Ranji Trophy: Mumbai face Delhi in semis

Defending champions Mumbai advanced to the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy by virtue of their first innings lead after their quarterfinal match against Haryana ended in a draw at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak on Sunday.

Resuming at 119 for three, Mumbai piled up 334 for seven and finished the final day with a huge 570-run overall lead over Haryana, thanks to a classy unbeaten 101 by Ajinkya Rahane.

Earlier, the visitors scored 400 in their first essay and then skittled out Haryana for a paltry 164 to take a 236-run first innings lead.

Mumbai now face Delhi in the semifinal.

Rahane adorned his 172-ball innings with seven fours and a six to help his team swell the lead, while Ajit Agarkar remained unbeaten on 25.

Sahil Kukreja, resuming at his personal score of 63, could add just 18 runs before falling prey to paceman Dhruv Singh and becoming the first batsman to depart this morning. Iqbal Abdulla then added 51 runs to the Mumbai total before being deceived by an Amit Mishra's turning delivery.

For the hosts, Sanjay Budhwar and Mishra scalped two wickets each but that was not enough to stop Mumbai from swelling the run difference.

Brief scores:

Mumbai: 400 & 334/7 (A Rahane 101 n.o., S Kukreja 81; S Budhwar 2/74, A Mishra 2/58).

Haryana: 164.

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Chabra ton helps Delhi book semis berth

Delhi advanced to the semifinal of the Ranji Trophy by virtue of their first innings lead against Tamil Nadu after their quarter-final match ended in a draw at the Palam Grounds in New Delhi on Sunday.

On the final day, Delhi's Gaurav Chabra struck a classy 100 while wicket-keeper Puneet Bisht made a valuable 75 to power the hosts to 490 for eight in their first innings, in reply to visitors' 463 all out.

Resuming at an overnight score of 294 for four, Delhi added 196 runs from the 64 overs they faced on Sunday, taking a 27-run lead over the visitors.

Tamil Nadu were 27 without loss in their second innings in 10 overs with Ravichandaran Ashwin (11) and Umashankar Sushil (11) at the crease.

Earlier, overnight Delhi batsmen Chabra and skipper Rajat Bhatia started the proceedings on a cautious note and added 62 runs for the fifth wicket before a direct throw from Chandasekar Ganapathy found the stumps of Bhatia (94).

Bhatia added 27 runs more to his overnight score of 67 and struck 10 fours in his 363-minute stay on the crease.

Next batsman Bisht and Chabra then took the score past 400 and gave Tamil Nadu's bowlers no further joy.

The duo added 96 runs for the sixth wicket to take the score to 456, just seven runs short of visitors' first innings total, before the partnership was broken by Ravichadaran Ashwin, who trapped Chabra in front of the stumps.

Chabra faced 249 balls and hit 12 fours.

Brief scores:

Tamil Nadu 1st innings: 463 and 27/0.

Delhi 1st innings: 490/8 (Gaurav Chabra 100, Rajat Bhatia 94, Aditya Jain 76, Mithun Manhas 76, Puneet Bisht 75).

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Karnataka to take on UP in semis

Karnataka entered the Ranji Trophy semi-finals by virtue of their first innings lead after their quarter-final match against Punjab ended in a draw on the fourth and final day at the Gangothri Glades in Mysore on Sunday.

After conceding a 78-run lead, Punjab prolonged their second innings well into the post-lunch session and declared at 367 for six.

Karnataka made 42 for one in their second essay before the match was stopped an hour before scheduled draw of stumps.

Sunny Sohal (89), Mayank Sidhana (50) and Uday Kaul (86) scored half centuries in a listless performance by Punjab.

The wicket did play flat and true even on the fourth day of the match, but it was disappointing that Pankaj Dharmani's side not to make any effort to put Karnataka under pressure.

Evidently, the players went through the motions, even driving away the motley crowd that had come to watch Rahul Dravid.

Vinay Kumar bagged two wickets to take his season's tally to 38.

Karnataka will play Uttar Pradesh in the semifinals in Bangalore from January 3-6.

Brief Scores:

Punjab: 300 & 367/6 decl

Karanataka: 378 & 42/1.

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UP seal semis spot

Skipper Amol Muzumdar (119) struck an unbeaten century to save Assam from the clutches of defeat but still could not stop Uttar Pradesh from advancing to the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy tournament in Guwahati on Sunday.

Chasing a huge 337 for victory on the last day of the four-day encounter, the hosts were reduced to 167 for five at one stage but Muzumdar combined well with Kunal Saikia (39) and Sairaj Bahutule (29) to salvage a draw.

Assam were 259 for eight in their second innings when the day's play ended at North-East Frontier Railway Stadium.

Muzumdar batted for almost five hours and faced 226 balls during his fighting knock, which was studded by 12 boundaries.

Praveen Gupta (3/89) was the most successful bowler for UP with three wickets while Piyush Chawla accounted for two victims.

Earlier, UP who resumed at 259 for nine, added 13 more runs to their overnight score to fold out for 272 and take an overall lead of 336 runs.

Chasing 337 for victory, Assam were 84 for four at one stage but Muzumdar raised a 83-run stand for the fifth wicket with Saikia and then combined with Bahutule to notch up a 72-run sixth wicket partnership to deny UP an outright win.

Brief Scores:

Uttar Pradesh: 213 & 272.

Assam: 149 & 259/8.