Ranji Trophy 2021-22 | Akash Deep’s 18-ball 50, Mumbai’s 794-run lead talking points of Day 3

Uttar Pradesh sealed one of the four semi-finalists’ spots by defeating Karnataka by five wickets. The rest of the three slots are still up for grabs as six other teams simultaneously fight it out in the ongoing quarter-final stages of the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy season. Here is an end-of-the-day report of the knockout matches.

Bengal vs Jharkhand

Bengal extended dominance over Jharkhand by hammering 773-7. Batting for almost two-and-a-half days, the Abhimanyu Easwaran's side saw all nine of their batters cross the fifty runs mark, with two of them even moving on to smash a century. 

Tail-ender Akash Deep clubbed an 18-ball 53* in an exhilarating inning that provided the finishing touches to Bengal’s mammoth score. Later in the field, their bowlers dismissed half of Jharkhand’s side for just 139 before stumps. Jharkhand finished the day trailing by 634 runs.

Brief scores:

Bengal: 773-7 (218.4 overs)

Sudip Kumar Gharami 186, Anustup Majumdar 117

Sushant Mishra 3-140, Nadeem 2-175

Jharkhand: 139-5 (43 overs)

Nazim Siddiqui 53, Saurabh Tiwary 33

Sayan Mondal 3-32, Shahbaz Ahmed 2-5

Jharkhand trail by 634 runs

Mumbai vs Uttarakhand

If a 533-run first-innings lead was not enough for Prithvi Shaw’s Mumbai, they extended that margin to 794 runs by deciding to bat again. Shaw entertained with a sparkling 80-ball 72, while his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal hammered 103 off just 150 balls. Mumbai finished the day at 261-3.

Brief scores:

Mumbai: 647-8 (166.4 overs)

Suved Parkar 252, Suved Parkar 153

Deepak Dhapola 3-89, Kamal Singh 1-10

Uttarakhand: 114 (41.1 overs)

Kamal Singh 40, R Bist 25

Shams Mulani 5-39, Mohit Avasthi 2-22

Mumbai: 261-3 (58 overs)

Yashasvi Jaiswal 103, Prithvi Shaw 72

Dikshanshu Negi 1-31, Jay Gokul Bista 1-46

Mumbai leads by 794 runs

Punjab vs Madhya Pradesh

After conceding 178-run first innings lead to Madhya Pradesh, Punjab continues to remain behind even in their second innings. 

They lost as many as five wickets before the close of play while reducing the deficit by just 120 runs. MP’s Kumar Kartikeya picked up four of the five Punjab wickets to fall on the day.

Brief scores:

Punjab: 219 (71.3 overs)

Abhishek Sharma 47, Anmolpreet Singh 47

Puneet Datey 3-48, Anubhav Agarwal 3-40

Madhya Pradesh: 397 (154.5 overs)

Shubham S Sharma 102, Himanshu Mantri 89

Vinay Choudhary 5-83, S Kaul 2-55

Punjab: 120-5 (47)

Anmolpreet Singh 31, Shubman Gill 19

Kumar Kartikeya 4-31, Saransh Jain 1-50

Punjab trail by 58 runs