Jasprit Bumrah claimed six for 29 while RP Singh picked three for 25 to bowl Gujarat to a thumping win. After Manprit Juneja (81) and Chirag Gandhi (51) helped set the opposition a 235-run target, the pacers bowled the Saurabh Tiwary-led team out for a paltry 111 runs to enter the final.
With Abhinav Mukund and Baba Indrajith’s centuries powering the team to a solid total before declaring late in the day, Tamil Nadu need to bowl Mumbai out on the last day to qualify for the final. Mumbai, who have already secured a first innings lead can qualify on the basis of it and are not dependant on an outright win to enter the final.
Day 3 – recap:
SF 1 - Mumbai vs Tamil Nadu in Rajkot: Tamil Nadu 1st inn 305/10 in 115.2 overs (V Shankar 50, A Nayar 4/66, S Thakur 4/75); Mumbai 1st inn 406/10 in 150.3 overs (A Tare 83, A Nayar 58, S Thakur 52, V Shankar 4/59); Tamil Nadu 2nd inn 356/6 decl. in 78 overs (B Indrajith 138, A Mukund 122, B Sandhu 2/67); Mumbai 2nd inn 5/0 in 5 overs. Need 246 runs to win
Propelled by centurions Abhinav Mukund (122) and Baba Indrajith (138), Tamil Nadu set Mumbai a challenging target to chase in little over a day. At the end of day’s play, Mumbai, who have secured a first innings lead were five without any loss of wickets and will need 246 runs for an outright win.
Earlier, Balwinder Singh Sandhu claimed Ganga Sridhar Raju with 64 runs on the board. However, the Mumbai attack were kept at bay by Abhinav Mukund and Baba Indrajith. While the bowlers bent their backs, they weren’t able to test the batsmen, which also allowed the second wicket partnership to flourish. The TN skipper survived twice before reaching his century. The pair added 185 runs to set a solid foundation for a challenging total.
After Abhinav Mukund departed edging Akshay Girap to the slips, Indrajith rallied on to build on the total. He was involved in a 34-run stand with Dinesh Karthik until the wicketkeeper-batsman was sent back by Sandhu. Indrajith then stitched a 47-run stand with Vijay Shankar until the latter departed handing a return catch to Vijay Gohil. 17 runs later Indrajith departed hitting Shardul Thakur to the covers with the team on 347 for five. In the next over, the spinner followed up with the wicket of Baba Aparajith. At the fall of the wicket, TN declared their innings to give themselves an opportunity to win and qualify for the final. They were penalised for the batsman running on the pitch; Mumbai were awarded five runs for it.
SF 2 - Gujarat vs Jharkhand in Nagpur: Gujarat 1st inn 390/10 in 126.2 overs (P Panchal 149, RP Singh 40, Ajay 3/67, R Shukla 3/71); Jharkhand 1st inn 408/10 in 102 overs (I Jaggi 129, K Singh 53, RP Singh 6/90); Gujarat 2nd inn 252 all out in 80.5 overs (M Juneja 81, C Gandhi 51, S Nadeem 5/69); Jharkhand 2nd inn 111/10 in 41 overs (K Singh 24, J Bumrah 6/29, RP Singh 3/25) Gujarat won by 123 runs
After setting Jharkhand a competitive 235-run target, the Gujarat pacers – RP Singh and Jasprit Bumrah - bowled the Parthiv Patel-led team to a resounding win on the pen-ultimate day of the semi-final clash.
After RP Singh bowled Pratyush Singh for zero, Jasprit Bumrah castled the other opener Sumit Kumar for naught to leave Jharkhand on six for two. The senior pacer then followed up with the wicket of Saurabh Tiwary while H Patel accounted for Ishank Jaggi at the stroke of tea to leave the side reeling at 27 for four at the end of the second session.
In the last session, Bumrah ran through the rest of the line up to finish with a six-wicket haul while RP Singh wrapped up the match with the wicket of Vikash.
Earlier, Juneja resumed Gujarat’s innings with H Patel at 100 for four on the fourth morning with a lead of 82 runs. 35 runs later, Vikash struck to send back H Patel and followed up with the wicket of R Bhatt to leave the side on 137 for six.
The middle-order bat then partnered with Gandhi to keep the innings in an effort to set the opposition a respectable target. The pair added 80 runs for the seventh wicket until Juneja was sent back by Shahbaz Nadeem. In the next over, Rahul Shukla rattled RP Singh’s stumps. Gandhi then took the team to 252 with a 51-run knock (off 104 balls) until the left-arm spinner accounted for him. With Rush Kalaria absent hurt, Gujarat’s innings was wrapped-up for 252 after lunch on the second day.
