Ranji Trophy：Shardul ThakurとAjinkya Rahaneはムンバイを準決勝に連れて行き、VidarbhaのKarun Nairスター

On Tuesday, Mumbai, Vidarbha and Gujarat moved into the semis of the Ranji Trophy, after beating Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Saurashtra, respectively. The only quarters left now is J&K vs Kerala, that is heavily tilted in Kashmir’s favour for now, with the opposition needing 299 runs to win, and eight wickets still to go. InsideSport takes a look at all the results in brief.

Ajinkya Rahane’s ton, Shardul Thakur’s 8-fer takes Mumbai forward

As expected, Mumbai reigned supreme against Haryana, despite the opposition giving a tough fight. The fourth day started with Ajinkya Rahane slamming his 41st ton in FC cricket, that pushed Haryana on the back foot. That meant, the latter needed 353 runs to win, but Shardul Thakur and Royston Dias picked eight wicket together to dismiss them for only 201. Shardul went on to pick eight wickets in all, in the match. Lakshya Dalal and Sumit Kumar chipped in with 60s each.

Karun Nair’s Vidarbha in semis

Karun Nair’s 122 in the first innings vs Tamil Nadu meant, Vidarbha went on to score 353 runs. Not only he scored his third ton in the Ranji Trophy this year, but also ensured TN never got close to their first innings score. They were restricted to only 225 then. 272 runs in the third innings meant, there was no way for R Sai Kishore’s team to comeback. In the end Vidarbha won by 198 runs.

J&K in driver’s seat, Kerala need 299 to win

At 100/2, Kerala would fancy their chances to get to a win against J&K in the quarters. But then, one of the best pace-bowling attacks in this year’s Ranji Trophy would fancy their chances to get those eight wickets. Auqib Nabi has six wickets in the match already, and Yudhvir Singh has bagged two till now. It is only a matter of time, that they get rid of the Kerala batters. But the downside is, if J&K fail to dismiss Kerala, the latter will win on account of first innings lead — by one run.