Saurashtra registered a hard-fought four-wicket win against Karnataka in the second semi-final of the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. Saurashtra chased down the target of 115 in the 35th over.
With this win, Saurashtra set up a Ranji Trophy final clash with Bengal on February 16 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Although Nikin Jose scored 109 runs off 161 balls, the middle and lower orders were unable to make many noteworthy contributions. Vijaykumar Vyshak added 20 and Krishnappa Gowtham scored 23, but Karnataka was constantly in the losing column.
Dharmendrasinh Jadeja and Chetan Sakariya each took four wickets for Saurashtra, with Parth Bhut taking the final two victims. Chasing 115, Saurashtra was reduced to 42/5 as a result of outstanding bowling performances from Krishnappa Gowtham (3/38) and Vasuki Koushik (3/32).
However, 63 runs were added for the sixth wicket by Sakariya (24) and Saurashtra captain Arpit Vasavada (47*), ending Karnataka’s chances of a surprise victory.
Pradipta Pramanik’s five-wicket haul helped Bengal defeat Madhya Pradesh by 306 runs on Day 5 in the first semi-final of the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 played at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore.
Pradipta Pramanik was the star of the match for Bengal with figures of 5/51 in 10.5 overs, while Mukesh Kumar scalped 2 wickets while conceding just 35 runs.
Bengal were all-out after starting their second innings on 279/9 after Avesh Khan trapped Ishan Porel (1) leg before, preventing them from adding to their score. In order to secure a spot in the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 final, MP were given the seemingly impossible goal of 548 runs. Despite starting off strong, they were dismissed for 241 in 39.5 overs, for a run rate of 6.05, to end their innings.
Rajat Patidar led the Madhya Pradesh team in scoring with 52 off 58 deliveries, while Anubhav Agarwal finished with an undefeated 30 off 12 while smashing four sixes and a four. By removing Gaurav Yadav for a duck, Pramanik guaranteed Bengal’s place in the championship match. (ANI)
