Delhi, March 6

Karnataka v Mumbai

Mumbai thrashed Karnataka by nine wickets at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium and became the first team to book a place in the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-finals. After winning the toss and opting to field first, Mumbai pacer Kshemal Waingankar took three crucial top order wickets (Robin Uthappa - 30, Manish Pandey - 0 and Amit Verma - 4) as Karnataka were bowled out for 178. Karnataka’s total could have been far worse had it not been for two important contributions from Sunil Raju (30) and Raju Bhatkal (38) batting at no. 7 and 8 respectively. Mumbai left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan also impressed with figures of two for 29 from his nine overs.

In reply, Mumbai chased down Karnataka’s score in just 29.1 overs. Wasim Jaffer was bowled by Abrar Kazi in the 19th over but not before the former India opener had scored a brisk 61-ball 68 and was involved in a 119-run opening stand with Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane too helped himself to an unbeaten half-century (71* off 80) while sharing a 60-run stand with Sushant Marathe (31* off 34) for the second wicket, which eventually gave Mumbai a spot in the tournament semi-finals.

Bengal v MPCA

Bengal had a relatively tougher encounter with Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association but came up trumps to seal a spot in the final four stage of the 2011-12 Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament. After opting to bat first on winning the toss, Bengal were in trouble early on at 60 for three with Sourav Ganguly (8) and Laxmi Ratan Shukla (5) disappointing at the top of the order. But a determined 63-ball 48 from Manoj Tiwary and half-centuries from Wriddhiman Saha (53) and Anustup Majumdar (55) took Bengal to a competitive 230 for eight in 45 overs. For Madhya Pradesh, TP Sudhindra and Jalaj Saxena took two wickets each.

Defending that below par score at the Palam A Ground in Delhi, Bengal pacer Ashok Dinda took five for 54 and Laxmi Shukla chipped in with two wickets as Madhya Pradesh were bowled out for 215. Anand Singh, batting at No. 7 for MP, scored a valiant 54-ball 53, but with Dinda at his incisive best, Bengal wrapped up the opposition in 44.3 overs.