Ranji Trophy 2019-20: Quarter-finals, Day 1- Round-Up

The best performer for Gujarat was skipper Parthiv Patel, who led his side from the front by smashing an unbeaten ton.

Published - 20 Feb 2020, 18:36 IST | Updated - 20 Feb 2020, 18:36 IST

3 Min Read

The fascinating journey of Ranji Trophy 2019-20 has finally progressed into its business end with eight teams battling it out in the quarter-finals of the tournament.

The first quarter-final between Gujarat and Goa witnessed a formidable batting display by Parthiv Patel and his troops. After winning the toss and electing to bat first, the opening pair of Samit Gohel and Priyank Panchal stitched a 64-run partnership until Vijesh Prabhudessai drew first blood and sent Panchal back to the pavilion.

However, Samit Gohel stuck to the crease and completed his half-century to keep the scoreboard ticking along with Bhargav Merai. Merai, who missed his century by a narrow margin, amassed 84 runs including 15 fours. However, the best performer for Gujarat was skipper Parthiv Patel, who led his side from the front by smashing an unbeaten ton. He was assisted by Chirag Gandhi’s 40-run knock which eventually took Gujarat’s total to 330/4 at the culmination of Day 1.

The second Quarter-final also enthralled the audience with many impressive batting performances. After winning the toss, Orissa put Bengal to bat first and the latter experienced a top-order collapse against the former’s impressive bowling spells.

Orissa bowlers wreaked havoc on Bengal batsmen as their scoreboard depicted 46/5 in the 17th over. However, a gritty 136-run unbeaten knock by Anutstup Majumdar steadied Bengal’s ship after the early blows. He was also assisted by Shahbaz Ahmed’s unbeaten 82. At the stumps of the first day, Bengal’s scoreboard showed 308/6.

The third Quarter-final of Ranji Trophy 2019-20 unfortunately turned out as a disappointment for fans as no play was witnessed before lunch due to bad light. After Karnataka batsmen approached the wicket after lunch, the play was interrupted again due to bad light as the Karun Nair-led side could amass only 14 runs on the board at the end of Day 1. However, they also lost two early wickets in the form of Ravikumar Samarth and Devdutt Padikkal who were dismissed by Aquil Nabi and Mujtaba Yousuf respectively.

Saurashtra also flaunted a strong batting display against Andhra in the fourth quarter-final of the tournament. After being put to bat and suffering an early blow in the form of Harvik Desai (0), Kishan Parmar’s 35 and Vishvaraj Jadeja’s 73 added crucial runs to Saurashtra’s total.

Sheldon Jackson, while continuing his super form, smashed a half-century which included nine fours and a six. Chirag Jani also bolstered the lower-order of Saurashtra by smashing an unbeaten half-century to guide his side’s total to 226/6 at the end of 1st Day’s play.