Ranji Trophy semifinal: Saurashtra in tense battle against Karnataka
Ranji Trophy semifinal: Saurashtra reached 227 for 7 at stumps on Day 2, trailing Karnataka (275) by 48 runs.
In Short
- Ronit More was the star of the day for Karnataka with his 5 wickets
- Snell Patel top-scored for Saurashtra with a fine knock of 85
- Saurashtra reached 227 for 7 at stumps trailing by 48 runs on Day 2
Brief Scores: Saurashtra (227/7 in 66.3 overs) at stumps, trail Karnataka (275-all out) by 48 runs. Snell Patel (85), Cheteshwar Pujara (45), Ronit More (5/54)
Snell Patel's fine 85 was the cornerstone of Saurashtra's battle against Karnatak on the second day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal in Bangaluru. After Karnataka folded for 275 in their first innings, Patel, birthday boy Cheteshwar Pujara and Sheldon Jackson chipped to keep Saurashtra in the fight.
Ronit More was the star of the day for Karnataka on Friday. The medium-pacer bagged four wickets to peg Saurashtra back even as Patel anchored the innings for the visitors. Pujara, who turned 31 on Friday, walked out to bat with his team in a bit of a spot. He steadied the innings with Patel but the latter fell to Shreyas Gopal as Saurashtra slipped to 137 for 3.
Abhimanyu Mithun removed Pujara in the 55th over of the innings and the focus was on the experienced Jackson, who has 15 first-class hundreds to his name. But when he perished to More, Karnataka were beginning to hope for a sleder first innings lead.
Ranji Trophy Semifinals Day 2 Highlights: Saurashtra vs Karnataka
Soon after, More successfully appealed for a caught behind against Prerak Mankad but replays showed there was a wide gap between bat and ball.
Stumps Day 2: Saurashtra - 227/7 in 66.3 overs (K Makwana 1 off 9, A V Vasavada 26 off 32) #SAUvKAR @paytm #RanjiTrophy #SF2 BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 25, 2019
The third day will be crucial and both teams will press to take that crucial first innings lead.
Earlier on Friday, Vidarbha demolished Kerala by an innings and 10 runs after Umesh Yadav finished with 12 wickets from the match. Vidarbha, the defending champions, will now wait to play either of Karnataka or Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy final.