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Tamil Nadu skipper R Sai Kishore stole the spotlight, this time with the ball, as his four-wicket haul helped his side thrash Saurashtra by an innings and 33 runs on Day 3 of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal in Coimbatore on Sunday. As a result, TN became the first team to enter the semi-final this season, which will be played on March 2. Resuming at the overnight score of 300 for 6 in their first innings, TN managed to add just 38 more to their total, with Ajith Ram staying unbeaten on 23. However, TN managed to take a lead of 155 against Saurahstra’s 183, thanks to some commendable knocks from Sai Kishore (60), Baba Indrajith (80) and Boopathi Kumar (65).
It was a collective effort from the visiting bowling unit, with everyone chipping in with wickets, barring Prerak Mankad, who was the most economical of the lot (1.00). Chirag Jani claimed three.
Saurashtra began their second innings on a nervous note, losing three wickets for 48 runs, with Sandeep Warrier getting two of their top-order batters out cheaply — Harvik Desai (4) and Sheldon Jackson (2).
The pair of Cheteshwar Pujara (46) and Arpit Vasavada (20) managed to stitch a 55-run stand for the fourth wicket and tried to bring Saurashtra innings somewhat back on track.
However, Mohamed Ali managed to get rid of Vasavada as the score read 103 for 4, before the floodgates were opened.
Saurashtra batters thereon were all dismissed for single-digit figures. Pujara, their highest scorer in this innings and this season, was the eighth wicket to fall at 111, with Sai Kishore, the competition’s highest wicket-taker of the season, earning the prized wicket.
Eventually, the entire Saurashtra side were shot out for 122, handing the hosts their spot in the semi-final.
Besides Sai Kishore, who has an economy of 1.01, Warrier also provided great support in the TN bowling unit, capturing three wickets.
Thakur, Sarwate give Vidarbha command over Karnataka
Yash Thakur and Aditya Sarwate shone bright as Vidarbha moved into a commanding position against Karnataka after swelling their lead to 224 runs on the third day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match here on Sunday.
Left-arm spinner Sarwate (3/50) and pacer Thakur (3/48) shared six wickets equally among them as Karnataka were bundled out for 286 in their first innings after resuming from overnight 98 for two.
It helped the hosts take a huge innings lead of 174 runs and Vidarbha closed day three at 50 for no loss in their second innings with openers and first-innings centurion Atharva Taide (21) and Dhruv Shorey (29) manning the crease.
Karnataka had an arduous task of closing the gap with Vidarbha.
Their biggest hope for that was the presence of in-form veteran Manish Pandey and handy middle and lower-order batters like Hardik Raj, Sharath Srinivas and Vysakh Vijayakumar.
But Pandey, a hundred-maker in the last match against Chandigarh, perished in the first session itself for 15, getting castled by Thakur.
But vice-captain Nikin Jose (82, 212b, 11×4) and Hardik combined to milk 50 runs for the fourth wicket as Karnataka innings seemed to have got back on tracks.
However, the Thakur-Karun Nair combine spelt doom for Hardik as Karnataka lost their fifth wicket for 198.
There was another useful stand of 53 between Jose and Srinivas, another centurion from Karnataka last encounter, as it took them past 250.
But Sarwate elicited an edge from Srinivas which nestled in the big gloves of Akshay Wadkar.
At 251 for six, Karnataka did not have any genuine chance to overtake Vidarbha’s first-innings total of 460 and Jose’s dismissal on the team score of 286 was the end of their slender hopes.
Karnataka lost two more wickets on that score as veteran pacer Umesh Yadav upended the stumps of Vysakh and Vasuki Koushik to bring curtains on the visitors’ innings.
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