Shardul Thakur the hero again as Mumbai take control

On Day 3, often called the moving day, the script unravelled quickly as Mumbai, Vidarbha and Gujarat took control of their quarterfinal fixtures at Kolkata, Nagpur and Rajkot respectively. At Pune, Jammu & Kashmir and Kerala are setting up an exciting finish. Here is the round-up of the matches…
Thakur to Mumbai’s rescue again
Since the last Ranji season, Shardul Thakur has been Mumbai’s most valuable player. And after showing his all-round utility in the last two rounds, he once again delivered when it mattered the most. On the third morning, with Haryana within touching dance of a first innings lead that could provide a psychological advantage, Thakur took it upon himself to land the telling blows.
When play resumed on Monday, Haryana had five wickets in hand and were just 52 runs away from overhauling Mumbai’s first innings total of 315. However, Thakur ran through them to end up with six wickets in the innings as Haryana were bowled out for 301, losing their last five wickets for just 38 runs. Barring captain Ankit Kumar who made 136 at the top, none of them crossed 36.
Story continues below this ad

From there on, Mumbai began to assert control over the game. All that they needed was a good start and once their top three provided it, captain Ajinkya Rahane and Suryakumar Yadav did the rest. With Rahane dropping anchor, Surya took the attack to the opposition, scoring 70 off 86 deliveries. Rahane looked solid, remaining unbeaten at stumps on 88 as Mumbai’s lead swelled to 292 with six wickets in hand. With plenty of batting to come, they may already have one foot in the semifinals.
Brief scores: Mumbai 315 & 278/4 (Ajinkyar Rahane 88 batting, Suryakumar Yadav 70) vs Haryana 301 (Ankit Kumar 136; Shardul Thakur 6/58).
Vidarbha in command
The writing is on the wall for Tamil Nadu as they begin to endure a slow and painful exit from the Ranji Trophy, to extend their title drought in the tournament. Beginning the day at 159/6 in response to Vidarbha’s 353, they folded for 225 to concede a lead of 128 as seamer Aditya Thakare finished with five wickets. From there on, for Tamil Nadu to make a match of it, they needed their bowlers to make quick inroads into an in-form batting line-up. Though Vidarbha lost their first three wickets in quick succession, Yash Rathod held fort at one end. With time not being a constraint, Vidarbha went about their business patiently, there ensuring their bowlers too got enough time to recover, ending Day 3 at 169/5 with a lead of 297 runs.
Brief scores: Vidarbha 353 & 169/5 (Yash Rathod 55 batting) vs Tamil Nadu 225 (Andre Siddarth 65, Pradosh Ranjan Paul 48; Aditya Thakare 5/34).Story continues below this ad
Saurashtra staring at innings defeat
At Rajkot, it feels like an era is coming to an end as Saurashtra ended the third day at 33/0 in their second innings trailing Gujarat a massive 262 runs. One of the most consent sides over the last decade, with ageing players around, the end cards are beginning to be played for Saurashtra. When play resumed on Monday, Gujarat already had a lead of 44 runs. Overnight batsman Jaymeet Patel completed his century before falling for 103. Thereafter, wicketkeeper Urvil Patel, who has been in red-hot form this season across all formats, went about punishing Saurashtra. In an innings of 197 deliveries, Urvil scored 140 (17x4s, 4x6s) as the lower order provided him ample support. Gujarat ended with 511 on the board. For Saurashtra, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja picked up five wickets while Chirag Jani took four. With two days left in the game, Saurashtra’s Ranji season is all set to end in the quarterfinals for the second successive season.
Brief scores: Saurashtra 216 & 33/0 vs Gujarat 511 (Urvil Patel 140, Jaymeet Patel 103; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 5/120, Chirag Jani 4/67).