Ranji Trophy 2019-20: Semi-finals – Day 3: Round Up

Karnataka need 254 runs to clinch the encounter and pave their way to the final.

Published - 02 Mar 2020, 17:57 IST | Updated - 02 Mar 2020, 17:57 IST

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The semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy 2019-20 enthralled the audience on Day 3 with many individual performances. In the first semi-final between Gujarat and Saurashtra, the former was able to amass 252 runs on the board. After being put to bat first, Saurashtra amassed a total of 304 runs in their first innings.

In reply, Gujarat’s batting lineup, after suffering early blows, was able to gather 252 runs on the board on the back of Rujul Bhatt’s 71-run knock. Bhatt scored a gritty 71-run knock to save the sinking ship of Gujarat along with Chintan Gaja, who scored 61 runs while batting down the order to ensure that his side goes past the 250-run mark.

Coming on to Saurashtra’s second innings, Jaydev Unadkat and Co. were marred by early blows as Chintan Gaja’s five-wicket haul wreaked havoc on their batsmen. Saurashtra were left reeling at the score of 15/5 in the first ten overs. However, Chetan Sakariya and Arpit Vasavada stuck to the crease for a considerable amount of time and saved the batting force of Saurashtra from drowning.

Sakariya stitched a crucial 32-run knock and weaved his innings around 5 fours. He was well assisted by Vasavada, who also gathered 23 runs off 54 deliveries and stayed glued to the crease at the culmination of Day 3. Despite the batting fiasco, Saurashtra are still leading by 118 runs. It will be interesting to witness how the Saurashtra batsmen fare on the fourth day of the encounter.

Ishan Porel scalped the early wicket of KL Rahul

In the second semi-final clash between Bengal and Karnataka, the former was bowled out at a meagre total of 161 in their second innings.

Abhimanyu Mithun’s four-wicket haul couple with Krishnappa Gowtham plucking three wickets turned out to be a nightmare for Bengal batsmen. Sudip Chatterjee (45) and Anustup Majumdar (41) steadied Bengal’s ship but could not play a prolonged inning as the Abhimanyu Easwaran-led side was able to amass only 161 runs on the board.

It was touted to be a cakewalk for Karnataka considering their batting strength but Ishan Porel drew first blood and scalped the wicket of KL Rahul on the second delivery. Karnataka was put on the back foot as Ravikumar Samarth was also shown the exit door by Akash Deep. Skipper Karun Nair also had to depart to the pavilion after scoring 6 runs.

However, it was Devdutt Padikkal who proved his worth and smashed a brilliant half-century to save Karnataka from a batting fiasco. At the culmination of Day 3, Karnataka were able to gather 98 runs on the board at the loss of three wickets. Padikkal (50) and Pandey (11) were at the crease at the end of the day. Karnataka need 254 runs to clinch the encounter and pave their way to the final.