Services and Jharkhand seal semis berths
Haryana and Services sealed their spots in the semi finals of the Plate Group
Cricinfo staff
26-Dec-2004
Amit Mishra, the legspinner, claimed a five-wicket haul and helped Haryana ease to a comfortable nine-wicket win over Rajasthan at Udaipur. Having bundled Rajasthan out for 202, Haryana hunted down the 92 in just 21.3 overs and ensured their spot in the semi-finals. Chetan Sharma and Sunny Singh shared a 67-run stand and set up the emphatic win.
The two points that Services snapped up from the drawn encounter was enough to take them to the last-four stage. Services didn't attempt to push for a result at any stage and even their tailenders, Arun Sharma and Fazil Mohammad, cashed in with 51 apiece. Vidarbha got a chance to bat for only 12.2 overs in their second innings as the game meandered towards a dull draw.
Jharkhand fell 22 run-short in a nail-biting chase against Himachal Pradesh at the Keena Stadium in Jamshedpur. Chasing 155 for victory, Jharkhand resumed the final day on 110 for 6 but only Santosh Lal managed to cross 20 and they were tottering at 120 for 9. A 35-run stand for the last wicket, between Mihir Diwakar and Shankar Rao, gave them hope but Ashok Thakur, the left-arm medium pacer, sealed HP's triumph in the 21st over of the day. Despite this loss, Jharkhand got through to the last-four stage due to their superior net-run-quotient compared to Orissa.
Kerala 319 and 281 for 7 dec beat Jammu & Kashmir 140 and 299 (Ananthapadmanabhan 5-51) by 161 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Keraa completed a consolation victory in their last league game against Jammu & Kashmir at Palaghat. Both teams had no chance of qualifying for the semis and J&K's brave bid to reach 461 was thwarted by Ananthapadmanabhan, the legpinner, and he finished with 5 for 51. Most of the J&K batsmen managed starts but none could stay there too long to force a draw.
The dead rubber between Goa and Tripura, where both teams had no chance of qualifying for the semis petered out to a tepid draw. Even three innings weren't completed and Goa ended their second innings on 190 for 8. Tushar Saha, the left-arm medium pacer, finished with 5 for 65 but by then the game was over as a contest.