Suryakumar Yadav’s century had looked to keep Mumbai alive in the Ranji Trophy but a brave resistance from Saurashtra denied them a win on Friday. (BCCI)
With one last round of group matches left in the Ranji Trophy after the action across the country on Friday, the quarterfinals of this year’s first class domestic competition seems to be taking shape.
Mumbai and Delhi, both playing must-win matches, failed to get a result, with Mumbai drawing against Saurashtra and Delhi drawing against Gujarat.
A Dharmendrasinh Jadeja-Kamlesh Makwana rearguard denied Mumbai a win and gave Saurashtra three points. Mumbai had conceded a 73-run lead in the first innings. However, they scored 362/7d on the back of Suryakumar Yadav’s quickfire 134.
Both Mumbai and Delhi have been virtually knocked out of contention for the quarters. Delhi need miraculous events elsewhere and maximum points from their last round of matches.
Punjab and Bengal set up a high voltage group stage match for next week by winning their matches against Andhra and Rajasthan. Abhimanyu Easwaran (62) led Bengal from the front at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, with Bengal chasing 320 for victory by Tea, with just 2 wickets left.
Tamil Nadu also registered a big win, but their poor form at the beginning of the season means that their campaign is also as good as over. Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are the two teams who have an outside chance of making the quarters from Groups A and B.
READ🗒️: Gujarat, Saurashtra qualify for the quarterfinals; Bengal, Bihar seal come-from-behind wins.
Here’s a summary of all the action from Day 4 of the 8⃣th round of the @paytm #RanjiTrophy
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— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) February 7, 2020
The five spots up for grabs, however, are likely to be taken between Gujarat, Saurashtra, Andhra, Bengal, Karnataka and Punjab.
Goa have topped the Plate Group, edging out Puducherry, even though both teams won their matches – against Nagaland and Manipur respectively and have made it through to the quarters.
Jammu and Kashmir, who have topped Group C without losing a single match, and Odisha, who lost to Maharashtra on Friday, are the two teams through to the knockout stages from Group C.
Elsewhere, Kerala managed only a draw in their last match and have been relegated to Group C.