Ranji: Bengal set up MP date in semis, Karnataka enter last four

KOLKATA: A commanding performance from their bowlers helped Bengal rout Jharkhand by nine wickets inside four days of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final at Eden Gardens on Friday. Bengal will meet defending champions Madhya Pradesh who beat Andhra by five wickets. Karnataka too reached the last four after an innings win against Uttarakhand. They await the winners of the quarter-final at Rajkot where Punjab lost two wickets chasing 252 set by Saurashtra. With six wickets from the game, fast bowler Akash Deep was the pick among Bengal’s bowlers. Jharkhand managed to delay the inevitable, courtesy a resilient 56-run ninthwicket stand between Supriyo Chakraborty and Rahul Shukla. Once that partnership was broken, Bengal took just two balls to take the final wicket.

Set 67, Bengal chased it down in 13 overs, with India A skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran and in-form Sudip Gharami once again dominating the bowling as the umpires extended the morning session to allow Bengal complete the win after they lost

Karnataka’s Shreyas Gopal (C) put in an all-round display.

opener Kazi Junaid Saifi. Barring Easwaran, the batting hasn’t always been consistent but Bengal’s bowlers have always stepped up to be counted. This time too, Akash Deep (match figures 6/108), Mukesh Kumar (4/94), Akash Ghatak (4/46) and Ishan Porel (2/90) shared 16 wickets amongst themselves.

Karnataka win

Eight-time champions Karnataka thrashed Uttarakhand by an innings and 281 runs to enter the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy. Resuming at their overnight score of 106/3 after following on, Uttarakhand batters could add just 103 runs before being bowled out for 209 in 73.4 overs on the fourth day at Bengaluru.

Shreyas Gopal was the star for Karnataka, returning 3/26 after making an unbeaten 161 in his team’s massive first innings total of 606. Besides Gopal, Vijaykumar Vyshak (3/55), Vidwath

Kaverappa (2/30) and M Venkatesh (2/44) also chipped in with wickets.

MP win by five wickets

Making a habit of reaching the last four now, Madhya Pradesh rode on fifties from Yash Dubey and Rajat Patidar to chase down 245 against Andhra in Indore. The hosts did lose five wickets but Andhra lacked the bite, allowing MP to bounce back from a first innings deficit to complete a fabulous win.

Brief scores: At Eden Gardens: Bengal 328 and 69/1 (A Easwaran 28*, S Gharami 26*). Jharkhand 173 and 221 (A Sen 64, S Chakraborty 41*, A Roy 40; A Ghatak 3/21, S Ahmed 2/45, A Deep 2/46). Bengal won by nine wickets.

At Bengaluru: Karnataka 606. Uttarakhand 116 and 209 (S

Singh 51; S Gopal 3/26, V Vyshak 3/55). Karnataka won by an innings and 281 runs.

At Indore: Madhya Pradesh 228 and 245/5 (Y Dubey 58, R Patidar 55, S Sharma 40; P Raj 2/50, L Mohan 2/91). Andhra 379 and 93. MP won by five wickets. At Rajkot: Saurashtra 303 and 379 (P Mankad 88, A Vasavada 77, C Jani 77, ; V Choudhary 7/179). Punjab 431 & 52/2 (Target 252).

PTI