Excitement gripped cricket fans as Ranji Trophy Elite quarterfinals began Friday. Low-scoring thrillers defined Day 1, with Mumbai’s 120 and J&K’s 194 highlighting batting woes amid stellar bowling displays.
At Keenan Stadium, Jharkhand batted first post-toss loss, all out for 235. Aditya Singh shone with 83 runs, captain Virat Singh added 47. Uttarakhand’s Joshi took 4, Rawat and Mishra 3 apiece. They finished at 4/0 (1 over), trailing by 231.
Holkar Stadium witnessed J&K’s downfall to 194. Khajuria’s patient 60 (140 balls) and Singh’s 41 weren’t enough. Sen’s 5/66 dismantled them, Kartikeya (3) and Pandey (2) assisted. MP unbeaten at 28/0 (10 overs), 166 to chase effectively.
In Kalyani, Andhra posted 264/6 vs Bengal. Bhui’s 83, Bharat’s 47, Rashid’s 46, and Reddy’s 33 powered them. Bengal’s Kumar (3/50), Deep (2), Shami (1) fought back.
Mumbai, electing to bat at BKC, tumbled to 120. Herwadkar’s 60 was orphaned by collapses. Karnataka trio Kaverappa, Krishna, Gopal claimed 3 each; Patil 1. Karnataka reached 110/2 (26 overs), Agarwal 54*, Rahul 28; Mumbai wickets by Awasthi, Shedge.
As semifinals loom, Day 1’s narrative of resilience and ruin sets up mouthwatering continuations.