First-innings lead secures Bengal's quarterfinal spot

Bengal secured their quarterfinals berth on the basis of a first-innings lead against Goa at the Eden Gardens. Goa had been bowled out for 310 on the third day, in response to Bengal's 379. Bengal then reached 108 for 3 by stumps. They lost both their overnight batsmen - Abhimanyu Easwaran and Shreevats Goswami - within the first nine overs of the final day. Anustup Majumdar and Writtick Chatterjee then notched up unbeaten centuries to take Bengal to 334 for 5 before they declared. Goa's new-ball pair of Lakshay Garg and Felix Alemao took all the five wickets to fall. Bengal then sent back Goa's openers Prathamesh Gawas and Swapnil Asnodkar to reduce them to 8 for 2 in five overs. Amogh Desai and Snehal Kauthankar then shared an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 78 to steer them to 86 for 2 at stumps. Bengal will face Gujarat in the first quarter-final in Jaipur.

A final-day run-fest at the Gandhi Sports Complex Ground in Amritsar ended with Punjab having to settle for first-innings points against Services despite making a dash for their target of 129. No Punjab batsman, who had opened his account, struck at below 200. Shubman Gill and Abhishek Gupta, their openers, set an early template by zooming to a 64-run stand in 4.2 overs. A flurry of wickets then hurt Punjab after they had got within touching distance, as they went from 92 for 2 to 94 for 5. The slide included the dismissal of Anmolpreet Singh for a seven-ball 19 off what turned out to be the last ball of the match. Punjab ended on 94 for 5 in just 6.1 overs, having struck at 15.24 an over.

The day began with Services on 118 for 3, after they were made to follow on. They amassed 458, with both their overnight batsmen, Rahul Singh and Ravi Chauhan notching up centuries. Vikas Hathwala struck 41, while the last-wicket pair of Sachidanand Pandey (31 not out) and Raj Bahadur (52) frustrated Punjab with an 82-run stand.

Vidarbha took first-innings points against Himachal Pradesh in Nagpur and finished on top of the Group D table. Himachal had ended the third day on 70 for 3, after conceding a first-innings lead of 103. They ended the final day on 323 for 8, with Nikhil Gangta raising an unbeaten century. Gangta stretched his fourth-wicket stand with his captain Sumeet Verma to 91 before the latter fell for 59. Gangta then found support from Rishi Dhawan, who made 53 at No. 7, and Pankaj Jaiswal, who scored 37 at No. 9. Left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate single-handedly cut through most of Himachal's line-up, taking six of the eight wickets to fall. Vidarbha will tussle for a semi-final spot with Kerala in Surat, while Himachal finished their season in the mid-table with 14 points.