Kolkata, Feb 11: Ajinkya Rahane’s gritty century and Royston Dias’ maiden five-wicket haul propelled defending champions Mumbai to a 152-run victory over Haryana, securing a spot in the Ranji Trophy semifinals.
They will face Vidarbha, who outclassed Tamil Nadu by 198 runs, in a rematch of last season’s final on February 17.Resuming on 88, Rahane wasted no time reaching his 41st first-class century, scoring 108 off 180 balls as Mumbai posted 339 in their second innings, setting Haryana a target of 354. Left-arm pacer Dias (5/39) and Shardul Thakur (3/26) then dismantled Haryana’s batting lineup, bowling them out for 201. Thakur finished with nine wickets in the match.Meanwhile, in Nagpur, Yash Rathod’s patient 112 and Nachiket Bhute’s 3/19 led Vidarbha to a commanding win over Tamil Nadu. Set a daunting target of 401, Tamil Nadu crumbled under pressure, folding for 202 despite resistance from Pradosh Ranjan Paul (53) and Sonu Yadav (57). Harsh Dubey (3/40) cleaned up the tail to seal the victory.
In other quarterfinals, Gujarat thrashed Saurashtra by an innings and 98 runs in Rajkot, thanks to Priyajit Jadeja’s 4/32 and Arzan Nagwaswalla’s 3/54. In Pune, Paras Dogra’s century gave Jammu & Kashmir the upper hand against Kerala, who will need 299 runs on the final day to pull off a miraculous win. (PTI)
