Kerala picked up an innings-and-eight-run win against Haryana to join defending champions Gujarat as the two quarterfinalists from Group B. Kerala needed five wickets on the fourth day, having reduced to Haryana to 83 for 5 by the third evening. Haryana’s tail did not crumble, as Amit Mishra and Poonish Mehta resisted with knocks of 40 and 32 not out respectively, but seamer MD Nidheesh nipped out three wickets to earn Kerala a bonus-point win. Kerala finished second on the Group B table, while Haryana’s season ended with their fourth loss in six matches.
Gujarat needed only ten balls to wipe out a fourth-innings target of 15, after Jharkhand imploded on the fourth morning in Ranchi. The ten-wicket bouns-point win ensured a top-of-the-table finish for Gujarat. Having been asked to follow-on on the third day, 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 resisted with a 48-run partnership for the fifth wicket, but Jharkhand crumbled once Virat was dismissed for 52, losing six wickets for 26 runs to be bowled out for 183. Left-arm spinner Hardik Patel had remarkable returns of 4 for 9 in six overs, all four of his wickets coming in Jharkhand’s collapse at the end. Gujarat’s openers collected all their runs in fours to breeze to the target.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo