Bengal crush Karnataka, in final

Kolkata, March 3

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Mukesh Kumar ran through Karnataka’s second innings with a career-best six-wicket haul as Bengal hammered their star-studded opponents by 174 runs to enter their first Ranji Trophy final in 13 years. The low-profile pacer, who had dismissed KL Rahul in Karnataka’s first innings, became the hero in the second essay with his 6/61 as Bengal took less than two hours to dismiss Karnataka on Day 4.

Resuming their chase of 352 at 98/3, Karnataka lost their remaining seven wickets for 79 runs in 16.3 overs. The penultimate day’s proceedings lasted just 115 minutes.

Mukesh Kumar, who had previous best figures of 6/62, was at his ominous best in taking five wickets in just 60 balls in an imperious spell that read 9-4-28-5. He opened his account in the third over of the day when Manish Pandey (12) edging one to Shreevats Goswami behind the stumps. In his next over, Mukesh dismissed KV Siddharth (0) and S Sharath (0) off successive deliveries to snuff out Karnataka’s hopes of a revival. Devdutt Padikkal was the lone crusader as Karnataka battled to avoid a third semifinal defeat in a row. Padikkal hit seven boundaries but Mukesh dismissed the batsman en route his fourth five-wicket haul in 21 First-Class matches.

Krishnappa Gowtham (22) and Abhimanyu Mithun raised a 24-run stand for the eighth wicket but it only delayed the inevitable.

Bengal, who last won the Ranji Trophy during Sourav Ganguly’s debut season way back in 1989-90, had lost to Mumbai by 132 runs in their last final appearance in 2007. Bengal will face the winners of the Gujarat-Saurashtra clash in the final, to be played from March 9. It would be an away match for Bengal.

Vasavada’s ton puts Saurashtra in command

Rajkot: Arpit Vasavada’s gritty 139 propelled Saurashtra to set a challenging 327-run target for Gujarat on the fourth day of their semifinal. Chintan Gaja’s fiery spell had brought Gujarat back in contention on the third day, but Vasavada’s seventh First-Class hundred, and the third this season, swung the momentum in favour of the hosts. Courtesy his ton and handy contributions from Chetan Sakariya (45), Chirag Jani (51) and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (21), Saurashtra recovered from a dismal 15/5 to post 274 in their second innings. At stumps, Gujarat were 7/1 with opener Priyank Panchal dismissed without scoring. — PTI

Brief Scores:

Bengal: 312 and 161; Karnataka: 122 and 177 (Devdutt Padikkal 62; Mukesh Kumar 6/61)

Saurashtra: 304 and 274 (Arpit Vasavada 139, Chirag Jani 51; Chintan Gaja 7/71); Gujarat: 252 and 7/1