Gujarat and Kerala qualify

Defending champions Gujarat thrashed Jharkhand by 10 wickets after left-arm spinner Hardik Patel starred with the ball with an impressive four-wicket haul to qualify for the quarterfinals as Group B toppers in the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament here.

Gujarat needed just 10 balls to chase down the fourth- innings target of 15 after Jharkhand imploded on the fourth and final morning with Hardik triggering the home side batting collapse. The 10wicket bonus-point win ensured a top-of-the-table finish for Gujarat with 34 points from six matches. Having been asked to follow-on on the third day yesterday, Jharkhand were always facing an uphill battle. They did not begin the fourth morning too well, losing two wickets in the first three overs. Virat Singh and Ishan Kishan made some resistance with a 48-run partnership for the fifth wicket, but Jharkhand crumbled once Singh was dismissed for 52, losing six wickets for 26 runs to be bowled out for 183. Patel had remarkable figures of 4 for 9 in six overs.

Gujarat openers collected all their runs in fours to breeze to the target, reaching to 16 for no loss in 1.4 overs. In Rohtak, Kerala picked up an inningsand-eight-run win against Haryana to join Gujarat in the quarterfinals from Group B. Kerala were in the drivers seat after taking a 181-run first innings lead and having reduced to Haryana to 83 for 5 by the third evening. They needed just five wickets for a win on the fourth and final day today and they did that in style with seamer M D Nidheesh grabbing three wickets to earn Kerala a bonus-point win. Kerala finished second on the Group B table with 31 points, while Haryana's season ended with their fourth loss in six matches. This was the first time Kerala entered the quarterfinals since the introduction of the tier system in the Ranji Trophy format.

In Jaipur, the Group B match between Saurashtra and Rajasthan ended in a draw. Saurashtra ended third in the group with 26 points while Rajasthan finished last with six points.