Gujarat calls the shots against Goa in Ranji Trophy

Riding centuries by skipper Parthiv Patel and Roosh Kalaria, Gujarat had posted a mammoth 602/8 in its first innings at the Sardar Patel Stadium.

The host had sent back both the Goa openers on day two itself. On the third day, led by the 25-year-old Gaja (5-19), Gujarat came up with a clinical performance to bowl out Goa for a meagre 173 in 57.5 overs.

However, skipper Parthiv Patel decided not to enforce the follow-on and at stumps, Gujarat had an overall lead of 587 runs.

With two days to go, Goa would need nothing short of a miracle to escape a humiliation.

Goa’s overnight batsmen Smit Patel (31) and skipper Amit Verma (56) failed to convert their starts.

First, Gaja trapped Patel in front of the wicket and then Verma offered a simple catch to Axar Patel off Roosh Kalaria, as Goa slumped to 104/4.

Goa suffered a middle-order collapse and was tottering at 137/7, with three wickets falling at the same score.

Gaja and Arzan Nagwaswalla (2-51) then rattled the lower-order as none of Goa batsmen showed any fight.

Kalaria (2-47) also played his part to perfection, while Siddharth Desai (1-8) grabbed a wicket. During the Goa innings, Parthiv became the fifth keeper to enter the 300-dismissal club in Ranji Trophy, joining Naman Ojha (351), Vinayak Samant (335), Mahesh Rawat (313) and Pinal Shah (311).

Brief Scores: Gujarat 602/8 declared and 158/1 (Samit Gohel 70*, Suyash Prabhudessai 1-32) vs Goa 173 (Amit Verma 56, Chintan Gaja 5-19); Bengal 332 & 79/2 vs Odisha 250; Karnataka 206 vs Jammu & Kashmir 88/2; Saurashtra 419 & 93/2 vs Andhra 136