Bengal take innings lead; Saurashtra reply strong

KOLKATA: Akash Deep took a sensational five-wicket haul (5/42) to help Bengal dismiss Madhya Pradesh for just 170 and gain a massive 268-run first-innings lead in their Ranji Trophy semi-final at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Friday.

In Bangalore, Saurashtra are 43 runs away from securing a first-innings lead. If they do that and both semi-finals end in a draw, Bengal will play a Ranji Trophy final at home for the first time since their 1989-90 win.

In their second innings, Bengal were 59/2 at stumps on Day 3 with Sudip Kumar Gharami (12) and Anustup Majumdar (9) at the crease and the lead consolidated to 327 runs. Resuming the day on an overnight score of 56/2, Madhya Pradesh batters Saransh Jain (65) and Anubhav Agarwal (5) managed to add just three runs in the morning before Agarwal fell to Mukesh Kumar.

Rajat Patidar was then cleaned up by Akash Deep to put the home side in trouble at 60/4. Aditya Shrivastava (7) and Venkatesh Iyer (7) also didn’t trouble the scorers as MP found themselves in a spot of bother at 101/6.

Jain and Shubham Sharma then added a 54-run partnership for the seventh wicket but once Jain was dismissed, Bengal ran through the rest of the batting.

Jackson, Vasavada hit centuries for Saurashtra

BENGALURU: Sheldon Jackson and skipper Arpit Vasavada struck hundreds as Saurashtra turned the tables on Karnataka, posting 364/4 in their first innings in reply to the opposition’s 407 on the third day of their Ranji Trophy semi-final.

Jackson, who started at the overnight score of 27, made 160 off 245 balls with 23 boundaries and two sixes, while Vasavada remained unbeaten on 112 (219 balls, 15x4s) as the duo shared 232 runs for the fourth wicket to bring Saurashtra roaring back into the contest.

Giving Vasavada company at the crease at stumps was Chirag Jani (19*). Saurashtra trail Karnataka by just 43 runs with six wickets in hands and two full days’ play remaining.

Resuming on 76/2, Saurashtra did not have a good start as they lost Harvik Desai (33) inside five overs, trapped leg-before by Vasuki Koushik. But then came the turnaround as Jackson and Vasavada played patiently to build a strong partnership.

Off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham (1/68) finally broke the partnership in the 98th over, trapping Jackson in front of the wicket but by then it was too late as Saurashtra had already undone the hard work of Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal, who scored 249 in the first innings to more-or-less singlehandedly take his side past the 400-run mark.

Brief scores: In Bangalore: Karnataka 407 vs Saurashtra 364/4 in 112 overs (Sheldon Jackson 160, Arpit Vasavada 112 batting; Vidwath Kaverappa 2/64).

In Indore: Bengal 438 & 59/2 in 29 overs vs Madhya Pradesh 170 in 79 overs (Saransh Jain 65, Shubham Sharma 44; Akash

Deep 5/42, Shahbaz Ahmed

2/30).

PTI Saurashtra's Sheldon Jackson celebrates his century against Karnataka on Day Three of their semi-final in Bengaluru.