Chennai vs. Mumbai
Despite winning the toss, Tamil Nadu’s semifinal match against Mumbai got off to a bad start when they collapsed for just 146 on the opening day. Mumbai scored their first wicket in just four balls as Shardul Thakur trapped Sai Sudharsan lbw for a duck. Prior to Tushar Deshpande steamrolling through the middle order with a three-wicket haul, N Jagadeesan was equally ineffective. Before being lowered to 42/5, TN was wallowing at 17/4 at one point. After that, Washington Sundar and Vijay Shankar batted for more than 30 overs, inspiring hopes of a comeback.
Those dreams were dashed, though, when Vijay passed Shardul by and was caught in the slip cordon for 44. Washington made a valiant effort to reach a 138-ball 43, but in the end, TN was all out for 146. After that, Kuldeep Sen gave TN a great start with dismissing Prithvi Shaw in the second over, and skipper Sai Kishore then trapped Bhupen Lalwani prior to stumping. Mumbai is behind by 101 runs, but players like Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer are still waiting to bat.
Quick scores: Mumbai45/2 (R Sai Kishore 1/3; Mustheer Khan 24*) trail The Tamil Nadu 146 (Tushar Deshpande 3/24, Washington Sundar 43, Vijay Shankar 44) by 101 innings
Madhya Pradesh against Vidarbha
On the first day, Avesh Khan’s four-fer shook Vidarbha as Madhya Pradesh grabbed control of their semifinal match. Vidarbha had gone from 68/1 at one point to being bowled out for just 170, but Avesh had castled Dhruv Shorey and set the platform for his team to seize control. After Venkatesh Iyer shattered Atharva Taide’s resistance, the batting side’s solitary stalwart was Karun Nair. Karun was making a great effort to get a fifty on the opposite end while MP continued to strike at regular intervals. He was the ninth hitter to be out of the game before his team was eliminated.
After dismissing opener Yash Dubey, Umesh Yadav handed Vidarbha the early advantage. However, Himanshu Mantri and Harsh Gawli successfully batted through the very brief period before stumps, leading MP to 47/1 by the end. Considering they are now just behind by 123 runs with nine wickets remaining, the visitors will be chasing a first innings advantage.
Brief scores: Vidarbha 170 (Karun Nair 63; Avesh Khan 4/49) leads Madhya Pradesh 47/1 (Himanshu Mantri 26*; Umesh Yadav 1/18) by 123 runs.
