The 2021-22 Ranji Trophy quarterfinals continue. Four teams have progressed to the semis in the form of Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, with the former scripting a world-record win.
The quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 saw Day 4 be completed. Three teams have made their way into the semis, including former record champion Mumbai, along with Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. In the meantime, the Mumbai and Bengal matches drew most of the attention, as record-breaking stuff happened throughout their games. Both teams look like the firm favourite to move into the final but will have to go past the other two sides in the semis, which would not be an easy task. In the same light, we present the round-up of the quarterfinals.
Bengal assert dominance over Jharkhand
Former champion Bengal was notable for putting on 773/3 in the first innings, which saw nine of its batters slamming half-centuries. On Day 4, it rattled out Jharkhand for 298, thanks to medium-pacer Sayan Mondal and orthodox spinner Shahbaz Ahmed's four-for each. For Jharkhand, Virat Singh slammed an unbeaten 113. Instead of inflicting the follow-on, Bengal is batting again while it finished Day 4 on 76/3.
Brief scores: Bengal 773/3 & 76/3 (Anustup Majumdar- 22; Shahbaz Nadeem- 3/18) leads Jharkhand 298 (Nazim Siddiqui- 53, Virat Singh- 113*; Mondal- 4/71, Ahmed- 4/51) by 551 runs.
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UP upsets Karnataka
In an upset of the tournament, UP brisked past former champion Karnataka by five wickets. Although Karnataka looked favourite, posting 253 in the first innings, followed by 155 for UP. However, the UP bowlers nailed it in the second innings, dismissing Karnataka for 114, thanks to a joint bowling effort and orthodox spinner Saurabh Kumar's three-for. In reply, Priyam Garg and skipper Karan Sharma got the job done in a commanding fashion.
Brief scores: Karnataka 253 & 114 (Srinivas Sharath- 23; Kumar- 3/36) lost to UP 155 & 213/5 (Garg- 52, Karan- 93*; Vijaykumar Vyshak- 3/47) by five wickets.
MP has a cakewalk over Punjab
MP faced off against Punjab, which turned out to be nothing more than a regular encounter, while the former had an easy win. It all started with Punjab managing 219, followed by MP's dominance of 397. On Day 4, Punjab was shot out for 203, thanks to spinners Kumar Kartikeya and Saransh Jain's six-for and four-for each. MP needed 26 runs to win, as the openers quickly finished the job.
Brief scores: Punjab 219 & 203 (Anmol Malhotra- 34; Kartikeya- 6/50; Jain- 4/100) lost to MP 26/0 (Yash Dubey- 17*; Malhotra- 0/2) by ten wickets.
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Mumbai bulldozes past Uttarakhand in a world-record win
It was the tournament's match to date, as Mumbai rocked Uttarakhand by a monstrous 725 runs, which is the biggest First-Class (FC) win so far. Earlier, Mumbai managed 647/8, thanks to debutant Suved Parkar's 252 and Sarfaraz Khan's 153. While Uttarakhand was bundled out for 114, Mumbai decided to bat again, managing 261/3, as opener Yashasvi Jaiswal slammed his maiden FC ton before the Mumbai bowlers rout Uttarakhand for 69.
Brief scores: Mumbai 647/8 & 261/3 (Jaiswal- 103*, Prithvi Shaw-72; Dikshanshu Negi- 1/31) defeated Uttarakhand 114 & 69 (Shivam Khurana- 25*; Dhawal Kulkarni- 3/11, Shams Mulani- 3/15, Tanush Kotian- 3/13) by 725 runs.
