The last round of league matches in Ranji Trophy 2024-25 is on. Here are the highlights from the third day.
Defending champions Mumbai through to quarter-finals
To qualify for the knockouts, defending champions Mumbai needed two things: a win against Meghalaya, ideally with a bonus point, and the Baroda vs Jammu & Kashmir result to go their way. When J&K took a first-innings lead against Baroda, Mumbai had their destiny in their own hands. On Saturday, they duly beat Meghalaya by an innings and 456 runs to seal their quarter-final spot. Shardul Thakur, who took a hat-trick in the first innings, and scored 84 off 42 with the bat, picked up 4 for 48 in Meghalaya's second innings. Tanush Kotian took care of the lower order, finishing with 4 for 15, as Meghalaya folded for 129.
Controversy in Vadodara
Play in Vadodara started after a delay of an hour and 25 minutes as J&K alleged that the pitch was tampered with overnight to force a result. J&K had finished the second day on 125 for 1, their lead a healthy 205, and needed just a draw to make the quarter-finals, while Baroda were chasing a win. J&K said the pitch was way too damp; the Baroda Cricket Association denied any wrongdoing, blaming it on the early-morning dew.
After a lot of deliberations between the umpires, the match referee, and the J&K team management, play finally resumed at 10.55am. Shubham Khajuria scored 94 and Kanhaiya Wadhawan 84 as J&K posted 284. For Baroda, Krunal Pandya, Ninad Rathva and Mahesh Pithiya picked up three wickets each. Chasing 365, Baroda were 58 for 2 at stumps.
KL Rahul watch
With Karnataka out of the race for the knockouts, the main interest on day three of their match against Haryana was how KL Rahul would fare. After Nishant Sindhu's 165 off 184 balls, studded with 15 fours and six sixes, gave Haryana a lead of 146, Karnataka lost their first wicket early. Having scored 26 in the first innings, Rahul walked in at No. 3 once again. He got a good start, and hit seven fours, but failed to convert it into a big score as Anuj Thakral bowled him for 43.
Saurashtra into quarter-finals
Having beaten Delhi by ten wickets in the previous round, Saurashtra registered another bonus-point win, beating Assam by an innings and 144 runs in Rajkot. The win took them to the top of Group D, thus confirming their quarter-final spot. Following on, Assam could add only 99 to their overnight 67 for 1 as Dharmendrasinh Jadeja picked up 5 for 50 to finish with nine wickets in the match. It is understood that Ravindra Jadeja did not bowl in either innings to manage his workload ahead of the England ODIs and the Champions Trophy.
Tamil Nadu in knockouts despite losing
Stars aligned for Tamil Nadu as they qualified for the knockouts despite their 44-run loss to Jharkhand in Jamshedpur. Tamil Nadu finished with 25 points. Even if Chandigarh pull off a miraculous victory over Chhattisgarh to finish on 25 points, Tamil Nadu's extra bonus point will see them through.
Chasing 234 on a turning track, Tamil Nadu resumed the day on 137 for 5. But Jharkhand took a little more than an hour to end their resistance. Left-arm spinner Manishi took 4 for 49 as Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 189, with B Indrajith unavailable to bat.
Nair hundred gives Vidarbha hope
Vidarbha were wobbling at 62 for 3 in the morning, still 74 behind Hyderabad's first-innings total. But Karun Nair and Atharva Taide brought them back into the contest with a stand of 124 for the fourth wicket. Taide fell for 93 but Nair brought up his hundred, his second of the season. A quickfire half-century from Harsh Dubey took them to 355. Mohammed Siraj was the most successful bowler for Hyderabad with 3 for 59.
Chasing 220, Hyderabad lost Tanmay Agarwal early and were 23 for 1 at stumps. The result is inconsequential for both teams. Vidarbha are already through to the quarter-finals and Hyderabad out of the race.