four itself. Only a miracle was expected to save the Orissa getting knocked out.

Mumbai will now meet the highly confident Tamil Nadu side while Gujarat will take on first-timers Jharkhand to decide the final two contenders for Indian domestic cricket’s most coveted honour.

Brief Scores:

MUMBAI VS HYDERABAD

Mumbai: 293 (Siddesh Lad 110, Milind 5/80) and 102/3 (Tare 39*, Siraj 2/36)

Hyderabad: 280 (Tanmay Agarwal 82, Nayar 4/59) & 201 all out (B Anirudh 84; Vijay Gohil 5-28)

GUJARAT VS ODISHA

Gujarat: 263 (Chirag Gandhi 81, Basant Mohanty 5/68) & 641 all out (Samit Gohel 359; Dhiraj Singh 5/139)

Odisha: 199 (Pradhan 47, Jasprit Bumrah 5/41)

Semifinals: Gujarat faces Jharkhand at Nagpur, while Mumbai takes on Tamil Nadu at Rajkot in the semifinals starting from January 1.