Vidarbha players celebrate a wicket during the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Madhya Pradesh in Nagpur on March 5, 2024.
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam

Vidarbha took command of their Ranji Trophy semifinal with the key wicket of Yash Dubey (94) late on day four as they inched closer to a thrilling victory over Madhya Pradesh in Nagpur on March 5.

Heading into the final day on March 6, hosts Vidarbha are a mere four wickets away from setting up a date in the summit clash with Mumbai, while Madhya Pradesh, who still need 93 runs to win, will hope their tailenders can produce an inspired fightback.

The game tilted in favour of hosts Vidarbha in the penultimate over of the day when Aditya Sarwate (2/51) had Dubey caught by Aman Mokhade, dealing a body blow to Madhya Pradesh’s hopes of making it to their second final in three years.

Chasing 321 to win, Madhya Pradesh reached 228 for six at stumps on the fourth day with their last recognised batter in Saransh Jain (16 not out) joined by Kumar Kartikeya, requiring a huge effort with the bat with not much left in the tank.

To his credit, Dubey battled hard for Madhya Pradesh with a fine knock even as wickets kept tumbling at the other end. The right-handed batter showed grit and composure in a tough chase with a long haul, consuming 212 balls to get his 94 runs with 10 fours.

Dubey forged a crucial 106-run stand for the second wicket with Harsh Gawali (67 from 80 balls, 11x4s), but once the pair was separated, Vidarbha kept making regular inroads to leave Madhya Pradesh in trouble.

Madhya Pradesh lost the first-innings’ centurion Himanshu Mantri for a mere eight in the second essay, but it was the failure of their middle-order trio of Sagar Solanki (12), Shubham Sharma (6) and Venkatesh Iyer (19) which hurt the visitors the most.

Akshay Wakhare was the star for Vidarbha accounting for these three batters to bring his side back into the contest, while Sarwate’s late strike to dismiss the dangerous Dubey put the two-time winners in the pole position.

The day, however, began with Vidarbha needing as many runs possible to set a big target for MP. From 343 for six, the hosts managed 402 all-out with 59 runs coming for the last four wicket, thus setting up a target of 321 runs for the visitors to win here at the VCA Ground.

Yash Rathod brought up his century on the fourth day and finished with a high score of 141 off 200 balls, hitting 18 fours and two sixes in the process to lead the way.

Rathod’s late surge was crucial in dragging Vidarbha as far as 402 in their second innings, which was certainly an improved performance from their first innings wherein they were bowled out for 170.

For MP, Anubhav Agarwal returned 5/92.

Madhya Pradesh had taken a lead of 82 runs in the first innings as they had responded with 252.

Brief scores:

Vidarbha 170 & 402 in 101.3 overs (Aman Mokhade 59, Yash Rathod 141, Akshay Wadkar 77; Anubhav Agarwal 5/92) lead Madhya Pradesh 252 and 228/6 in 71 overs (Yash Dubey 94, Harsh Gawali 67; Aditya Sarwate 2/51, Akshay Wakhare 3/38) by 93 runs.

Vidarbha’s Yash Rathod plays in action during the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Madhya Pradesh in Nagpur.
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam

A spunky unbeaten 97 by Yash Rathod helped Vidarbha script a superb fightback and reach 343 for six in their second innings against Madhya Pradesh on the third day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal in Nagpur on March 4.

Rathod, who faced 165 balls, received excellent support from his captain Akshay Wadkar (77, 139b) and the pair added 158 runs for the stubborn sixth wicket stand as the hosts recovered from a shaky 161 for five.

Vidarbha, now, lead by a handy 261 runs.

The first hint of resistance came when Dhruv Shorey (40, 65b) and Aman Mokhade (59, 100b) made 84 runs for the third wicket after Vidarbha lost nightwatchman Akshay Wakhare in the second over of the day after resuming from 13 for one.

However, left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya broke the alliance when he induced an edge from Shorey to press Himanshu Mantri into action behind the stumps.

Vidarbha were 90 for three then, and from there they lost Mokhade and Karun Nair (38) to be at 161 for five and a mere 79 runs ahead.

But Rathod, who is playing in only his seventh First-Class game, and Wadkar built a wall against the waves of MP attack.

The pitch too seemed to have eased out a lot more compared to the first two days, with the bounce getting low and slow.

Both Rathod and Wadkar exploited the conditions to the hilt to pile runs without much alarm as MP bowlers looked ragged.

However, Wadkar fell towards the end of the day to pacer Anubhav Agarwal. Wadkar’s loose drive away from the body was taken at second slip by a diving substitute fielder Sumit Kushwah.

Mumbai Ranji cricket players celebrate a wicket during the semifinal against Tamil Nadu in Mumbai on March 4, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

Shardul Thakur shone brightly with his all-round performance as a clinical Mumbai thrashed Tamil Nadu by a massive innings and 70-run margin inside three days to enter the final of the Ranji Trophy, in Mumbai on March 4.

After his stunning 109 on the second day that handed Mumbai a big lead of 232 runs in the first innings, Thakur led Mumbai’s bowling attack to bundle TN out for 162 in the second essay.

Baba Indrajith (70) waged a lone battle for the visitors, who were determined to make it big in their first Ranji knockout game in seven years, but their batters failed to show up against the rampant Mumbai side.

Once again, TN lost their top-order without any contribution and the middle-order too crumbled against the pressure, though the pair of Indrajith and Pradosh Ranjan Paul put some resistance, stitching 73 runs for the fourth wicket.

The catalyst of Mumbai’s win was bowling all-rounder Thakur (109; 2/48 and 2/16), who dragged them back into the contest from a perilous state of 106/7 in the first innings to an overall lead of 232 runs with his maiden century across formats.

Thakur was all over TN with a two-wicket burst early on day three, helping Mumbai reduce the visitors to 10/3 in the second innings.

B Sai Sudharsan was given a reprieve by Shreyas Iyer at midwicket, spilling a sitter in his first over, but Thakur had the left-handed opener caught behind with a superb inswinger that took an inside edge.

Thakur swung the new ball dangerously and snaffled the key wicket of N Jagadeesan for a seven-ball duck.

Mohit Avasthi also tasted success when he had Washington Sundar, promoted at No. 3, caught behind.

With the top order blown away, recovery was a herculean task for TN but the pair of Indrajith and Pradosh Ranjan Paul did well to take the attack to the opposition and keep their side in the contest.

Indrajith was back in his usual elements, cracking nine fours to make 70 off 105 balls but his resistance ended after nicking one behind to wicket-keeper Tamore off Avasthi.

Mumbai spinners Tanush Kotian (2/18) and Shams Mulani (4/53) joined fellow pacers in piling up further misery on the TN batters, sharing the remaining six wickets to wrap up the win for the hosts.

But it was Kotian, who took the initiative with wickets of Pradosh (25) and R Sai Kishore (21) before tea, while left-arm spinner Mulani, who had no wickets to show so far, grabbed each of the final four to return with figures of 13.5-1-53-4.

Earlier in the day, Mumbai were bowled out for 378 with Sundar taking the final wicket to break the 10th-wicket stand between Tushar Deshpande (26) and Kotian (89 not out).

Brief scores:

Tamil Nadu 146 and 162 in 51.5 overs (Baba Indrajith 70; Shardul Thakur 2/16, Shams Mulani 4/53, Tanush Kotian 2/18) lost to Mumbai 378 in 106.5 overs (Musheer Khan 55, Shardul Thakur 109, Tanush Kotian 89*; R Sai Kishore 6/99) by an innings and 70 runs.

Madhya Pradesh’s Hianshu Mantri plays in action during the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Vidarbha, in Nagpur on March 3, 2024.
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam

Himanshu Mantri’s century (126, 265b, 12×4, 1×6) served as the archetype of the steely resolve often associated with the longest format and laid the platform for Madhya Pradesh to pull ahead against Vidarbha on the second day of the first Ranji Trophy semifinal at the VCA Stadium (Civil Lines) here on Sunday.

The southpaw was handed a reprieve on 39 made the most of it, forging innings-steering partnerships with Sagar Solanki and Saransh Jain.

Vidarbha, chasing a deficit of 82 runs, lost Atharva Taide, who was given leg-before while shouldering arms to a delivery that seamed back in. Dhruv Shorey and Akshay Wakhare took the home side to 13 for one at stumps.

The day started with the defiance of Mantri and Harsh Gawali but turned on its head after Vidarbha pacers exploited the two-paced nature of the wicket. Umesh Yadav lured Mantri into fishing outside off, only for Karun Nair to spill the chance at first slip.

If it had the worst end of the weather on the first day, the aid from the surface on the second was reparation of sorts for Vidarbha. Umesh and Yash Thakur combined in the final hour of the morning session to send MP from 81 for one to 93 for four.

MP’s resistance was cracked when Thakur’s length ball skidded on and trapped Gawali in front. Umesh cleaned up Shubham Sharma before Thakur drew Venkatesh Iyer plumb in front to pull Vidarbha back into the fray.

Solanki and Mantri added 52 runs for the fifth wicket before a mix up led to the former’s run out. Mantri took matters into his own hands, dancing down to hoist Wakhare for four and six off consecutive deliveries before getting to his third First-Class century of the season in 210 balls.

Saransh stepped out against Wakhare to loft the off-spinner down the ground. But the tweaker had the last laugh when his length delivery held off the surface, causing Saransh to chip to covers and thus ending their stand for 73 runs.

Mantri perished when wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar premeditated his sweep and pouched him down the leg side.

The scores:

Vidarbha —1st innings: 170.

Madhya Pradesh —1st innings: Himanshu Mantri c Wadkar b Wakhare 126, Yash Dubey c Wadkar b Umesh 11, Harsh Gawali lbw b Thakur 25, Shubham Sharma b Umesh 1, Venkatesh Iyer lbw b Thakur 0, Sagar Solanki run out Thakur 26, Saransh Jain c Mokhade b Wakhare 30, Anubhav Agarwal b Sarwate 6, Kumar Kartikeya b Thakur 6, Avesh Khan (not out) 7, Kulwant Khejroliya c (sub) Wath b Umesh 4; Extras (lb-7, nb-1) 8; Total (in 94.3 overs): 252.

Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-81, 3-86, 4-93, 5-145, 6-218, 7-231, 8-235, 9-246.

Vidarbha bowling: Umesh 19.3-4-40-3, Thakare 19-6-38-0, Thakur 20-3-51-3, Sarvate 15-3-48-1, Wakhare 21-5-68-2.

Vidarbha— 2nd innings: Atharva Taide lbw Avesh 2, Dhruv Shorey (not out) 10, Akshay Wakhare (not out) 1; Extras 0; Total (for one wicket in four overs): 13.

Fall of wicket: 1-12.

Madhya Pradesh bowling: Avesh 2-0-2-1, Venkatesh 1-0-11-1, Anubhav 1-1-0-0.

Mumbai team celebrate after fall of a wicket during the Ranji trophy semifinals against Tamil Nadu in Mumbai on March 2, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

Tushar Deshpande (3/24) and Shardul Thakur (2/48) starred with the ball to put Mumbai on top following a meek display from Tamil Nadu on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal in Mumbai on March 2.

Tamil Nadu skipper B Sai Kishore’s decision to bat first backfired as the visitors were shot out for a mere 146 in the first innings with Deshpande and Thakur making life miserable for the visiting batters at the BKC Ground.

If it was any consolation, Tamil Nadu struck twice with the ball but Mumbai shaved off a significant chunk of first-innings deficit, reaching 45/2 at stumps to trail by another 101 runs.

Musheer Khan (24 not out) and nightwatchman Mohit Avasthi (1) were at the crease with Mumbai losing openers Prithvi Shaw (5) and Bhupen Lalwani (15).

Shaw fell early against Kuldeep Sen while Sai Kishore trapped Lalwani for the second wicket, but Mumbai remained on top.

On a track which had movement off the surface as well as turn for spinners, Mumbai proved to be the superior side given their bowlers extracted more support and their batters did not find getting runs as tough as the visitors.

Tamil Nadu, shellshocked by a disastrous start to their first semifinal in seven years, could not muster the courage to stage a fightback and folded shortly after tea despite Vijay Shankar (44) and Washington Sundar’s (43) rearguard act.

The horror began when B Sai Sudharsan was trapped leg-before on the fourth ball of the match by Shardul Thakur and it did not take long for the Mumbai bowlers to get all over the Tamil Nadu side in the first hour.

Mumbai bowlers exploited the early moisture with the new ball to perfection as Mohit Avasthi had TN’s leading run-maker N Jagadeesan (4) caught at short leg by Musheer Khan.

Coming in as first change, Deshpande remained unplayable throughout the innings for the Tamil Nadu batters.

Pradosh Ranjan Paul’s bat curled in his hands as he hit one straight to Despande, who took a fine return catch for the third wicket.

It was a brave call for skipper R Sai Kishore to promote himself ahead of the dependable Baba Indrajith but one that did not work.

Sai Kishore’s footwork was all over the place when Deshpande pitched one in line of the stumps to move the ball back in, pegging back the middle-stump as Tamil Nadu slumped to 17/4.

Tamil Nadu’s hopes of a revival took a body blow when Indrajith (11) was caught at short midwicket with Tanush Kotian (2/10) taking a sharp diving catch in front of him to leave the visitors reeling.

Shankar and Sundar fought well on either side of the lunch break but the pitch did not relent in giving support to the Mumbai bowlers.

Shankar, who began well with a flurry of fours, was tested consistently outside the off-stump by Deshpande, who kept moving the ball away from the right-hander.

Deshpande’s hard work resulted in a breakthrough for Thakur who had Shankar caught at the second slip by Shams Mulani for a 109-ball 44 which featured eight fours.

Having shown a little interest in getting runs, Shankar’s departure forced Sundar to get a move on.

While he was mostly resolute in defence, Sundar also had luck favouring him twice. An outside edge off Shardul had Shreyas Iyer spilling a tough chance on 11 and when he reached 37, Musheer spilled a catch at cover.

Mohammed Mohammed smacked three fours in a row of Thakur towards the end to make it 22 runs from one over, which gave a big push to the visitor’s total.

A resolute Madhya Pradesh is faced with the daunting task of taming Vidarbha in their home ground, which the hosts have turned into an impregnable citadel this season. File
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

Riding on the high of taking down heavyweight Karnataka in the quarterfinals, Vidarbha will look to deny Madhya Pradesh its second final in three years when they face off in the first Ranji Trophy semifinal at the VCA Stadium (Civil Lines) here from Saturday.

Aditya Sarwate and Harsh Dubey triggered a Karnataka batting meltdown on the final day, and led Vidarbha into the final-four after five years. MP, meanwhile, scraped a narrow four-run victory against Andhra to continue its bid for a second title under Chandrakant Pandit.

The colossal First-Class coach, Pandit, pitted against his former side Vidarbha, which he led to back-to-back titles in 2017/18 and 2018/19, serves an enticing sub-plot to the contest.

Himanshu Mantri and Yash Dubey have set the tone at the top for MP. The duo has notched up 500 runs each this season and contributed three hundred-plus opening-wicket partnerships. But its collapse from 123 for no loss to 159 for seven in the first innings against Andhra was symptomatic of its middle-order frailties, which have been masked by all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer.

Venkatesh has managed to salvage his side from precarious situations with aplomb, scoring 528 runs at a strike rate of 82.28. The southpaw will have a favourable match-up against the left-arm off-spin of Sarwate, Vidarbha’s leading wicket-taker this season with 37 scalps, and will again be tasked with holding things together for MP.

For Vidarbha, Atharva Taide’s coming-of-age century against Karnataka assured that the 23-year-old can fill in the big shoes of Faiz Fazal. But its imports, Dhruv Shorey and Karun Nair, will shoulder the major share of the side’s batting hopes.

Vidarbha could have benefitted from Jitesh Sharma’s firepower in the lower-middle order, but the wicketkeeper-batter has featured just once in eight games so far. In his stead, captain Akshay Wadkar’s six half-centuries have been valuable.

Kumar Kartikeya’s 32 wickets proved crucial when MP clinched the crown in 2022. The left-arm off-spinner has managed 38 this season already and is MP’s leading wicket-taker. With help from pacers Avesh Khan and Kulwant Khejroliya, MP could pose a threat to the home team’s batting.

Teams (from):

Vidarbha: Atharva Taide, Dhruv Shorey, Yash Rathod, Karun Nair, Akshay Wadkar (wk/captain), Mohit Kale, Aditya Sarwate, Harsh Dubey, Yash Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Aditya Thakare, Faiz Fazal, Akshay Wakhare, Sanjay Raghunath, Rajneesh Gurbani, Lalit M Yadav, Siddhesh Wath, Jitesh Sharma, Darshan Nalkande, Shubham Dubey.

Madhya Pradesh: Yash Dubey, Himanshu Mantri (wk), Harsh Gawli, Shubham S Sharma (captain), Venkatesh Iyer, Sumit Kushwah, Saransh Jain, Anubhav Agarwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Avesh Khan, Kulwant Khejroliya, Amarjeet Singh, Aditya Shrivastava, Mihir Hirwani, Rishabh Chouhan, Aryan Pandey.

Match starts at 9.30 AM.

Tamil Nadu Ranji Trophy team will be aiming to continue their winning form against the 41-time champions Mumbai in the semifinal on March 2, 2024
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

The Ranji Trophy is coming to its business end. While non-participation of star players in the premier First Class competition may have hit the headlines, the presence of multiple stars has taken the interest in a tantalising semifinal between old foes Mumbai and Tamil Nadu a notch higher.

Boost for TN

Tamil Nadu — having seamlessly hit top gear after a slow start to the season — has received a boost with the addition of B. Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar for the marquee clash. While Sai Sudharsan joined the squad on Thursday night after rehabilitation for his back at the NCA in Bengaluru, Washington arrived in the morning after being released from India’s Test squad.

The duo trained extensively at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy ground on Friday morning. At the other end of the ground, Mumbai also had a long practice session. More than the duo, Shreyas Iyer will be under the scanner over the next five days.

After having made himself unavailable for last week’s quarterfinal against Baroda and now omitted from the BCCI’s central contracts list, Shreyas will be keen on making a statement on the big occasion.

The aggressive batter had a long batting stint in the nets on Thursday, but took it easy on Friday in an optional session.

Shreyas will play for Mumbai in place of Suryansh Shedge in a direct swap. It will be interesting to see if Mumbai brings in wicketkeeper Prasad Pawar for opener Bhupen Lalwani. Hardik Tamore proved his mettle with the willow in the quarterfinal, but was ordinary behind the stumps, so Mumbai may be tempted to bolster its depth.

Besides Sai Sudharsan and Washington coming in for R. Vimal Khumar and Mohammed Ali, Tamil Nadu will also be tempted to field pacer Kuldeep Sen in place of M. Mohammed.

The surface at the Bandra-Kurla Complex facility sported a green look and unless the grass is removed, captain R. Sai Kishore — the highest wicket-taker of the season — will know that Kuldeep Sen’s pace may make a difference as much as his own skilful left-arm spin.

Squads:

Mumbai: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Bhupen Lalwani, Amogh Bhatkal, Musheer Khan, Prasad Pawar (wk), Hardik Tamore (wk), Shardul Thakur, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Aditya Dhumal, Tushar Deshpande, Mohit Avasthi, Royston Dias, Dhawal Kulkarni.

Tamil Nadu: R Sai Kishore (c), Pradosh Ranjan Paul (vc), Baba Indrajith, Narayan Jagadeesan (wk), Suresh Lokeshwar (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar, Vimal Khumar, Balasubramaniam Sachin, Washington Sundar, Sandeep Warrier, Trilok Nag, T Natarajan, Mohammed Mohammed, S Ajith Ram.

Match starts 9:30am IST.