NEWS
Follow UsIt was a day to remember for Mumbai and their openers Prithvi Shaw and Yashaswi Jaiswal as the team registered a mammoth 725-run win, the biggest margin of victory in First-Class cricket, over Uttarakhand to enter the semifinals of Ranji Trophy 2022.
The 41-time champions broke the record of 685-run win held by New South Wales over Queensland in Australia's Sheffield Sheild back in 1929-30 season.
Skipper Shaw scored a fluent 72 off just 80 balls Jaiswal made 103 as the pair put up 115 for the first wicket. Veteran Aditya Tare added 57 as Mumbai declared their second innings at 261/3 to set Uttarakhand a target of 794. Uttarakhand collapsed for 69 runs with as many as five batters dismissed for ducks. Dhawal Kulkarni, Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian claimed three wickets apiece while Mohit Avasthi claimed one wicket.
Earlier in the first innings, Mumbai declared at 647/8 after Suved Parkar scored 252 and Sarfaraz Khan contributed 153 to the scoreline. Mulani claimed 5-39 as Mumbai bundled out Uttarakhand to 114 in the first innings.
Disappointment for Gill and Mayank
India opener Shubman Gill's return to First-Class cricket continued to be a poor one as he was dismissed for 19 in Punjab's 10-wicket loss to Madhya Pradesh. Gill, who has been included for India's one-off Test against England next month, was dismissed for nine runs in the first innings as Punjab were bowled out for 219.
Mumbai Indians spinner Kumar Kartikeya led the bowling attack as he snared 6-50, including that of Gill and his opening partner Abhishek Sharma as Punjab were bowled out for 203 on the final day. MP opener Himanshu Mantri (9 not out) and Yash Dubey (17 not out) knocked off the paltry target of 26 runs to reach the semifinals.
Uttar Pradesh created history by beating Karnataka for the first time in Ranji Trophy as spinner Saurabh Kumar yet again starred with 3-63. UP captain Karan Sharma led from the front with an unbeaten 93 as they chased a target of 213 on the final day.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's Priyam Garg contributed 52 to the chase as he and Sharma added 59 for the third wicket. Prince Yadav remained not out on 33 to bring up UP's five-wicket win on Thursday.
Mayank Agarwal's struggles continued as he was dismissed for 22 runs in the second innings as Karnataka were bundled out for 114 in their second innings.
Gujarat Titans' pacer Yash Dayal was impressive with 2-35 while Shivam Mavi claimed one wicket.
Bengal enter semis
Bengal completed the semis line-up after batting out most of the fourth day and finishing with a second innings lead of 551. Abhimanyu Easwaran's side qualified for the semifinals after taking a massive first innings lead of 475 runs.
Royal Challengers Bangalore allrounder Shahbaz Ahmed was the forefront of Bengal's effort as the spinner claimed 4-51. Right-arm pacer Sayan Mondal snared 4-70 as Jharkhand lost remaining five wickets on the final day.
Virat Singh was the lone fighter with an unbeaten 113. Earlier, Bengal's top nine batters crossed the fifty-run mark, the first instance in a first-class game, as they declared their first innings at 773/7.
Shahbaz was among runs with 78 while Sudip Gharami (186) and Anustup Majumdar (117) scored tons.
The semifinals will be played from June 14-18 in Bengaluru. Bengal will take on Madhya Pradesh in the first semifinal, while Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh battle for a spot in the final.
