Vasavada guides Saurashtra to Ranji Trophy final
Saurashtra secured a place in the Ranji Trophy final for the fifth time in the history of the tournament, defeating Karnataka by four wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, on Sunday.
The 2019-20 edition champions scored the required 115 runs for victory on the fifth and final day of the semifinal match to set up a title showdown with Bengal. It will be a repeat of the 2019-20 summit clash, where Bengal had finished second best.
Saurashtra skipper Arpit Vasavada, following his match-altering double century in the first innings that helped the team to a mammoth 527, played another polished knock of unbeaten 47 just when the Karnataka bowlers had reduced the team to 42/5 in the second innings.
With Karnataka looking poised to defend a paltry 100-plus total on home turf and Krishnappa Gowtham (3/38) and Vasuki Koushik (3/32) on fire, the 34-year-old Vasavada remained calm under trying circumstances to guide his side to a hard-fought win in 34.2 overs.
Karnataka, whose first innings had folded up at 407 after which Saurashtra slammed 527 to take the crucial first-innings lead, started day five at 123/4 with their in-form batter Nikin Jose on 54.
The young batter, who came at the fall of Devdutt Padikkal in the final session on Saturday, shared a century partnership with captain Mayank Agarwal (55) and guided his team to 114.
But, thereafter, the 22-year-old couldn't find a partner who could stick around with him and put up a fighting total on the board.
Karnataka's second innings wound up at 234 in 58.2 overs, with some of their key batters like Ravikumar Samarth, Padikkal, Manish Pandey and Shreyas Gopal departing at single-digit scores.
India white-ball player Chetan Sakariya did the maximum damage with his left-arm medium-pace bowling, returning with figures of 4/49 in 11 overs, while Saurashtra's veteran left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja kept rattling the home team batters to also return a four-wicket haul.
Saurashtra, however, made heavy weather of the paltry 115-run winning target, with the entire top and middle order being wiped out by Karnataka bowlers Gowtham and Koushik.
Finally, a 63-run partnership between captain Vasavada and Sakariya took the 2019-20 Ranji champions within sniffing distance of victory, before the latter departed at 24.
Vasavada and new batter Prerak Mankad (7 not out) ensured no more hiccups as Saurashtra set up a title clash with Bengal.
Vasavada was adjudged "Player of the Match" for his composed 202 off 406 balls in the first innings and a match-winning 51-ball 47 under trying circumstances in the second innings.
Brief Scores: Karnataka 407 and 234 (Mayank Agarwal 55, Nikin Jose 109; Chetan Sakariya 4/45, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 4/79, Parth Bhut 2/57) lost to Saurashtra 527 and 117/6 in 34.2 overs (Arpit Vasavada 47; Krishnappa Gowtham 3/38, Vasuki Koushik 3/32) by four wickets.
Dominant Bengal oust champions MP, set up Ranji final against Saurashtra at Eden
Riding on a dominant all-round performance, Bengal stormed into the Ranji Trophy final, ousting defending champions Madhya Pradesh by 306 runs at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.
Bengal, who last won the Ranji title in the 1989-90 season, will face Saurashtra, who beat Karnataka by four wickets in the other semi-final.
Bengal will host the final against Saurashtra, by virtue of having secured more points than its fellow finalist in the group stage in a repeat of the 2020 final.
The star of the semi-final for Bengal was Akash Deep, who wrecked the home side with his six wickets to take the team to their second Ranji final appearance in three seasons.
Anustup Majumdar and Sudip Kumar Gharami also contributed heavily, scoring 200 and 153 runs respectively in the first innings that took Bengal to a massive 438.
Pradipta Pramanik also impressed with his all-round skills, scoring an unbeaten 60, followed by a superb five-wicket haul in the second innings.
Earlier, on the fifth and final day of the semi-final clash, Bengal posted 279 in their second innings, thereby setting a mammoth 548-run target for the reigning champions.
Chasing a big score, Madhya Pradesh got off to a positive start, thanks to openers Yash Dubey (30) and Himanshu Mantri (16). But Shahbaz Ahmed and Akash Deep got rid of the openers to reduce the home side to 67/2.
Rajat Patidar (52) and Shubham Sharma (24) played sensibly to score some handy runs but the target was too big to chase on a final day pitch.
Young left-arm spinner Pramanik did not let the batters settle down as he dismissed Shubham and incoming batter Venkatesh Iyer (19) while Mukesh Kumar got rid of Patidar to have half their side back in the hut at 179/5.
Thereafter, Pramanik also sent Kumar Kartikeya (6), Avesh Khan (0) and Gaurav Yadav (0) packing to bag a superb five-wicket haul and send his team into the final.
Playing on home turf, Bengal will look to avenge their loss in the 2020 final when they lost to Saurashtra on first-innings lead at Rajkot.
"It's still a long way to go, we have not yet achieved anything great to celebrate. I can only say the boys are playing well and captain Manoj Tiwary is leading from the front," said Bengal head coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla.
"The atmosphere is really good in the dressing room. The players are playing hard and backing each other. Of course the team is happy on reaching the final. But they are focussed. Winning the Ranji Trophy is a great motivation and flying the CAB (Cricket Association of Bengal) flag high is something each and every one of us wants to do,” Tiwary said.
Brief Scores: Bengal 438 and 279 in 119.4 overs. Madhya Pradesh 170 and 241 in 39.5 overs (Rajat Patidar 52; Pradipta Pramanik 5/51, Mukesh Kumar 2/35). Bengal won by 306 runs.
