Mumbai made it to the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy 2015-16 with a thumping win against Jharkhand. After losing to Karnataka in the quarterfinals in 2014-15, Assam beat the Harbhajan Singh-led Punjab in the ongoing season to enter the semi-finals stage. Jay Bista and Iqbal Abdullah bowled Mumbai to victory on the penultimate day in the spinner dominated game while Arup Das claimed eight wickets to help Assam to a win on the pacer friendly Valsad wicket. He also picked up his maiden ten-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Arup took his tally to 11 wickets in the match as he had also picked three wickets in the first innings. In Mumbai, Harpreet Singh Bhatia posted his first century of the season as Madhya Pradesh consolidated their position against Bengal in an effort to seal a semi-final berth. Here are the highlights of Day 4: QF 2 - Assam vs Punjab: Punjab 2nd inn 236/10 (G Khera 35, A Das 8/83). Assam won by 51 runs.When play resumed in Valsad on the fourth morning, Punjab needed 64 runs to win with Gitansh Khera and Barinder Sran at the crease while Assam needed two wickets. Arup Das, who had ran through the Punjab line-up on Day 3, returned to trap the wicketkeeper batsman leg-before wicket in the second over of the morning and followed up with the wicket of Deepak Bansal in his next to end the innings. The pacer who claimed eight for 83 in the innings, finished with 11 wickets from the match. The superb match-winning effort that helped Assam qualify for the semi-finals was also Arup’s best figures since his debut in 2011.
QF 3 - Bengal vs Madhya Pradesh: Madhya Pradesh 2nd inn 560/9 decl (HS Bhatia 139, A Dane 69, A Dinda 2/92, PP Ojha 2/169); Bengal 2nd inn 113/3 (M Tiwary 32*, J Saxena 1/21) Need 675 runs to winHarpreet Singh Bhatia scored a well compiled century to help Madhya Pradesh consolidate their position further in the game. The lower middle-order bat who had been getting good scores but was yet to reach the three-figure mark, posted 139 as MP piled on the runs. He was involved in a 149-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Ankit Dane (69). The MP captain, Devendra Bundela later said that while the team worked to ensure themselves a position from where there couldn’t lose, they also wanted to give their batsmen opportunities to score runs ahead of the possible semi-final qualification. The Bengal bowlers bent their back as they toiled to create breakthroughs. MP eventually declared their innings on 590 for nine at the stroke of tea with the wicket of Ishwar Pandey setting the Manoj Tiwary-led side a gigantic 788-run target. With their backs already to the wall, Bengal had lost three wickets until stumps on the penultimate day.
QF 4 - Jharkhand vs Mumbai: Jharkhand 2nd inn 94/10 (SP Gautam 27, J Bista 5/16, I Abdullah 5/35). Mumbai won by 395 runs Jay Bista and Iqbal Abdullah bowled Mumbai to a comprehensive win to claim a semi-final berth for the second time in a row. Capitalising on the conditions in Mysore, the Mumbai spinners claimed the remaining nine wickets for 66 runs after Jharkhand resumed their second innings on the overnight score of 28 for one. Off-spinner Bista rattled SP Gautam's stumps with Jharkhand on 64, which triggered a collapse. The rest of the line-up then crumbled like a cookie. Two runs later, Abdullah accounted for Virat Singh while Bista trapped Ishank Jaggi lbw in the following over reduce the team to 69 for four. With Jharkhand on 72, Abdullah dealt a double blow by claiming Kumar Deobrat and Kaushal Singh. Matching him wicket for wicket, the youngster sent back Saurabh Tiwary (4) and Shahbaz Nadeem off successive deliveries leaving the opposition tottering at 72 for eight. The spinners then claimed a wicket each to wrap-up the innings. While Bista picked his maiden first-class five-for in the process, it was Iqbal's fifth first-class fifer.Follow the stars:
Saurabh Tiwary was sent back by Jay Bista for four in the match against Mumbai.Ashoke Dinda picked the wicket of Ishwar Pandey on the fourth day of the match against MP.
Ishwar Pandey accounted for Abhimany Easwaran giving MP their first breakthrough in Bengal’s second innings.
Manoj Tiwary was batting on 32 with Wriddhiman Saha, who was batting on six at the end of day’s play.
