Jammu & Kashmir collapsed for just 158 in their second innings as Himachal Pradesh romped to a massive victory at Dharamasala. After crumbling for 93 in the first innings, J&K were given a solid start by their openers, with a 58-run partnership, the second time around. But once they were separated, wickets tumbled at regular intervals and only Manzoor Dar's defiant 43 delayed the inevitable. Vishal Bhatia, the left-arm spinner, snapped up four of the wickets as Himachal cruised into the semi-finals with three rounds still to go.
Faiz Fazal's unbeaten 77 led Vidarbha's fightback and gave them a good chance of chasing down a target of 328 against Haryana at Nagpur. After crumbling for 57 in the first innings, Vidarbha put in a much better show in the second, and needed 168 more, with seven wickets in hand, to complete a fantastic turnaround. Fazal stroked seven fours in his patient knock and strung together a 69-run opening partnership with Alind Deshpande (35).
Shiv Sundar Das helped Orissa take a 91-run lead, but Jharkhand still held the edge at Jamshedpur. At the end of the third day, Orissa were 249 for 6 and it was up to Pravaranjan Mullick to bail them out. Sanjeev Gupta, the medium-pacer, pegged Orissa back with two wickets, including Das after he had made a dogged 77.
Amit Dani notched up 91, his highest first-class score, and helped Goa push for victory on the third day at Jaipur. Dani stitched together two important partnerships with Mandar Phadke and Jaikumar Hariesh, who both managed fifties, and Goa extended their lead to 287. Mohammad Aslam, the left-arm spinner, was the most successful bowler for Rajasthan and ended with 3 for 49.
This match finished earlier
Kerala suffered a humiliating innings-and-29-run defeat after being bowled out for 114 in their second innings at Palghat. Having collapsed for 117 on the first day, Kerala conceded a 143-run lead as all the Saurashtra batsmen chipped in with valuable contributions. S Jobanputra's breezy 44 was one of the highlights before he accounted for both the Kerala openers with the ball. His partner with the new ball, S Maniar, finished with 4 for 33 as Kerala were shot out in 41.5 overs.