New Delhi: After a hard fought group league stage and relatively one sided quarter final matches apart from the one between Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir, four teams eventually have made it to the last four stage of the 2020 Ranji Trophy.
After Gujarat defeated Goa within four days of play to become the first of the quaterfinalist to book a place in the semis; Bengal , Karnataka and Saurashtra completed the formalities to join Gujarat and fill up the remaining three spots of the semifinal line-up in the ongoing season's premier domestic first class tournament .
Here is a summary of the results of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals
Karnataka vs Jammu and Kashmir
After securing the crucial first innings lead, Karnataka batsmen batted well on Day 4 in the second innings to score 316 and set up a target of 331 runs for Jammu and Kashmir to win the match. On Day 5, J&K had no option but to chase the target as they had conceded the first innings lead , but their second innings collapsed on 163 runs. Karnataka as a result won by 167 runs to secure a berth in the semi finals. Karun Nair lead side which comprised of batsman like Manish Pandey will now take on Bengal for a place in the finals .
Bengal vs Odisha
Bengal on the other hand had secured an overall lead of 443 runs on Day 4 while their score was 361/7 . After a rain delayed start on the last day Bengal didn't declare and kept on to bat . All rounder Shahbaz Ahmed scored 62 and finally Odisha was given an improbable 456 runs to chase . The Eastern derby ended as Odisha scored merely 39 runs in 10 overs and Bengal made an entry into the last four on the basis of their first innings lead .
Saurashtra vs Andhra Pradesh
The match between Saurashtra and Andhra was merely a formality too on the last day. Backed by a power packed all round performance from Chirag Jani, Saurashtra took a huge first innings lead of 283 runs. Later in the second innings the middle and lower middle order contributed heavily to post a mammoth total of 426 runs for Saurashtra which left Andhra with no chance to chase the target . Finally the match ended as Andhra in their second innings scored 149 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 51 overs .
The semi final line up is fixed now with Bengal to take on the mighty Karnataka while Gujarat to take on their neighbours Saurashtra . Both the semi finals will start from 29th February while the final match will be played from March 9.