With no scope for any dramatic twists or turns on the final day, last year’s finalist Saurashtra moved into the semifinal by virtue of its massive first-innings lead of 283 runs against Andhra in the five-day Ranji Trophy quarterfinal which ended in a tame draw at the CSR Sarma College Ground here on Monday.
Batting on
Significantly, Saurashtra, overnight 375 for nine, did not declare the innings this morning and go for an outright win, but played on till the 15th over of the morning when captain Jaydev Unadkat holed out in the deep off Karan Shinde.
Then, chasing an impossible target of 710 in 73 possible overs, Andhra was obviously never in the hunt. In a way, it was a chance for some of the batsmen to make amends.
Saurashtra captain and left-arm pacer Unadkat, who did not come onto the field when the innings started with left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja opening the bowling, didn’t bowl a single over when he eventually came on an hour later.
Regular wicketkeeper Avi Barot rolled his arm a la Sachin Tendulkar while Harvik Desai donned the gloves.
And, Andhra didn’t help its cause struggling to 66 for four. Unadkat’s brilliant diving catch in the deep to send back opener D.B. Prashanth Kumar off Dharmendrasinh was a special effort symbolising his commitment given the match situation.
Gritty
And, it was only another gritty, unbeaten half-century from captain K. Srikar Bharat and his unbroken, 86-run stand for the fifth wicket with Shinde that preempted a possible Saurashtra push for a dramatic win in the final session.
Play was eventually called off at the stroke of tea with Andhra at 149 for four.
The scores:
Saurashtra — 1st innings: 419.
Andhra — 1st innings: 136.
Saurashtra — 2nd innings: Harvik Desai b Rafi 0, Kishan Parmar b Stephen 12, Avi Barot b Rafi 54, Vishvaraj Jadeja lbw b Rafi 46, Sheldon Jackson st Bharat b Saikrishna 25, Arpit Vasavada c Bharat b Stephen 48, Chirag Jani st Bharat b Saikrishna 23, Prerak Mankad c Bharat b Saikrishna 85, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja st Bharat b Saikrishna 60, Chetan Sakariya (not out) 29, Jaydev Unadkat c Prashanth b Shinde 31; Extras (nb-2, w-1, b-5, lb-5): 13. Total (in 138 overs): 426.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-32, 3-113, 4-124, 5-163, 6-198, 7-270, 8-350, 9-371.
Andhra bowling: Rafi 32-5-92-3, Sasikanth 9-1-23-0, Stephen 18-4-44-2, Prashanth 8-1-37-0, Sumanth 19-1-64-0, Bhui 11-1-40-0, Saikrishna 28-4-74-4, Shinde 13-1-42-1.
Andhra — 2nd innings: C.R. Gnaneshwar c V. Jadeja b Prerak 29, D.B. Prashanth Kumar c Unadkat b D. Jadeja 18, J. Saikrishna lbw b Prerak 16, Ricky Bhui st Desai b D. Jadeja 1, K.S. Bharat (not out) 55, Karan Shinde (not out) 27; Extras (nb-1, lb-2): 3. Total (for 4 wkts. in 51 overs): 149.
Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-55, 3-66, 4-66.
Saurashtra bowling: D. Jadeja 19-5-39-2, Sakariya 5-0-21-0, Chirag 5-3-8-0, Prerak 7-3-8-2, Vasavada 8-1-31-0, Barot 5-0-37-0, V. Jadeja 2-1-3-0.