Ranji Trophy Highlights
In a superb display of fast bowling, Anshul Kamboj and Sumit Kumar saw Mumbai’s top order collapse; yet again the lower order was able to pull Mumbai from trouble, with Shams Mulani (91) and Tanush Kotian (85*) guiding the score to 278 for 8 at Eden Gardens. Batting first, Mumbai were quickly rattled to 25 for 4 as Kamboj and Kumar were in blistering form against the top order.
Things started to look better as Ajinkya Rahane (31) and Shivam Dube (28) mounted a counter-offensive, but Haryana came back strongly and quickly ousted them to push Mumbai to 94 for 6 and then 113 for 7. While they might have dreamed to wrap it up bowling Mumbai out for cheap, that was not meant to be, as Mulani and Kotian put on 165 runs for the eighth wicket to herald a comeback for their team. Mulani eventually succumbed near the end of the day, while Mumbai must still be hoping to breach the 300 mark- and even go above, with Kotian still in.
Jammu and Kashmir vs Kerala, Pune
From the other end of the MCA stadium, MD Nidheesh roared back with a fine five-wicket haul, on a day where the play appeared to fade slowly. The top scores of the day were: Kanhaiya Wadhawan with 48 at No.5 and Nasir Muzaffar with 44, No.7, while some regular pain from Kerala took a toll on J & K batter’s temperament. With 67 runs for 4 wickets, there was a middle-order recovery for J & K with some respectable contributions. Well from 173 for 5, it succumbed to 210 for 8 by the end of the day with Kerala striking late.
Vidarbha vs Tamil Nadu, Nagpur
Karun Nair’s unbeaten century inspired Vidarbha’s fightback after some early breakthroughs from Tamil Nadu in the quarterfinal clash at VCA stadium. At the end of the day, Vidarbha stood at 264/6 after opting to bat, on a score of just 100. Vidarbha crashed at 44/3 and were rescued by Nair and Danish Malewar (75), and they built a 98-run stand between them for the fourth wicket. After Malewar’s dismissal, Nair went on and forged valuable partnerships with Akshay Wadkar and Harsh Dubey while Tamil Nadu kept wringing run-outs. Two wickets came Vijay Shankar’s way, but Nair was in his elements otherwise in pulling his team out of trouble.
Chintan Gaja took four wickets as Saurashtra were all out for 216 at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot. Chirag Jani was the top scorer with a fighting 69 while others could not capitalise on quick starts, leaving their side in trouble. Harvik Desai and Cheteshwar Pujara had partnerships with Jani of 45 and 50 respectively, but Gujarat took timely wickets and ensured Saurashtra was never able to dig themselves out of trouble. Arpit Vasavada scored an unbeaten 39 but lower-order failures made sure Saurashtra was all out in 72.1 overs. At Stumps, Gujarat’s openers batted for five overs and were yet to be separated at 21.
Also Read: Sairaj Bahutule To Join RR Under Head Coach Rahul Dravid Ahead Of IPL 2025
