Published: Dec 25, 2016, 07:30 AM (IST)
Edited: Dec 25, 2016, 05:28 PM (IST)
Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live cricket blog and updates of the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 quarter-final. Eight teams from three groups advanced to India’s principal domestic tournament, wherein intense cricket was witnessed throughout the league round. Four matches of the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 quarter-final began on Friday, with Hyderabad taking on the 41-time Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai, Karnataka facing their neighbours Tamil Nadu, Gujarat taking on the team from Odisha and Haryana are facing Jharkhand in this round. All the matches are being played at neutral venues, which a new experiment is being done by BCCI to negate the home advantages that host teams tend to take.
On the Day Two of the quater-final, Tamil Nadu stormed into the semi-final stage after completing a dominating win over Karnataka by 7 wickets. For Tamil Nadu, Aswin Crist claimed 7 wickets in the match with 6 for 31 in the first innings. In a low-scoring quarter-final played at Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam, tournament favourites. Having taken a crucial lead of 64 runs in the first innings, Tamil Nadu produced yet another strong display of bowling and shot out their opponents for 150 in their second innings.
146-run stand between Virat Singh and Ishank Jaggi kept Jharkhand on course against Haryana on Day Two of the quarter-final contest of Ranji Trophy 2016-17. In the pursuit of Haryana’s 258 in the first innings, Jharkhand ended Day Two at 228 for 3, trailing by 30 runs. The staggering duo will look to add as many runs on Day Three and take a sizeable lead to seal a spot in the semi-finals. Given there are two more days left, it seems attainable. All the same, the track has offered equal assistance for both batters and bowlers, keeping the game in balance.
Gujarat pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Rush Kalaria bowled tight spells on Day Two of the quarter-final clash against Odisha to take their side on the verge of all-important first-innings lead. At the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Saturday, Gujarat’s bowlers first added valuable runs to stretch team’s first innings score to 263 and then returned to restrict Odisha to 184 for 8 at stumps in the third quarter-final match in the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 season. Bumrah (4 for 33) and Kalaria (2 for 35) inflicted major damage as Odisha batsmen were found wanting. At the close of play on Day Two, Odisha still trail Gujarat by 79 runs with just two wickets in hand.
With all these happenings, the tournament is getting exciting with every possible day as it is reaching its final stages!
