Saurashtra make U-turn against K’taka

Bengaluru, February 10

Sheldon Jackson and skipper Arpit Vasavada struck a century each as Saurashtra turned the tables on Karnataka in their Ranji Trophy semifinals clash here today.

On Day 3, Saurashtra posted 364/4 in their first innings in reply to Karnataka’s 407.

Jackson, who started at his overnight score of 27, made 160 off 245 balls and decorated his knock with 23 boundaries and two sixes, while Vasavada remained unbeaten on 112 off 219. The duo shared 232 runs for the fourth wicket to bring Saurashtra back into the contest.

Giving Vasavada company at stumps was Chirag Jani (19 not out).

Saurashtra trail Karnataka by 43 runs and have six wickets in hand with two full days’ play remaining.

High-five for Akash Deep

Indore: West Bengal pacer Akash Deep bowled a game-changing spell en route his five-wicket haul to put his team in the driver’s seat against defending champions Madhya Pradesh in their semifinal.

Akash Deep, who played a key role in their win over Jharkhand in the quarterfinals, rattled Madhya Pradesh by taking two wickets in two balls. He first removed overnight batter Saransh Jain (65) and trapped Kumar Kartikeya leg-before on the next ball to breathe life into West Bengal’s lacklustre attack.

He grabbed his fourth five-wicket haul in First-Class cricket, dismissing Avesh Khan, before Madhya Pradesh were bowled out for 170 when Gaurav Yadav was run out.

West Bengal took a huge first-innings lead of 268 runs but skipper Manoj Tiwary did not enforce the follow-on. They ended the third day on 59/2, with an overall lead of 327 runs, to inch closer to the final.

The two-time Ranji champions last reached the final in 2020 where they lost to Saurashtra. West Bengal are yet to win the Ranji Trophy since 1989-90.

Brief scores: Karnataka 407 all out in 133.3 overs (Agarwal 249, Sharath 66; Sakariya 3/73) vs Saurashtra 364/4 in 112 overs (Jackson 160, Vasavada 112*; Kaverappa 2/64); West Bengal 438 and 59/2 in 29 overs vs MP 170 in 79 overs (Jain 65, Shubham 44*; Akash Deep 5/42, Shahbaz 2/30).