Mumbai are in sight of an outright victory against Delhi and close to securing the semifinal berth in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.
Mumbai are in sight of an outright victory against Delhi and close to securing the semifinal berth in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.
On the fourth and penultimate day of the quarterfinals in Cuttack, Mumbai set Delhi a victory target of 441 after having been dismissed for 450 in their second innings.
Mumbai have already taken four Delhi second innings wickets for 110 and need the remaining six wickets in the whole of fifth and final day on Friday to set up a semifinal clash with the winner of the last-eight clash between Karnataka and Assam in Bangalore from February 25.
Delhi, on the other hand, need to score another 331 or even hold on to their innings tight and play out a draw to deny Mumbai further progress in the tournament. For, Delhi have the vital 10-run first innings lead. But that looks highly improbable despite Virender Sehwag yet to take strike in the second innings.
On Thursday, Mumbai resumed their second innings at 376/7 and lost their remaining three wickets after adding 74 runs, the last recognised batsman Sidhesh Lad completing his half-century.
The Mumbai tail did more than expected with Shardul Thakur scoring a useful 20 and Harmeet, 30. Lad's 55 came from 133 balls and contained nine fours.
Chasing a tall target of 441, Delhi lost wickets regularly. Opener Umukt Chand and captain Gautam Gambhir shared 56 before recalled medium-pacer Wilkin Mota took two wickets in one over. Mota clean bowled Chand for 31 and three balls later, had Shivam Sharma leg before for nought.
Though Gambhir fought to save Delhi, he was trapped leg before by Thakur for 34.
Elsewhere, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are on course to secure their semifinal berths. In Indore, Karnataka, who have a 267-run first innings lead over Assam, declared their second innings at 415/5, setting their opponents a target of 683. At stumps, Assam were 32 without loss.
In Jaipur, Tamil Nadu have the advantage over Vidarbha. TN, who enjoy a 144-run first innings lead, have swelled their advantage to 337 with four second innings wickets in hand.
SCOREBOARD
Mumbai 1st inning 156
Delhi 1st innings 166
Mumbai 2nd innings (o/n 376/7): S Lad c Yadav b Narwal 55, S Thakur c Yadav b Sangwan 20, H Singh c M Sharma b Bhatia 30, BS Sandhu not out 9, Extras (B1, LB2) 3
Total (all out, 143.1 overs) 450
Fall of wickets: 7-376, 8-398, 9-432
Bowling: S Narwal 30-7-95-2, P Awana 29-6-102-1, P Sangwan 22-3-84-2, R Bhatia 15.1-6-30-1, M Sharma 30-6-92-4, S Sharma 17-5-44-0
Delhi (2nd innings): U Chand b Mota 31, G Gambhir lbw b Thakur 34, S Sharma lbw b Mota 0, R Bhatia batting 25, M Manhas c Tare b Thakur 0, M Sharma batting 14, Extras (B2, W1, NB3) 6
Total (for 4 wickets, 42 overs) 110
Fall of wickets: 1-56, 2-56, 3-92, 4-92
Bowling: S Thakur 15-6-43-2, BS Sandhu 8-3-14-0, W Mota 10-4-30-2, A Nayar 5-1-11-0, H Singh 3-1-5-0, S Lad 1-0-5-0
ELSEWHERE
In Indore: Karnataka 452 & (o/n 137/2) 415/5 dec in 115 overs (R Samarth 178, R Uthappa 77, KK Nair 48; AK Das 2/63, JS Mohammad 2/85) vs Assam 185 & 32/0 in 8 overs (PP Das 25*)
In Jaipur: Tamil Nadu 403 & 193/6 in 73 overs KD Karthik 64, V Shankar 82; SS Bandiwar 3/31) vs Vidarbha (o/n 206/6) 259 in 105.2 overs (R Jangid 26, SB Wagh 32; P Parameswaran 2/50, L Balaji 2/68, AA Crist 3/56, M Rangarajan 3/42)
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