Mayank Agarwal scored 200 to lead Karnataka to a 407 first-innings total, giving them a lead against Saurashtra in their Ranji Trophy semi-final.
On Thursday in Bengaluru for a Ranji Trophy semi-final, Karnataka posted 407 in their first innings, with the help of a double century from their captain, Mayank Agarwal. This gave them a commanding lead against Saurashtra. Agarwal, who resumed his innings at 110, maintained his form and batted with more purpose on the second day, scoring 249 runs off 429 balls. During his long knock, he hit an incredible 28 fours and 6 sixes. After being 229 for 5 at night, Karnataka continued their innings and scored 178 runs in 46.3 overs.
Srinivas Sharath, wicketkeeper and Agarwal’s overnight companion, added only six runs to his overnight total of 66 before being trapped LBW by Chetan Sakariya five overs into the second day. Before Vidwath Kaverappa (15) came along to help Agarwal, both Krishnappa Gowtham and Vijaykumar Vyshak were quickly dispatched without posing much of a threat to the scorers.
The second day was an Agarwal one-man show as the assured right-hander dispatched his shots to all parts of the stadium to propel Karnataka to victory. For Saurashtra, three wickets were taken by Sakariya (3/73) and three by Kushang Patel (3/109).
At the end of the second day, Saurashtra had scored 76 for 2 in 30 overs, trailing Karnataka by 331 runs. The teams would continue to play for another three days. Harvik Desai, the wicketkeeper, and Sheldon Jackson, the batsman, were both unbeaten on 27.
Jackson looked aggressive while Desai defended one end, hitting six fours on his way to a total of 31 runs off of just 21 balls. Two Saurashtra batsmen were dismissed on Thursday, Snell Patel (13) and Vishvaraj Jadeja (22).
Both Saurashtra batsmen were dismissed by right-arm fast bowler Vidwath Kaverappa (2/24).
Karnataka was bowled out for a total of 407 in their first innings, with the help of bowlers Chetan Sakariya (3/73) and Kushang Patel (3/109). Mayank Agarwal scored 249 and Srinivas Sharath 66.
First innings: 76 for 2 (Harvik Desai 27, Sheldon Jackson 27; Vidwath Kaverappa 2/24) for Saurashtra. Overs bowled: 30.
The score on Day 2 was MP 56/2 in response to Bengal’s 438.
Bengal, playing against Madhya Pradesh in the other semifinal of the Ranji Trophy, is in a strong position after the young wicketkeeper Abishek Porel scored a half-century and the Bengal bowlers struck twice at the close of Day 2. After being 307/4 when play resumed on the second day, Bengal scored 131 runs in 54.3 overs to be all out for 438. This was largely due to the 78-run sixth-wicket stand between 20-year-old Porel (51) and skipper Manoj Tiwary (42). Replying, MP finished the day at 56 for 2, still behind by 382 runs in their first innings.
Tiwary pushed Bengal above the 400-run mark by adding 37 runs to his overnight score of 5. He faced 129 balls, hitting five boundaries and consuming a total of 129 balls.
In contrast, wickets tumbled after Tiwary was dismissed for 401 runs scored by the squad.
After nine overs, Porel was the third Bengal batsman to go out, also via run out. He hit eight fours in his 102-ball knock.
Bengal scored 37 runs from their final four wickets.
The most productive bowler for MP was Kumar Kartikeya, who took three wickets (including Tiwary’s) and allowed only 95 runs.
MP’s reply was shaky throughout, with just 27 runs coming from Yash Dubey (12) and wicketkeeper Himanshu Mantri (23).
Dubey was caught and bowled by Akash Deep (1/10) in the 18th over, and Mantri was caught and bowled by Ishan Porel (1/4). At the close of play, Saransh Jain had 17 runs on the board, while Anubhav Agarwal had 4.
On the first day, Wednesday, Bengal posted a massive first-innings total thanks to centuries from Anustup Majumdar (120) and youthful Sudip Gharami (112).
Bengal scored 438 runs in 141.3 overs (Anustup Majumdar scored 120 runs, Sudip Gharami scored 112 runs, Abishek Porel scored 51 runs, and Manoj Tiwary scored 42 runs; Kumar Kartikeya took 3 for 95), whereas Madhya Pradesh scored 56 runs in 28 overs.
