Gaurav Chabra and Puneet Bisht carry Delhi into semis

Gaurav Chabra's watchful century along with another heroic effort from wicketkeeper Puneet Bisht ensured Delhi held their nerve to enter the final four of the Ranji Trophy. Delhi finished 27 runs ahead of Tamil Nadu's first-innings total, to seal their passage after proceedings on day three at the Palam A Ground had nicely set up the final one.

Rajat Bhatia powered on with overnight batsman Chabra as the fifth-wicket partnership yielded 122. Tamil Nadu sensed an opportunity when Bhatia was run out six short of a well-deserved hundred in the 24th over of the day. But Bisht hit a well-compiled fifty to tilt the balance in favour of the hosts. Chabra brought up his hundred, hitting 12 fours en route, while Bisht struck 11 fours and a six during his 119-ball stay. The 96-run stand took Delhi into the comfort zone, and they finally declared short of 500.

It was a much-needed ray of sunshine on a day when their association came under flak for an ill-prepared surface for the final ODI between India and Sri Lanka at the Feroze Shah Kotla.

Mumbai 400 (Rahane 143, Agarkar 78, Rana 4-72) and 334 for 7 (Rahane 101*, Kukreja 81) drew with Haryana 164 (Dewan 71, Powar 4-42)
Scorecard

Just as he did on the first day, Ajinkya Rahane stole the limelight, scoring his second hundred in the match and taking defending champions Mumbai into the semi-finals with ease. Haryana's bowlers were made to look ordinary as the Mumbai batsmen got some much-needed batting practice in Rohtak.

Beginning the day on 119 for 3, with first-innings points in the bag, Sahil Kukreja and Iqbal Abdulla kept the charge up. But with Kukreja departing after adding 18 to his overnight score, the stage was set for Rahane. An 85-run partnership for the fifth wicket followed, with Abdulla bringing up his half-century, comprising four boundaries and a six. Rahane was unstoppable though, getting to his 11th first-class century. He hit seven fours and a six as the match was called off after 75 overs, with Haryana well and truly out of contention.

Uttar Pradesh 213 (Kaif 56, Konwar 5-79) and 272 (Chawla 53, Goswami 5-57) drew with Assam 149 (Muzumdar 53, Gupta 2-9, Chawla 2-30) and 259 for 8 (Muzumdar 119*, Gupta 3-89)
Scorecard

The first-innings points were enough for UP as they looked to make their fourth final in five seasons, triumphing over Assam in Guwahati. A fluent century from Assam's new recruit and captain, Amol Muzumdar, proved to be the only joy for the hosts, as the target of 337 proved to be too much at the end.

Resuming on 256 with one wicket in hand, the visitors managed just 16 runs as Dhiraj Goswami picked up Shalabh Srivastava to end with a five-for. The target was always going to be challenging and the UP bowlers looked set for another field day. RP Singh and Praveen Gupta got them going, by dismissing the Assam openers. In fact, Gupta's left-arm spin proved to be the undoing of three batsmen as Muzumdar struggled to put on a defining partnership.

The fifth-wicket stand of 83 with wicketkeeper Kunal Saikia proved to be the highest of the innings, and Muzumdar soon combined with former Mumbai team-mate Sairaj Bahutule to put on 72 for the sixth wicket. But two more wickets for Piyush Chawla meant Muzumdar had to be content on an unbeaten 119, including 12 boundaries, as Assam finished 77 short.