Mumbai’s ‘Man of all Seasons’ Abhishek Nayar once again brought his best out in pressure situation to guide the defending champions to the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy beating Hyderabad by 30 runs in a closely-contested last-eight encounter.
Needing 232 to win, Hyderabad were dismissed for 201 on the final day as Nayar and left-arm spinner Vijay Gohil (5/64) doing the damage.
Top-order batsman Balachander Aniruddh’s dogged unbeaten 84 off 187 balls with four boundaries and two sixes was not enough with senior-most pro Nayar’s 5 for 40 enabling the title favourites to survive a scare despite being in the pole position going into the final day.
Gujarat’s 26-year-old opening batsman Samit Gohel broke a 117-year-old record in first-class cricket by notching up the highest score while carrying his bat through the innings of 359 not out during his team’s Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Odisha.
The match ended in a draw but Gujarat made it to semi-final on the basis of taking the first innings lead.
Former India U-19 captain Ishan Kishan, mentored by none other than MS Dhoni, provided a glimpse of his talent with a power-packed 86 off 61 balls that helped Jharkhand beat Haryana by five wickets to make it to their maiden semi-finals of Ranji Trophy.
Chasing a target of 176, Jharkhand knocked off the runs in only 30.2 overs with Kishan hitting nine boundaries and six sixes as the eastern India state completely dominated proceedings for the entire duration of four days.
Earlier, Karnataka had two Gen-Next superstars of Indian cricket but a Tamil Nadu pace attack, with a cumulative experience of 35 matches, did the star turn to script a stunning seven-wicket victory inside two days in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final in Vizag on Saturday.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai vs Hyderabad
Mumbai 294 and 217.
Hyderabad 280 and (Target 232) 201 in 71 overs (B Aniruddh 84 no, Abhishek Nayar 5/40, Vijay Gohil 5/64)
Mumbai won by 30 runs.
Gujarat
Haryana vs Jharkand
Haryana 258 and 242
Jharkhand 345 and 178/5 (Ishan Kishan 86)
Jharkhand win by 5 wickets to enter semi-finals.
Karnataka vs Tamil Nadu
Karnataka 88 and 150
Tamil Nadu 152 and (target 87) 87/3 in 19.3 overs (Dinesh Karthik 41 not out).
Tamil Nadu win by 7 wickets