Ranji Trophy: Saurashstra put one foot in final

Bengaluru, February 11

Skipper Arpit Vasavada hit a double century as Saurashtra took a crucial 120-run first-innings lead against Karnataka to put one foot in the Ranji Trophy final here today.

Resuming at his overnight score of 112, Vasavada made 202 off 406 balls as Chirag Jani scored 72 to help Saurashtra finish with 527 in reply to Karnataka’s 407.

Pacer Vidwath Kaverappa (5/83) shone for the home team.

If the match ends in a draw tomorrow, Saurashtra will qualify for the final by virtue of their first-innings lead.

Karnataka ended the fourth day at 123/4, with skipper Mayank Agarwal scoring a quick 64-ball 55 before falling to Dharmendrasinh Jadeja.

Ravikumar Samarth, Devdutt Padikkal and Manish Pandey were the other Karnataka wickets to fall on the day. Nikin Jose, unbeaten on 54 off 74 balls, was holding the fort at stumps.

WB almost there

Indore: West Bengal were virtually assured of the final berth for the second time in three seasons after stretching their overall lead to 547 runs against defending champions Madhya Pradesh.

West Bengal, who had a first-innings lead of 268 runs, decided against declaring their second essay and ended the penultimate day on 279/9.

Resuming at 59/2, Anustup Majumdar (80), No. 8 Pradipta Pramanik (60 not out) and Sudip Gharami (41) did the bulk of the scoring for the team. Saransh Jain (6/103) and Kumar Kartikeya (3/63) toiled hard for the hosts, bowling 88 overs between them, but West Bengal hung on till the end.

Brief scores: Karnataka 407 and 123/4 in 26.4 overs (Agarwal 55, Jose 54*; Sakariya 2/24) vs Saurashtra 527 all out in 174.4 overs (Vasavada 202, Jackson 160; Kaverappa 5/83); West Bengal 438 and 279/9 in 119 overs (Majumdar 80, Pramanik 60*; Jain 6/103, Kartikeya 3/63).