With the quarterfinals coming to an end on Saturday, the Ranji Trophy 2018-19 edition now moves into the semifinals stage with Vidarbha, Kerala, Saurashtra and Karnataka making the cut.
Saurashtra will face Karnataka in the semi-finals, while Vidarbha will lock horns with Kerala in the other last four match. Both the semifinals will kick-start on Thursday, January 24, 2019. Here are the timings along with the venue of the Ranji Trophy semifinals:
Vidarbha vs Kerala – 9.30 pm at Krishnagiri Stadium, Wayanad
Saurashtra vs Karnataka – 9.30 pm in Bangalore
Defending champions Vidarbha defeated Uttarakhand by an innings and 115 runs in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal in Nagpur on Saturday, making it to the semifinals. Umesh Yadav (5/23) and Aditya Sarvate (5/55) grabbed five wickets each to dismantle them for 159 in the second innings and script a memorable win.
Scripting history, Kerala stormed into the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy for the first time with a 113-run win over Gujarat on the third day of their quarterfinal match in in Wayanad on Thursday. This is the first time that the Kerala team has entered the last four stage of the prestigious domestic cricket tournament in over six decades.
Harvik Desai hit his maiden first-class century to help Saurashtra pull off the highest run chase in Ranji Trophy history, beating Uttar Pradesh by six wickets to enter the semi-finals here on Saturday. Opener Desai was well-supported by Snell Patel (72), Cheteshwar Pujara (67 not out) and Sheldon Jackson (73 not out) as Saurashtra pulled off the 372-run chase by losing just four wickets in 115.1 overs. Saurashtra, thus, broke the previous highest run chase record of 371 set by Assam against Services in the 2008-09 season.
Captain Manish Pandey and Karun Nair cracked brilliant half centuries as Karnataka registered a comprehensive six-wicket win over Rajasthan to storm into the semifinals of Ranji Trophy in Bengaluru on Friday. Pandey (87) and Nair (61) shared an unbeaten 129-run partnership for the fifth wicket in just 24.5 overs on the fourth and final day to help Karnataka chase down a tricky 184-run victory target.
