Shreyas Gopal struck a timely unbeaten half-century on Saturday as Saurashtra and Karnataka were headed for an exciting finish in their Ranji Trophy semifinal clash in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Shreyas Gopal
Bangalore:
Gopal and Abhimanyu Mithun (35) were unseparated after putting on crucial 61 runs for the undefeated ninth wicket when the stumps were drawn for the day.
Pacer Jaydev Unadkat (3/35) and left-spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (3/77) shared six wickets between them in visitor’s fight back.
With two full days left in the game and Saurashtra having ever-reliable Cheteshwar Pujara in its ranks, chasing a target in the vicinity of 300 should not be a big task for the visitor.
In the quarterfinals, Saurashtra had chased down 372, highest ever successful chase in the history of tournament, against Uttar Pradesh. Saurashtra added just nine runs to its overnight total, losing Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (3), Jaydev Unadkat (0) and Arpit Vasavada (30). Ronit More took one of the wickets to register career-best figures of six for 60. Karnataka’s second innings began on a disastrous note with Unadkat getting rid of Ravikumar Samrath (5) in the third over.
Prerak Mankad then scalped Krishnamurthy Siddharth (8) and Karun Nair to leave the host struggling at 52 for three.
Brief scores: Karnataka (1st innings) 275 & (2nd innings) 237/8 in 78 overs (M Agarwal 46, S Gopal 61*, J Unadkat 3/35, D Jadeja 3/77) vs Saurashtra (1st innings) 236
After bundling out Saurashtra for 236 for a slender 39-run lead, Karnataka ended the third day at 237 for eight to extend its overall lead to 276.
Gopal and Abhimanyu Mithun (35) were unseparated after putting on crucial 61 runs for the undefeated ninth wicket when the stumps were drawn for the day.
Pacer Jaydev Unadkat (3/35) and left-spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (3/77) shared six wickets between them in visitor’s fight back.
With two full days left in the game and Saurashtra having ever-reliable Cheteshwar Pujara in its ranks, chasing a target in the vicinity of 300 should not be a big task for the visitor.
In the quarterfinals, Saurashtra had chased down 372, highest ever successful chase in the history of tournament, against Uttar Pradesh. Saurashtra added just nine runs to its overnight total, losing Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (3), Jaydev Unadkat (0) and Arpit Vasavada (30). Ronit More took one of the wickets to register career-best figures of six for 60. Karnataka’s second innings began on a disastrous note with Unadkat getting rid of Ravikumar Samrath (5) in the third over.
Prerak Mankad then scalped Krishnamurthy Siddharth (8) and Karun Nair to leave the host struggling at 52 for three.
Brief scores: Karnataka (1st innings) 275 & (2nd innings) 237/8 in 78 overs (M Agarwal 46, S Gopal 61*, J Unadkat 3/35, D Jadeja 3/77) vs Saurashtra (1st innings) 236