The much-awaited knockout stages of the 2021/22 season of the Ranji Trophy got underway today in Bengaluru and Alur.
Here's what happened in each of the four Quarterfinal fixtures -
Bengal v Jharkhand, 1st Quarterfinal
Last season's runners-up Bengal have taken a pole position in their quarterfinal fixture against Jharkhand courtesy of a sensational batting performance on the first day against Jharkhand.
Having been put into bat, Bengal openers ensured that the decision to bowl first by Jharkhand backfired substantially as skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (65 off 124) and Abhishek Raman (41 off 72) added runs at a rapid rate.
Raman retired after pulling his hamstring while Easwaran was eventually dismissed by Sushant Mishra. However, it didn't have any effect on the game as Sudip Kumar Gharami (106* off 204), and Anustup Majumdar (85*off 139) went on to add 178 unbeaten runs for the second wicket to end the day at 310/1 in 89 overs.
Scores- Bengal 310/1 in 89 overs (Sudip Kumar Gharami 106*, Anustup Majumdar 85*; Sushant Mishra 1-75)
Mumbai v Uttarakhand, 2nd Quarterfinal
Former heavyweights Mumbai rode on an unbeaten century from debutant Suved Parkar (104* off 218) and Sarfaraz Khan's rapid 104-ball 69* to end the proceedings at 304/3 in 86 against Uttarakhand.
Batting first, Mumbai got off to a brisk start thanks to a flurry of boundaries from the opening duo of Prithvi Shaw (21 off 20) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (35 off 45).
Shaw and Jaiswal were eventually dismissed by Deepak Dhapola (3-53 in 18) in the 7th and 15th over, respectively, reducing Mumbai to 64-2.
However, Armaan Jaffer went on to score a half-century (60 off 133) and, along with debutant centurion Parkar, added 112 runs for the third wicket.
Once again, it was Dhapola who proved to be the partnership-breaker as he dismissed Jaffer for 60.
But, Parkar and Sarfaraz ensured that Mumbai didn't lose any more wickets and finished the day at a strong position of 304/3.
Scores- Mumbai 304/3 in 86 overs (Suved Parkar 104*, Sarfaraz Khan 69*, Armaan Jaffer 60; Deepak Dhapola 3-53)
Karnataka v Uttar Pradesh, 3rd Quarterfinal
Brilliant displays from pacer Shivam Mavi (3-40 in 11) and left-arm orthodox Saurabh Kumar (4-67 in 29) have helped Uttar Pradesh take a commanding position at Stumps on Day 1 as they reduced Karnataka to 213-7 in Alur.
Batting first, Karnataka got off to a decent start as Ravikumar Samarth (57 off 81), and Mayank Agarwal (10 off 41) added 57 runs in 13 overs.
However, Mavi's introduction in the attack proved to be a turning point as the rookie pacer dismissed both Agarwal and Karun Nair, while Saurabh Kumar took out Samarth to leave Karnataka reeling at 97/3.
Krishnamurthy Siddharth (37 off 84) and skipper Manish Pandey (27 off 70) somewhat revived the innings with a 63-run-stand before Mavi and Saurabh ran through their middle and lower order as Karnataka finished the day at 213/7.
Scores- Karnataka 213/7 in 72 overs (R Samarth 57; Saurabh Kumar 4-67, Shivam Mavi 3-40)
Punjab v Madhya Pradesh, 4th Quarterfinal
Madhya Pradesh have assumed a strong position in their quarterfinal fixture against Punjab thanks to a sensational bowling performance led by the duo of Puneet Datey (3-48 in 14) and Anubhav Agarwal (3-36 in 13.3).
Datey was the pick of the bowlers as he got the ball to move both ways, and as a result, he managed to knock over Punjab's top-3, including Shubman Gill (9 off 9).
Agarwal and the rest of the bowlers backed it up by running past Punjab's middle, lower middle and tailenders. For Punjab, three batters - Abhishek Sharma 47, Anmolpreet Singh 47, Sanvir Singh 41 - got into 40s but failed to convert it into big scores.
Punjab were eventually bowled out for 219 in the 72nd over, and MP finished the day at 5/0 after 1 over.
Scores- Punjab 219 all-out in 71.3 overs (Abhishek Sharma 47, Anmolpreet Singh 47, Sanvir Singh 41; Puneet Datey 3-48, Anubhav Agarwal 3-36, Saransh Jain 2/45) lead Madhya Pradesh 5/0 by 214 runs.