Vasavada guides Saurashtra to Ranji Trophy final

BENGALURU: 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 here on Sunday.

The 2019-20 edition champion 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 its 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.

Dominant Bengal oust champion MP

Riding on a dominant all-round performance, Bengal stormed into the Ranji Trophy final, ousting defending champion Madhya Pradesh by 306 runs at the Holkar Stadium here on Sunday.

Bengal last won the Ranji title in the 1989-90 season.

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 its 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.

BRIEF SCORES: Karnataka 407 & 234 in 58.2 overs (N Jose 109, M Agarwal 55, C Sakariya 4/45, D Jadeja 4/79) lost to Saurashtra 527 & 117/6 in 34.2 overs (A Vasavada 47*, K Gowtham 3/38, V Koushik 3/32); Bengal 438 & 279 bt Madhya Pradesh 170 & 241 in 39.5 overs (R Patidar 52, P Pramanik 5/51)