Ranji Trophy Quarter-Finals: MD Nidheesh, Anshul Kamboj, Chintan Gaja Shine On Opening Day

The opening day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals noticed a dominant show of bowling throughout 4 matches on Saturday. Kerala pacer MD Nidheesh bagged a five-wicket haul to limit Jammu & Kashmir to 228/8 at stumps on the MCA Stadium in Pune. Kerala gained the toss and invited J&Ok to bat first. The batting facet had a poor begin as Nidheesh eliminated the highest three within the opening session to depart the facet reeling at 48/3. However, Kanhaiya Wadhawan first stitched a quick 19-run partnership with captain Paras Dogra, who was eliminated by Basil Thampi, earlier than including a 55-run stand with Sahil Lotra. Wadhawan departed after scoring 48 as Nidheesh received his fourth wicket of the day.

Lotra and Lone Nasir steered J&K’s innings additional and took them to over 150-run mark. The former performed a gritty knock of 35 off 125 balls earlier than dropping his wicket to Aditya Sarwate. In the ultimate session of the day, Nidheesh accomplished his five-wicket haul with the scalp of Nasir, who made an important contribution of 44 within the late center order.

Abid Mushtaq additionally made a vital 19-run addition to the scoreboard earlier than he turned a sufferer of Thampi. J&Ok will look so as to add some runs to their in a single day complete as Yudhvir Singh and Auqib Nabi resume their innings from 17 and 5 runs, respectively. In the opposite quarterfinal conflict between defending champions Mumbai and Haryana at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Shams Mulani‘s counter-attacking 91 overshadowed pacer Anshul Kamboj‘s 3-58.

Opting to bat first, Mumbai had been lowered to 94/6 as Kamboj and Sumit Kumar made essentially the most of transferring new ball. Mumbai misplaced their in-form opener Ayush Mhatre on the primary ball of the match by Kamboj adopted by Sumit eradicating the opposite opener Akash Anand for 10 within the sixth over. Mumbai did not get time to get well from the early hiccups as Kamboj eliminated Siddhesh Lad (4) earlier than Sumit received maintain of Suryakumar Yadav (9) to trigger panic within the defending champions camp.

After a quick partnership between captain Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube, Ajit Chahal eliminated the latter to place Mumbai underneath strain. Rahane’s (31) cautious keep on the crease was dropped at an finish by Kamboj to bag his ultimate wicket of the day, leaving Mumbai reeling at 94/6. Anuj Thakral caught and bowled Shardul Thakur (15) to take complete management of the match. However, Mumbai’s lower-order batting depth got here to their rescue as Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian an enormous 165-run partnership for the eighth wicket.

Mulani scored 91 studded with 10 boundaries earlier than being eliminated by Jayant Yadav. Kotian remained unbeaten on 85 runs laced with 11 fours as Mumbai reached 278/8 in 78.3 overs on the stumps.

The quarterfinal match between Vidarbha and Tamil Nadu was highlighted by Karun Nair‘s unbeaten century that was studded with 14 fours and a six mixed with Danish Malewar’s 75 adorned with 13 fours after the previous opted to bat first in Nagpur. The house facet completed for 264/6 at stumps with Vijay Shankar bagging two scalps.

In the opposite knockout match in Rajkot between Saurashtra and Gujarat, the latter dominated the opening day’s play.

Gujarat gained the toss and invited Saurashtra to bat first, a transfer that acquired the assist of bowlers as pacer Chintan Gaja returned with the figures of 4-48 to bundle out the opponents for 216 in 72.1 overs. Despite opener Chirag Jani’s 69, Saurashtra failed to succeed in a giant complete as Arpit Vasavada remained unbeaten on 39 however acquired no assist from the opposite finish.

In reply, Gujarat had been 21/0 on the stumps with opener Priyank Panchal and Aarya Desai unbeaten on 11 and 10 runs, respectively.

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