Saurashtra, Bengal, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh enter Ranji Trophy semi-finals

Saurashtra 303 and 379 (Mankad 88, Vasavada 77, Jani 77, Vinay 7-179) beat Punjab 431 and 180 (Mandeep 45, Mann 42, Bhut 5-89, Dharmendrasinh 3-56) by 71 runs

Parth Bhut‘s 111* and 51 and a match-haul of 8 for 203 helped Saurashtra stage a stunning come-from-behind win over Punjab by 71 runs and book their place in the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy. Bhut was ably backed by fellow left-arm spinner, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, who picked up eight wickets in the match for 165.

Chasing 252, Punjab were undone by spin on the final day of the quarter-final in Rajkot. While Bhut returned 5 for 89 in 33 overs, Dharmendrasinh picked 3 for 56 in 38.1 overs as Punjab were skittled out for 180 despite taking a 128-run first-innings lead.

Electing to bat first, Saurashtra lost Harvik Desai in the first over, but Snell Patel (70) and Vishvaraj Jadeja got them going. However, Mayank Markande ran through the middle order picking four wickets to reduce Saurashtra to 147 for 8. Baltej Singh also did his bit it picking 3 for 60. But Bhut, coming in at No. 9, recorded his maiden first-class century and helped his side get over the 300-mark. He added 61 runs with Chetan Sakariya (22) and then stitched a 95-run stand with No. 11 Yuvrajsinh Dodiya (17).

In reply, Prabhsimran Singh (126) and Naman Dhir (131) added 212 runs for the opening wicket in quick time. The duo recorded centuries, while Mandeep Singh scored 91, and even though Dharmendrasinh picked up 5 for 109, Punjab were in the driver’s seat, having amassed 431 in the first innings.

Saurashtra were once again reduced to 60 for 4 in their second innings, but captain Arpit Vasavada and Chirag Jani added 140 runs for the fifth wicket to take them in the lead. Both fell in quick time, but Prerak Mankad (88) and Bhut pulled them out of a hole. Vinay Choudhary put up a valiant effort in picking 7 for 179 as Saurashtra were bowled out for 379.

Punjab’s chase never really took off and they lost wickets at regular intervals with Saurashtra’s three spinners wrapping up the win.

Bengal 328 and 69 for 1 (Abhimanyu 28*, Gharami 26*, Shukla 1-24) beat Jharkhand 173 and 221 (Sen 64, Chakraborty 41*, Roy 40, Ghatak 3-21, Shahbaz 2-45, Akash Deep 2-46) by nine wickets

Bengal got past Jharkhand by nine wickets at Eden Gardens to secure their spot in the semi-finals of the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy.

After putting Jharkhand in to bat, Akash Deep ran through their line-up, with some help from fellow quicks Mukesh Kumar and Akash Ghatak. Kumar Suraj was the only batter from Jharkhand’s top five to reach double-figures, hitting an unbeaten 89 to help take the team to 173, with the lower order batters also showing some resistance.

When they batted first, Bengal lost opener Kazi Saifi early, but a 136-run partnership for the second wicket between Abhimanyu (77) and Gharami (68) put Bengal in a commanding position. Shahbaz (81) ensured they finished with a strong first-innings lead of 155.

Akash Deep and Ghatak then took two wickets each as Jharkhand were left tottering at 21 for 4. Anukul Roy and Aryaman Sen added 71 runs for the fifth wicket to revive Jharkhand, but when Sen fell for 64 with Jharkhand still behind Bengal, it looked like game over.

Supriyo Chakraborty’s 41, however, kept Jharkhand alive for a little longer, but Mukesh and Ghatak wrapped the innings up, with Bengal needing 67 to win. Saifi fell early once again, but Abhimanyu and Gharami raced to the target to put Bengal into the semi-finals, where they will meet the winners of the Madhya Pradesh vs Andhra game.

Karnataka 606 (Shreyas 161*, Agarwal 83, Samarth 82, Negi 4-109, Mishra 3-107) beat Uttarakhand 116 and 209 (Swapnil 51, Shreyas 3-26, Vyshak 3-55) by an innings and 281 runs

Shreyas Gopal hit an unbeaten 161 and followed it up with a three-wicket haul as Karnataka trounced Uttarakhand by an innings and 281 runs in their quarter-final at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

It was a game Karnataka dominated right from the start. After Karnataka won the toss and chose to field, young fast bowler M Venkatesh returned a five-wicket haul on first-class debut to help bundle Uttarakhand out for just 116.

Half-centuries from each of Karnataka’s top four then put them in a commanding position. Openers Mayank Agarwal (83) and R Samarth (82) put on a 159-run stand to start with, and Devdutt Padikkal (69) and Nikin Jose (62) then put on 118 runs for the third wicket.

Shreyas was, however, the star with the bat, hitting his fifth first-class century to take Karnataka to 606, leaving Uttarakhand with a huge ask.

Swapnil Singh hit a fighting fifty for Uttarakhand in their second innings after they conceded a 490-run first-innings lead, but it was far from enough as they folded for 209. Shreyas and Vijaykumar Vyshak picked up three wickets each, while Venkatesh and Vidwath Kaverappa took two apiece.

Madhya Pradesh 228 and 245 for 5 (Dubey 58, Patidar 55, Shubham 40, Raj 2-50, Mohan 2-91) beat Andhra 379 and 93 (Avesh 4-24, Gaurav 3-10) by five wickets

Half-centuries from Yash Dubey and Rajat Patidar took defending champions Madhya Pradesh to their 245-run target against Andhra and set up a semi-final contest against Bengal, who defeated Jharkhand earlier in the day.

Madhya Pradesh did lose five wickets in the chase, but were largely untroubled as they completed a come-from-behind victory after conceding a 151-run first-innings lead.

But the story of the innings, and their second innings, was captain Hanuma Vihari batting left-handed, and often one-handed, after fracturing his left forearm while fending off an Avesh Khan bouncer on the first day.

In reply to Andhra’s 379, Madhya Pradesh were bowled out for 228, with Shubham Sharma’s 51 the only score of note. Left-arm medium pacer Prithvi Raj was the pick of the bowlers, with figures of 5 for 26.

But there was a big collapse after that as Andhra were skittled for 93 in their second essay, with Avesh taking four wickets. The valiant Vihari came out to bat at No. 11 again and even made 15 off 16 with the help of three boundaries, but could not stretch his team’s lead.

Dubey (58) then put on 58 runs with opening partner Himanshu Mantri (31) and 62 runs with Shubham, who made 40 to go with his first-innings fifty. Patidar kept Madhya Pradesh ticking in the chase with a quickly compiled 55. Andhra hoped for a comeback when they dismissed Patidar and opposition captain Aditya Shrivastava in quick succession, but Saransh Jain (28) and Harsh Gawli (18) completed the chase without any further hiccups.

This article was originally published by Espncricinfo.com. Read the original article here.

Saurashtra, Bengal, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh enter Ranji Trophy semi-finals

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