Mumbai have sting in tail, reach semis

Mumbai, February 27

Tailenders Tanush Kotian and Tushar Deshpande entered the record books with a century each but it was their team’s slender first-innings lead against Baroda that propelled Mumbai into the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy here today.

With the contest ending in a draw on the fifth day at the BKC Ground, Mumbai made it to the final four on the virtue of their first-innings lead.

Mumbai will take on Tamil Nadu in the second semifinal this season at the same venue, while in the first semifinal game Vidarbha will host Madhya Pradesh.

Mumbai had taken a lead of 36 runs in the first innings after Baroda were bowled out for 348 in reply to the hosts’ 384.

The match was called off at tea with Baroda reaching 121/3 in an improbable chase of 606 on the final day, with Musheer Khan being adjudged the Player of the Match for his unbeaten 203 in the first innings.

Vidarbha crush Karnataka

Nagpur: Vidarbha completed a 128-run victory against Karnataka to cruise to the semifinals, riding on four-wicket hauls by Harsh Dubey and Aditya Sarwate.

Vidarbha came from behind on the final day to stop Karnataka in their tracks with a flurry of wickets. Chasing 371 for victory, Karnataka were shot out for 243.

Brief scores: Mumbai: 384 & 569 in 132 overs (Deshpande 123, Kotian 120*, Tamore 114, Shaw 87; Bhatt 7/200) vs Baroda: 348 & 121/3 in 30 overs (Moliya 54; Kotian 2/16); Vidarbha: 460 & 196 vs Karnataka: 286 & 243 in 62.4 overs (Agarwal 70; Dubey 4/65, Sarwate 4/78). — PTI

Iyer named in Mumbai squad for semis

Mumbai: Middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer was today named in the Mumbai’s 16-member squad for their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Tamil Nadu starting on March 2. Lacking runs and struggling with a back-related issue again, the 29-year-old Iyer was not named in India’s squad for the last three Tests against England. Iyer, subsequently, also missed Mumbai’s quarterfinals match along with all-rounder Shivam Dube. The timing of Iyer pulling out of the key Ranji clash coincided with BCCI secretary Jay Shah announcing that a directive will be issued to players to compulsorily play domestic matches.