Skipper Mayank Agarwal hit a double century to help Karnataka post 407 in their first innings and take the upper hand over Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy semifinal in Bengaluru on Thursday. Resuming his innings at 110, Agarwal carried on his good form and played with more intent on the second day to score 249 off 429 balls. He struck an astounding 28 boundaries and six sixes during his marathon knock. Karnataka added 178 runs in 46.3 overs after resuming their innings at the overnight score of 229 for 5.
Agarwal’s overnight partner, wicketkeeper Srinivas Sharath (66) added just six runs to his score before being trapped LBW by Chetan Sakariya five overs into the second day’s proceedings. Krishnappa Gowtham and Vijaykumar Vyshak failed to trouble the scorers much, departing in quick succession before Vidwath Kaverappa (15) lent Agarwal some support.
It was a complete Agarwal show on the second day as the confident right-hander played his shots to all parts of the ground to take Karnataka forward. Sakariya (3/73) and Kushang Patel (3/109) picked up three wickets apiece for Saurashtra.
In reply, Saurashtra scored 76 for 2 in 30 overs at the close of play, still trailing Karnataka by 331 runs with three days play remaining in the match. Wicket-keeper Harvik Desai and Sheldon Jackson were unbeaten on 27 each.
While Desai held one end up, Jackson looked in attacking mood, accumulating his runs off just 31 balls with the help of six boundaries. Snell Patel and Vishvaraj Jadeja (22) were the two Saurashtra batsmen who got out on Thursday.
Right-arm fast bowler Vidwath Kaverappa (2/24) accounted for the two Saurashtra batsmen, cleaning up both.
Brief Scores: Karnataka Ist Innings: 407 all out in 133.3 overs (Mayank Agarwal 249, Srinivas Sharath 66; Chetan Sakariya 3/73, Kushang Patel 3/109).
Saurashtra Ist Innings: 76 for 2 in 30 overs (Harvik Desai 27 batting, Sheldon Jackson 27 batting; Vidwath Kaverappa 2/24).
MP 56/2 in reply to Bengal’s 438 on Day 2
Young wicketkeeper Abishek Porel hit a half-century before Bengal bowlers struck twice towards the end of Day 2 to find themselves in a commanding position against defending champions Madhya Pradesh in their Ranji Trophy semifinal in Indore on Thursday. Resuming the day at 307 for 4, Bengal added 131 runs from 54.3 overs on the second day to be all out for 438, thanks mainly to the 78-run sixth-wicket stand between the 20-year-old Porel (51) and captain Manoj Tiwary (42). In reply, MP ended the day at 56 for 2 in their first innings, still trailing by 382 runs.
Tiwary added 37 runs to his overnight 5 as he consumed 129 balls in total from which he hit five boundaries to take Bengal past the 400-run mark.
But once Tiwary was out for the team total of 401, wickets fell in a heap.
Porel was the next Bengal batter to be dismissed, nine overs later, as he was run out. His 102-ball knock had eight fours.
The last four wickets managed 37 runs for Bengal.
For MP, Kumar Kartikeya was the most successful bowler on the day, grabbing three wickets, including that of Tiwary, for 95 runs.
MP struggled in reply with the opening pair of Yash Dubey (12) and wicketkeeper Himanshu Mantri (23) sharing just 27 runs.
Akash Deep (1/10) removed Dubey in the 18th over and Mantri feel to Ishan Porel (1/4) seven overs later. Saransh Jain and Anubhav Agarwal were batting on 17 and 4 respectively at stumps.
On the first day on Wednesday, Anustup Majumdar (120) and young Sudip Gharami (112) had slammed a century each to set up Bengal’s big first innings total.
Brief Scores: Bengal 1st Innings: 438 in 141.3 overs (Anustup Majumdar 120, Sudip Gharami 112, Abishek Porel 51, Manoj Tiwary 42; Kumar Kartikeya 3/95); Madhya Pradesh 1st Innings: 56 for 2 in 28 overs.
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