Sriram stars for Tamil Nadu, Raina thwarts Mumbai
Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu entered the finals of the Ranji one-day tournament in Mumbai
Cricinfo staff
13-Apr-2005
Suresh Raina shone with both bat and ball as Uttar Pradesh overcame Mumbai, the defending champions, in the semi-final of the Ranji one-day tournament at Mumbai. After a solid opening, Mumbai never got any momentum going and stuttered against Raina's offbreaks and were restricted to a modest 221. Raina, who claimed 4 for 33, then anchored the run-chase with a composed 72 not out and strung together a useful 65-run partnership with Rizwan Shamshad. UP cruised home with 4.1 overs to spare and will now take on Tamil Nadu on April 14.
Tamil Nadu 277 (Vidyut 123, Badani 54) beat Bengal 250 (Tewari 58, Sriram 5-43) by 27 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Sridharan Sriram turned out to be the unlikely hero with the ball as Tamil Nadu skipped past Bengal in the semi-finals of the Ranji one-day tournament in Mumbai. Chasing 278, Bengal were well on course at 109 for 3 but Sriram struck five crucial blows, including a hat-trick towards the end, to thwart heir bid. At the end of the game he was to find out that he was included in the Indian squad for the last two games against Pakistan as a replacement for Sourav Ganguly. Earlier in the day, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan had steered the innings with a rapid 123, which included 13 fours and a six, while Hemang Badani provided good support with a steady 54.