Gujarat thrash Goa by 464 runs, reach Ranji semis
VALSAD: Left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai grabbed a fifer as Gujarat thrashed minnows Goa by a whopping 464 runs to storm into the Ranji Trophy semi-finals, here on Sunday.
Set a daunting target of 629 for an improbable win, Goa were bundled out for 164 in their second essay on Day Four of the Ranji quarter-finals at the Sardar Patel Stadium.
Desai (five for 81) ran through the Goa batsmen and got able support from pacer Arzan Nagwaswalla (four for 18).
Barring Suyash Prabhudessai (66), no other Goa batsman could even put up a fight.
Goa lost opener Vaibhav Govekar (4) early when he chased a Roosh Kalaria (1-21) delivery which was pitched wide outside off-stump and was caught by a diving Chirag Gandhi as the visitors slipped to five for one.
Soon it became 10 for two when Sumiran Amonkar (5) poked at a full toss outside off by Desai and edged it to the slip cordon where Samit Gohel claimed it inches above the turf.
Post lunch, Goa’s batting mainstay Amit Verma fell for one as the visitors were in deep trouble at 13 for three. Verma was cleaned up by Nagwaswalla.
Suyash Prabhudessai (66) and Snehal Kauthankar (17) tried to rebuild the innings. But Kauthankar, after playing 77 balls, edged to Parthiv Patel off Desai.
SAURASHTRA PILE ON ANDHRA’S AGONY
ONGOLE, AP: Saurashtra batted Andhra out of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final by extending their overall lead to a mammoth 658 runs here on Sunday.
By stumps on the fourth day, Saurashtra had made 375 for nine in their second innings.
Resuming on overnight 93 for 2, the visiting team piled on the runs on a rather dull day with three batsmen making half-centuries, to ensure they are almost through to the semifinals.
Last year’s runner-up Saurashtra had made 419 in the first innings before bundling out Andhra for 136 and chose not to enforce follow-on.
With the track not offering much assistance it was a toil for
the Andhra attack which missed injured pacer Y Prithvi Raj.
BENGAL VIRTUALLY SEAL SEMI-FINAL BERTH
TANGI, ODISHA: Bengal put up a strong batting display in their second essay to virtually seal a Ranji Trophy semi-final berth with a massive 443-run lead over Odisha in their last-eight clash here on Sunday.
At close on the penultimate day, Bengal were 361 for seven following half centuries from
Shreevats Goswami (78), Abhishek Raman (67) and Shahbaz Ahmed’s unbeaten 52.
It was almost all over for Odisha as there was no sign of a declaration from Bengal, who already had secured three points by virtue of a first-innings lead to put one step into the semifinals. Bengal batsmen showed patience to bat through the day and almost guaranteed their first last-four berth since 2017-18. Abhishek Raman them through the early morning moisture after the departure of Manoj Tiwary.
KARNATAKA TAKE FIRST INNINGS LEAD
JAMMU: Karnataka took the crucial first innings lead after bowling out Jammu and Kashmir for 192 on the fourth day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final.
Resuming the day on 88 for two in reply to Karnataka’s 206, Jammu and Kashmir let the advantage slip by losing wickets at regular intervals to be bundled out in 62.4 overs.
Pacer M Prasidh Krishna (four for 42) impressed once again as he returned with a four-wicket haul, while Jagadeesha Suchith (two for 46) and Ronit More (two for 40) grabbed two wickets each and Krishnappa Gowtham took one.
For the hosts, Abdul Samad scored a 50-ball 43. In their second essay, Karnataka reached 245 for four in 67 overs with opener Ravikumar Samarth (74) and Krishnamurthy Siddharth (75 not out) doing the bulk of the scoring.