Ranji Trophy 2017-18, quarter-final, day 5: Bengal frustrate Gujarat; All four semi-finalists confirmed 

After the 41-time Champions Mumbai were knocked out of the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy yesterday after their crushing innings and a 70 run-loss to Karnataka in Nagpur, defending champions Gujarat bit the dust earlier today after conceding the first-innings lead to Bengal at Jaipur.

After being bundled out for just 224 in the first innings to Bengal's 354, Gujarat found themselves in a frustrating situation as Bengal decided to settle for a win via first-innings lead and batted for over eight sessions in which the Gujarat bowlers bowled 231 overs.

Abhimanyu Easwaran's second his second century in the match and along with Writtick Chatterjee's 216 and Anustup Majumdar's unbeaten 132, Bengal were cruising at 695/6, with a lead of 825 runs, when skipper Manoj Tiwary decided to shake hands and call off the match.

In the other quarter-final, Delhi defeated Madhya Pradesh by seven wickets, thanks to Gautam Gambhir's 95 and Kunal Chandela's 57.

The fourth quarter-final saw Vidarbha beating Kerala by 412 runs and getting through to the next round. Resuming from their overnight score of 431/6, Vidarbha scored some quick runs on day five before declaring at 507/9 and set Kerala a target of 578 runs. Kerala were off to a brisk start before spinner Aditya Sarvate struck regularly to dismiss them for just 165. Salman Nazir top-scored for Kerala with 64 while Sarvate was the pick of the bowlers with 6/41.

Delhi will now face Bengal in the semis in Pune while Vidarbha will square-off against Karnataka in the other semi-final in Kolkata. Just like the quarters, the semi-finals will also be a five-day contest and will be played from December 17 till December 21.

Brief scores:

Jaipur: Bengal 354 and 695/6 (Writtick Chatterjee 216, Anustup Majumdar 132, Abhimanyu Easwaran 114) beat Gujarat 224 on the virtue of taking the first-innings lead.

Vijayawada:Delhi 405 and 217/3 (Gautam Gambhir 95, Kunal Chandela 57) beat Madhya Pradesh 338 and 283 by seven wickets.

Surat: Kerala 176 and 165 (Salman Nazir 64, Adita Sarvate 6/41) lost to Vidarbha 246 and 507/9 decl. (Faiz Fazal 119, Apoorv Wankhade 107, Akshay KC 4/118) by 412 runs.

Semi-final schedule:

1st semi-final: Karnataka vs Vidarbha at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

2nd semi-final: Bengal vs Delhi at the MCA stadium, Pune.