After the 10-team Indian Premier League 2022 concluded on May 29, the action shifted back to the senior men’s domestic season. The second half of the split Ranji Trophy season, that was affected due to Covid-19, resumed on June 6 with all the quarterfinals taking place in Bengaluru.
While Uttar Pradesh beat a star-studded Karnataka, Mumbai dominated Uttarakhand to set up semi-final encounter at the Just Cricket Academy Ground, Bengaluru. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh defeated Punjab and Jharkhand went down to Bengal’s mighty batting performance to meet each other in Alur.
On Tuesday, the final four teams began the semifinal contests to secure a berth in the final.
Here’s a round-up of Day 4 of the Ranji Trophy semi-finals:
Mumbai vs Uttar Pradesh
Mumbai have nearly sealed the deal, thanks to Yashasvi Jaiswal (181) and Armaan Jaffer (127), who scored 186 runs for the third wicket. Mumbai, who are 449 for 4 at stumps on Day 4, have a mammoth lead of 633. Uttar Pradesh utilised nine of their bowlers but the Mumbai batters have been relentless and continue to bat on. Jaiswal brought on his career-best first-class score and became only the ninth player from Mumbai to score a hundred in both innings of a Ranji Trophy match.
Bengal vs Madhya Pradesh
Bengal are 96/4 at Day 4 Stumps and require another 254 runs, while Madhya Pradesh need 6 wickets and/or a draw to go through to the final. So, going into the last day of the match, all four results are possible. Even while the rest of Bengal’s batting line-up disintegrated, Abhimanyu Easwaran (52*) fought hard. While Bengal’s spin combo of Shahbaz Ahmed and Pradipta Pramanik shared nine wickets in the second innings against Madhya Pradesh, spinner Kumar Kartikeya has given Madhya Pradesh a second innings life with his 19-7-35-3 spell so far.
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