Services Make First Semis Since 1968

Indore: Skipper Soumik Chatterjee, battling a knee injury, struck a valuable unbeaten 34 as Services beat Uttar Pradesh by five wickets on the third day of the fourth quarter-finals on Tuesday and will be making their first Ranji Trophy semi-final appearance since 1967-68.

Services are the first team to book the semi-final spot while Saurashtra, Karnataka, Mumbai, Baroda, Punjab and Jharkhand battle it out in the other three quarterfinals for a place among the last four.

At the Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore it was a gutsy innings by the Services captain Chatterjee after he badly injured his left knee.

Barely able to walk, Chatterjee was out in the field with Services struggling at 54 for five in the second innings while chasing a target of 113. Services made 263 in the first innings. Uttar Pradesh were bowled out for 134 in the first innings and 241 in their second essay.

Chatterjee put on a brave front and smashed Uttar Pradesh bowlers to all parts of the ground. The Army man hit five fours and two sixes during his 46-ball stay and his 62-run unbeaten stand with Rajat Paliwal (32 not out) took Services home safely.

Meanwhile, a strong bowling performance by Saurashtra helped them take a 73-run lead against Karnataka in the second quarter-final at Saurashtra University Ground in Rajkot.

Manish Pandey hit a fine 177 as Karnataka were bowled out for 369 in the first innings in reply to Saurashtra's 469.

Saurashtra pacers Vishal Joshi, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Kamlesh Makvana bagged three wickets each.

Brief scores
Uttar Pradesh 134 and 241 (Srivastava 54, Alam 50, Yadav 7-71)
Services 263 and 116 for five (Chatterjee 34*, Rajpoot 5-36)
Result Services won by five wickets

At Jamshedpur:
Jharkand 401 (Jaggi 132, Nemat 100, Kaul 4-78, Ladda 4-118)
Punjab 150 for 1 (Jiwanjot Singh 77*)
Status Punjab trail by 251 runs

At Mumbai
Mumbai 645 for 9 dec (Jaffer 150, Nayar 132, Tendulkar, 108, Vahora 4-119)
Baroda 167 for 5 (Waghmode 53, Wakaskar 51)
Status Baroda trial by 478 runs

At Rajkot
Saurashtra 469
Karnataka 396 (Pandey 177, Uthappa 60, Rahul 55, Joshi 3-103, Jadeja 3-122, Makvana 3-91)
Status Saurashtra lead by 73 runs