Live Blog: Ranji Trophy 2021-22 semi-finals

Mumbai produced an allround performance to storm into the Ranji Trophy final, after eking out a draw against Uttar Pradesh, at Just Cricket Academy. Mumbai won on the basis of the first-innings lead of 213. Their overall lead stood at 746 runs at stumps on day 5. They will now take on Madhya Pradesh, who beat Bengal by 174 runs in the other semi-final, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 22.

The young Yashasvi Jaiswal continued his fine form to score back-to-back hundreds in the semi-final after notching up a ton in the quarter-final against Uttarakhand. He also recorded his career-best first-class score of 181 in the third innings. Mumbai also had other contributors with the bat, with the keeper Hardik Tamore, coming in place of injured Aditya Tare, utilising the opportunity and scoring 115 on his first match of the season. In the third innings, captain Prithvi Shaw hit an entertaining 64 while Armaan Jaffer cracked 127, his second hundred in three matches this season. Shams Mulani also hit back-to-back fifties while Sarfaraz Khan also contributed with the bat.

On a flat day 3 pitch, Mumbai bowled UP for 181, thanks to Tushar Deshpande, Mohit Avasthi and Tanush Kotian. UP couldn't recover from the blow and were at the receiving end since then.

Twenty-three years after their Ranji Trophy dream went up in smoke, Madhya Pradesh will fight for the title at the same venue of their heartbreak - the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Standing in their way will be Mumbai, the 41-time champions, who will be in their first final since 2016-17.

Incidentally Pandit, who was Mumbai coach then when they lost to Gujarat, is now with MP. Having masterminded titles with Mumbai and more-recently with Vidarbha for two seasons back to back, he’ll have a chance to do with MP as coach what he couldn’t as a captain all those years ago, when Karnataka beat them to lift the trophy.

Pandit and Mumbai’s current coach Amol Muzumdar, both students of legendary coach late Ramakant Achrekar, will shepherd their teams in what promises to be a riveting battle of the khadoos come June 22.

That MP find themselves in the final is thanks in no small part to left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya. After picking six second-innings wickets against Punjab to bowl MP into the semi-finals last week, he picked up five second-innings wickets against Bengal to bowl MP into the final. The victory margin of 174 runs a reflection of MP’s superior batting, that made the difference in the semi-final.

Bengal right on the edge.

Abhimanyu Easwaran was the first to fall after lunch when he got a grubber that scooted through to beat the underedge and hit the stumps.

The fifth was off a leading edge that lobbed straight to cover to remove Pradipta Pramanik.

In between the two wickets, Sayan Mandal fell to a Saransh Jain offspinner. He played for turn when there was none as the ball would've crashed into the stumps.

Shahbaz's approach at the other end has been strange. There has hardly been an effort to pick runs and look to score. Bengal have only one way through which they can progress, and that is by going after this target.

Bengal have steadied their innings courtesy Easwaran and Shahbaz. Their partnership is worth 31. More than the runs, they've looked at ease against the bowling. That said, the target is a big one and as they keep chiselling the runs off, the pressure is only bound to increase. Can they get Bengal to within 150 of the target? Currently they're 128 for 5, needing 222 more.

Twice in two overs now, Shahbaz and Easwaran have been involved in a mix-up.

First, Easwaran tapped the ball to short third and took off for a run, only to be sent back after he has halfway down the pitch.

Next, Shahbaz works it to short fine and takes off for a run, only for his partner to turn his back on him. MP can sense a bit of hesitancy. Bengal can ill-afford a wicket, more to to a run out. This is the last recognised pair, and they need to bat well into the final session if Bengal are to try and chase this down.

It's hilarious to hear the kind of sledges from Himanshu Mantri behind the stumps. "He's still scared, bro", he yelps to Kumar Kartikeya. But the field to the "scared" batter is so spread out that Easwaran can easily tap the ball and milk a single, like he does. Nothing "scary" about the field, I can say with 100% conviction.

5000 first-class runs for Abhimanyu Easwaran in his 72nd first-class game. Bengal will be hoping he gets to 5100 and beyond today. That would've meant an epic that takes them closer. Make no mistake, we've lost an hour and a bit, but there's plenty of time left to force a result. It's improbable but not impossible. Bengal 106 for 5, need 244 more.

MP have struck off the second ball of the morning, Gourav Yadav bowls a lovely away-swinger that Anustup Majumdar tries to drive on the up, but can only nick it to the wicketkeeper. That is a massive dagger through the Bengal hearts. They're 97 for 5, the target is still 253 away. First-innings hero Shahbaz Ahmed walks out to join the skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran.

Over in Alur, we'll have play starting at 10.45am. The frustrating wait is more from a Bengal point of view, because they have to do all the running. That said, MP are in a great position to win outright and enter the final.

Umpires still feel the outfield is unfit to play. The next inspection is at 11.30am which means the first session is washed out. We can expect some play with sun coming out now. Remember, the match can be called off at tea as Mumbai's first-innings lead of 213 is enough to carry them to the final.

Shashank Kishore: How Chandrakant Pandit's time-tested philosophy has fired Madhya Pradesh's Ranji Trophy dream.

Srinidhi Ramanujam: How Arman Jaffer, a prolific age-group run-getter, is finding his feet in the Mumbai setup.

Morning from rainy Bengaluru.

We've had some early morning showers that has delayed play in Just Cricket by a bit. But the result of Mumbai v UP is a foregone conclusion. How long will Mumbai continue to bat? Will they declare and push for an outright win? We'll soon find out.

We do know, however, that UP are going home.

Over in Alur, Bengal are hoping for a miracle against all odds. MP have the aces and are favourites to meet Mumbai in the grand finale. There will be an inspection at 9.30am.

Abhimanyu Easwaran stands between Madhya Pradesh and a place in the Ranji final, their first since 1998-99. Easwaran has battled hard, but the same can't be said of the rest of the top order that has caved in against some accurate left-arm spin from Kumar Kartikeya. Bengal had a massive slice of misfortune when they lost Sudip Gharami to a lbw howler, with replays confirming the ball had struck the glove firmly. But they'll need to move on from the umpiring calls quickly and find a way to try and plan out the remainder of their 254 runs with six wickets in hand. It should be an absorbing final day. Hoping the rain stays away.

Mumbai piled on the runs and misery on Uttar Pradesh as they have all but cemented a place in the final. Resuming on 131/1, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Armaan Jaffer converted their starts to score 181 and 125 respectively, to lift Mumbai to 449/4 with a massive lead of 662 runs.

Tiwary's inside edge lobs to short leg but can't hold on. Saransh Jain kicks the turf in disappointment. Bengal 73-3, need 277 more.

Jaiswal ended his innings with his career-best first-class score of 181, batting for 541 minutes and scoring a total of 23 fours and a six in the second innings. Mumbai 420 for 4 , with a massive lead of 633. Mumbai have all but cemented their place in the final.

He was denied a wicket two overs earlier, but strikes almost immediately.

Abhishek Porel misjudges the line as he goes back to whip this shortish delivery and sees the ball wickedly spin back in to sneak through the gap ands crash into the stumps.

Bengal 60 for 3. Manoj Tiwary joins Easwaran in the middlwe with the Ranji Trophy on the line.

How lucky is Abhimanyu Easwaran? How unlucky is Kumar Kartikeya?

He's squared up by sharp turn. The ball beats the outside edge and kisses the off-stump as it passes. The bails don't dislodge.

He's on 31, Bengal need him to bat long and bat big if they are to scale this 350-run target.

Breakthrough for Madhya Pradesh as Saransh Jain strikes.

Gharami was trying to reverse sweep but was struck flush on the glove as he got low to play the stroke. He was also struck outside the line of the stumps.

Umpire Ravikant Reddy had no doubts whatsoever. What's worse? Bengal can't DRS that because there is no DRS. Bengal 50-2

UP finally have their first wicket of the day - not that it is going to put them back into the game. Armaan tried to flick a ball, that was pitched on the leg side, and the substitute keeper Juyal completed a single catch off Shivam Mavi. Armaan walks off after a well-made 127. His 259-ball knock included 15 fours and two sixes and he also shared a 286-run stand with Jaiswal, which flattened UP. Mumbai lead by 565 runs

After a loud shout for lbw was turned down, presumably because of the 3-metre rule - Abhimanyu Easwaran responds by picking Anubhav Agarwal for three fours. A pristine off-drive, a flick to a length ball on off through midwicket and a nearly tucked leg glance. Here's Easwaran's opportunity. Can he be that fourth-innings saviour for Bengal? There can be no better way to remind the selectors of his abilities.

Third ball in the first innings.

First ball in the second innings.

This has been a forgettable outing for Bengal's Abhishek Raman.

He went back to cut a full delivery, only to chop on, two days ago.

Here, he nicks to first slip. Plays forward to a delivery that doesn't spin.

Dream start for Kumar Kartikeya and MP. Bengal 0-1, Target 350.

In the last 35 years, Shahbaz Ahmed is only the 2nd player to score a 100 and take a 5-fer in Ranji Trophy for Bengal.

Who is the first?

Armaan Jaffer completes his century at Just Cricket, his second first-class hundred in eight matches. Six of his 14 fours have come in the cover and extra cover region so far. With Jaiswal, the right-hander has added in excess of 200 runs for the second wicket. Mumbai extend their lead to 500 .

A complete all-round performance from Shahbaz. After a fighting century with the bat, he has picked up five wickets, with the dismissal of Kumar Kartikeya. Here is the story of how he adapted to the red-ball cricket .

Bengal are fighting hard. They've picked up five wickets in all today, MP’s lead 319. Aditya Shrivastava, the captain, the latest to all. Each of the five wickets to the spinners. Shahbaz and Pramanik have wheeled away all morning. Is there another twist?

Jaiswal has displayed his big-match temperament to notch up his third consecutive hundred, one in the quarter-final and second in the semi-final. He took his time to get off the mark, 54 balls to be exact, in the second innings but has looked in fine touch since then. He was again handed a life in the second innings and as was the case in the first innings, he has utilised the opportunity to make it a big score. Armaan Jaffer, at the other end, is also not far from reaching a three-figure mark.

MP very much in control, but Bengal are fighting hard, having picked up three wickets. MP effectively 303 for 5.

Mumbai have batted UP out of the game, almost. They lead by 448 with nine second-innings wickets remaining. Yashasvi Jaiswal is closing in on a century in each innings.

Meanwhile

At Just Cricket : Mumbai go to lunch at 235/1 , comfortably leading by 448 runs. Jaiswal continued his form to remain unbeaten on 77 and Armaan Jaffer batting on 80. Their second-wicket partnership stands at 169 at the moment. Despite the overnight rain, the match started on time under clear skies. But there is hardly anything on the flat pitch for bowlers, with runs flowing easily for Mumbai.

Adding to UP's woes, they lost three catches on day 4, with a total of eight catches being dropped over two innings so far. Dhruv Jurel, their wicketkeeper, also had to walk off the field after injuring his left palm while diving to his right in the 65th over. Aryan Juyal has taken the gloves.

Pradipta Pramanik has been rewarded for his persistence. He has looked mighty dangerous with the second new ball, and batters have kept playing and missing. They've played for the ones that don't turn, only to see the ball spin past the edge. This certainly played a part in Shubham Sharma's dismissal too. He was tentative in pushing forward, got an inside edge onto the pad and lapped up by silly point. MP 220-5, lead by 288.

Rajat Patidar and Akshat Raghuwanshi have been dismissed within four overs of each other. Raghuwanshi's was an important atrike. The 18-year Changed the tempo of the first innnings with a sprightly half-century. His game borders around the aggressive and could've so easily swelled the lead further. Shahbaz Ahmed has picked up both wickets to fall this morning. MP 205 for 4, lead by 273. Shubham Sharma, who retired hurt last aftenoon, is back to bat again.

Rajat Patidar won't get to his second hundred of the season. He's trapped lbw by Shahbaz, who gets the ball to straighten from around the stumps. Patidar played down the wrong line and it looked pretty plumb until you looked at a second replay that appeared to suggest an inside edge. The keeper anyway pouched the catch, but for official purposes, he was given out lbw. MP 201/3, lead by 269. Bengal will need a few more wickets.

Century in the second innings of the quarterfinal.

Century in the first innings of the semi-final to set up the game.

Now a half-century in the second innings, and still going strong.

Uttar Pradesh have been run ragged. They're all but knocked out. Remember, they need to force the issue. Mumbai will be happy to bat, bat and bat. What they're known to do.

Here's Yashasvi Jaiswal talking about the recent surge in his career, what it means playing for Mumbai, the Royals stint and more.

Aditya Shrivastava, the captain, has been the more dominant between him and Rajat Patidar this morning. He has put away the half-volleys, flicked with disdain and shown complete control over spin, especially off Shahbaz. He's approaching his first half-century of the season. What a time to get it.

Patidar has been solid and has been intent on crease occupation. He is looking to get to his second hundred of the season. Remember, he has six fifty-plus scores this season. MP 190-2, lead by 258. The partnership beteween these two worth 100.

Uttar Pradesh are down and out of this game. A place in the final for the first time since 2007-08, where they lost to Delhi, has slipped away. Barring a miracle, it's very unlikely they're going to be able to force a victory here against Mumbai. But there have been a few silver linings.

Among them is left-arm fast bowler Yash Dayal, who has had a meteoric rise through the ranks over the last few months. In February, he was part of the Indian team as a net bowler. The same month, Gujarat Titans picked him at the auction for INR 3.8 crore. In May, he was an IPL winner with them, having featured in a majority of their matches.

Here's Yash Dayal in conversation with Vishal Dikshit and Nikhil Sharma on his early years in UP, the challenges, the IPL stint, working with Ashish Nehra and a lot more.

We've had a lot of overnight rain in Bengaluru, so the start of the fourth day across Alur & Just Cricket will be delayed by a bit.

In Alur, the outfield is in slightly better shape but that can't prevent a delayed start. Ground staff hard at work. One thing about Bengaluru is it doesn't rain mostly during the day, so we should be in for play post lunch very soon. It's bright and sunny at the moment. All the covers have been removed.

Madhya Pradesh won't mind the delay though. They're in pole position, having build on their first-innings lead that now stands at 231 with eight wickets in hand. Bengal will be itching to go out there, get the remaining eight wickets and then try and scale down the target. There's no other way they can qualify. Only an outright win from here on will do, and they need as much play as possible to make that happen.

Day 3, stumps (Just Cricket): Mumbai outplayed Uttar Pradesh in batting, bowling and fielding departments to take stumps at 131/1 on day 3 of the Ranji Trophy semi-final at Just Cricket Academy. After bowling Uttar Pradesh out for 180 inside 55 overs, Prithvi Shaw's entertaining fifty ensured Mumbai's lead swelled to 346 runs. Jaiswal and Armaan Jaffer remain unbeaten on 35 and 32, respectively, at the end of day's play.

Uttar Pradesh started the day with a 60-run partnership between Madhav Kaushik and Karan Sharma and did not lose a wicket in the first hour. But that was also the only period when they were in the match. From 64 for 2, they lost five wickets for 43 runs and eventually were bowled out inside 200. Shivam Mavi top-scored with a 55-ball 48 while for Mumbai, Tushar Deshpande, Mohit Avasthi and Tanish Kotian picked up three wickets each.

Mumbai would be looking to accumulate more runs on day 4 and aim to bowl them out with a huge target. Uttar Pradesh will have a lot of work to do if they are to win the game from this situation.

The day dawned with plenty of hope and excitement in the Bengal camp. Manoj Tiwary and Shahbaz Ahmed were approaching centuries. The deficit had been whittled down to just over a 100, and they genuinely believed they could run Madhya Pradesh ragged.

But 45 minutes into the day's play, soon after Tiwary got to his 29th first-class century, they were given a reality check. The lower order fell apart without much fight to give MP a handy 68-run lead.

There was a lesson to be learnt there for MP. Last week, Karnataka pocketed a 98-run lead but collapsed in a heap against UP, so a win was far from guaranteed at the time. They slowly built their second innings brick by brick, and are now in a position from where they can dictate terms.

Rajat Patidar, who missed out in the first innings, has stood tall to make an unbeaten on 63. This is his sixth fifty-plus score this season, including a century. Aditya Shrivaatava, the captain, is unbeaten on 34. MP lead by 231 with eight wickets in hand.

Srinidhi from Just Cricket: Shaw departed after an entertaining 64 off 71 balls where he scored 12 boundaries - all well-timed ones - and looked at ease, after facing just three deliveries in the first innings. The Mumbai captain tried to go for a sweep off left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar and found the top-edge as Mavi completed the catch at a few yards from the deep square leg boundary. The first-wicket partnership stood at 66 with Jaiswal scoring zero runs and was just content to hang on. Armaan Jaffer walks in at one-drop.

Madhya Pradesh's lead approaching 200 now.

Akash Deep has kept bounding in from one end, trying to reverse the ball. Occasionally, he has beat the bat and hit the pad. He's had two loud shouts for lbw turned down - both fairly close.

Shahbaz Ahmed has been a tad short, and Patidar has helped himself to some runs as he approaches a half-century.

Ominous signs for Bengal. They need a clutch of wickets right about now.

Openers Prithvi Shaw and Yashasvi Jaiswal played contrasting knocks in the second innings after Mumbai bowled UP out on day 3. The left-handed Jaiswal, who hit a century in the first innings, is yet to get off the mark after facing 38 deliveries. He was happy to leave the balls that were pitched on the fourth and fifth stumps by the likes of Mavi and Dayal. Shaw, who was out for a duck in the third ball of the first innings, was in his elements, playing classy drives and flicks. He remained unbeaten on 42 off 52 deliveries with eight boundaries.

While Rajpoot tried to exert pressure on the batters with his variations, Mavi was mostly predictable with most of his balls pitched wide of offstump.

That Rinku Singh dropped Shaw, when he was batting on 13, at gully, also hurt the team. Overall, UP have dropped four catches so far in the match.

Mumbai 43 for no loss at tea , leading by 256 runs.

Pradipta Pramanik struck with his first ball in the first innings.

He has now struck with his third over in the second, and it's that of MP's first innings centurion Himanshu Mantri.

Does him in flight as Mantri is deceived right royally, Abhishek Porel with a good stumping to give Bengal a reprieve.

Since then, Rajat Patidar has walked in and played a couple of fluent strokes. MP 66-2, lead by 134

There was some late resistance from Shivam Mavi, who fell two runs short of a half-century, but Mumbai completed the formalities by bowling UP out for 180. Offspinner Kotian picked up the final wicket when Mavi, who made a quickfire 48 with four fours and two sixes, tried to go big but was caught at long on by Dhawal Kulkarni. Deshpande, Kotian and Avasthi accounted for three wickets each. Mumbai are 213 runs ahead .