Ranji Trophy: Vidarbha to face Madhya Pradesh in semi-finals, Tamil Nadu vs Mumbai

The semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy were set on Tuesday with Vidarbha beating Karnataka and Mumbai edging Baroda Baroda on the basis of their first innings lead. Madhya Pradesh had booked their place in the last-four after a four-run win over Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu had trounced defending champions Saurashtra to book their place in the next stage of the competition.

The semi-finals will see Vidarbha take on Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu face Mumbai.

Vidarbha thrash Karnataka by 128 runs

Vidarbha completed a 128-run thrashing of Karnataka, riding on splendid four-wicket hauls by Harsh Dubey and Aditya Sarwate in Nagpur.

Vidarbha came from behind on the final day at VCA Stadium in Civil Lines to stop Karnataka in their tracks with a flurry of wickets.

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Chasing 371 to win, Karnataka had laid the foundation when they closed at 103/1 at stumps on Monday.

However, that was undone with a remarkable morning for Vidarbha. Inside the first hour’s play, Karnataka lost skipper Mayank Agarwal (70), Nikin Jose (0) and Manish Pandey (1), with Sarwate (22-0-78-4) accounting for each of them.

Aneesh KV tried to stabilise the innings from one end but the No. 3 batter was run out for 40.

Dubey (13.4-1-65-4) then got into the act to run through Karnataka’s lower order.

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Karnataka were shot out for 243 and crashed out of the race to the semifinals.

Mumbai edge Baroda after first-innings lead

Tailenders Tanush Kotian and Tushar Deshpande entered the record books with a century each but it was their team’s slender first-innings lead against Baroda that propelled Mumbai into the semifinals.

With the contest ending in a draw on the fifth day at the BKC Ground, Mumbai made it to the final four on the virtue of first-innings lead.

Mumbai had taken a lead of 36 runs in the first innings after Baroda were bowled out for 348 in reply to the hosts’ 384.

The match was called off at tea with Baroda reaching 121 for three in an improbable chase of 606 on the final day.

Madhya Pradesh beat Andhra in a thriller

“We were encouraged by Sir (Pandit), and his words encouraged us to do well,” Anubhav Agarwal (Star of MP's QF Win vs Andhra) about Chandrakant Pandit Sir.#AmiKKR | #RanjiTrophy pic.twitter.com/4UOKEagGvz

— Rokte Amar KKR (@Rokte_Amarr_KKR) February 27, 2024

Anubhav Agarwal ran through Andhra Pradesh’s batting lineup with a six-wicket haul to propel Madhya Pradesh into the semifinals. It helped MP clinch a thrilling four-run win at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.

Andhra were bowled out for a mere 165 chasing 170 to win on the fourth day.

Resuming at 95/4 and with Hanuma Vihari on strike with 75 runs more needed to win, Andhra looked confident in the chase but Agarwal led a stunning fightback for Madhya Pradesh.

Having taken three wickets in the first innings to help Madhya Pradesh take a lead of 62 runs, Agarwal terrorised the Andhra batters in the second innings to return figures of 6/52.

Tamil Nadu wallop Saurashtra

R Sai Kishore’s exceptional performance with both bat and ball led Tamil Nadu to a comprehensive victory over defending champions Saurashtra in the quarterfinal.

His match haul of 9 for 93 and a crucial half-century in the first innings were instrumental in Tamil Nadu’s success.

Sai Kishore’s impressive season tally of 47 wickets at an average of 18.78 has him at the top of the wicket takers chart.

His pivotal contributions helped Tamil Nadu secure their first semi-final entry since 2016-17.