Ranji Trophy 2019-20: Semi-Finals – Jaydev Unadkat’s record season, Bengal's long wait for a Ranji Trophy final and more stats

Saurashtra and Bengal marched into the finals of the Ranji Trophy 2019-20 following big wins during the semi-finals played at home. Bengal recovered from 67/6 on the first day to finish on 312 in their first innings. Later, they rolled over Karnataka and bowled them out for 122. Bengal managed to win the game by 174 runs despite being bowled out for 161 in the second essay.

Saurashtra got better of Gujarat by 92 runs despite Gujarat’s regular fightback through the match. In the 327-run chase, Gujarat were down to 63/5 but Parthiv Patel and Chirag Gandhi shared a 158-run stand for the 6th wicket. However, the in-form Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkat took four of the last five wickets to finish with a 7-wicket haul.

All the statistical highlights recorded during the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy 2019-20:

3 – The semi-final was the 3rd time Jaydev Unadkat claimed 10 wickets in a match during this season. He is only the 2nd pacer with three 10-wicket match hauls in a Ranji Trophy season. Lakshmipathy Balaji also had three 10-wicket match hauls during the 2002-03 season.

3 – For the 3rd time in succession, Karnataka has been knocked out in the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy. They lost to Vidarbha in 2017-18 and to Saurashtra in the 2018-19 season. They were knocked out by Tamil Nadu in quarter-finals of the 2016-17 season.

7 – The 7-wicket haul in the 2nd innings was Jaydev Unadkat’s 7th five-wicket haul in this Ranji Trophy. He is only the 3rd pace bowler to register seven 5-fers during a Ranji season. Lakshmipathy Balaji in 2002-03 and Aniket Choudhary in 2018-19 also recorded seven 5-fers.

7/56 – The bowling figures of 7/56 in Gujarat’s 2nd innings are the best for Unadkat in the Ranji Trophy. These are also the 4th best bowling figures for Saurashtra in the last 58 years in first-class cricket and the best for a pacer for them during this period. The left-arm spinners, Ravindra Jadeja (7/31 and 7/55) and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (7/55) recorded better FC figures for Saurashtra than Jaydev since 1963.

65 – Jaydev Unadkat has bagged a total of 65 wickets during this Ranji Trophy; the most by a pace bowler in an edition of Ranji. He went past the 62 wickets claimed by Dodda Ganesh for Karnataka in 1998-99 season. In fact, Unadkat’s 65 wickets are only the 2nd most for any player in a single season of Ranji Trophy. Ashutosh Aman of Bihar is ahead of Jaydev as he bagged 68 wickets during the 2018-19 season.

1997/98 – The last instance of Saurashtra defeating Gujarat outright in a Ranji Trophy match was during the 1997/98 season by 6 wickets. Between these two wins, both the teams clashed off in as many as 10 matches in this competition.

2006/07 – The last instance of Bengal reaching final of the Ranji Trophy was during the 2006-07 season where they lost to Mumbai in the final by 132 runs.

In the same edition, Bengal defeated Karnataka by 6 wickets, the last instance of them defeating Karnataka in Ranji Trophy. Between these two wins, Bengal conceded the first-innings lead twice and lost by 9 wickets that too at the Eden Gardens.