Ranji Trophy 2017-18, Semifinals: Day 4 Round up

The day after Delhi sealed their place in the final, Karnataka was aiming to seal the deal against the spirited Vidarbha side in the ongoing semifinal of the Ranji Trophy. But what transpired in the middle on the fourth day was the least expected as Faiz Fazal led side staged a sterling fight back. Rajneesh Gurbani bowled his hearts out defending a low total and now his team has a realistic chance to upset the former champions on the final day. However, the tail of Karnataka would look to stretch the game as close as possible.

Tails wags for Vidarbha

Vidarbha began the fourth day against the tide as they were just 79 runs ahead and had only six wickets in hand. They got off to a worst possible start as the overnight batsmen Akshay Wadkar and Ganesh Satish were dismissed in quick succession. Also, their wicket was followed by Akshay Wakhare’s golden duck which reduced Vidarbha to 228/7 staring at a paltry lead. But Aditya Sarwate had different ideas who sort of resurrected the innings along with the tail.

First, he added 38 runs with Umesh Yadav and then 30 runs with the number 11 Rajneesh Gurbani to stretch the lead close to 200. He was the last wicket to fall as he smashed a brilliant half-century (55) and provided his team with a life-line in a knockout game. The last three wickets added a crucial 85 runs for them and the opposition might have felt that they missed out on a golden chance to seal the game. Stuart Binny and the skipper Vinay Kumar were excellent for Karnataka as they shared six wickets between them and rattled the opposition.

Vidarbha were eventually bowled out for 313 with a lead of 197 runs and the target looked challenging on a sporting Eden wicket. The ball has been jagging around throughout the match which has ebbed and flowed in the last four days.

The unexpected collapse

Vidarbha bowlers were boasted with the additional runs and attacked the Karnataka batsmen with some excellent bowling. They reaped rewards straight away as Umesh Yadav first scalped the in-form Mayank Agarwal. Siddhesh Neral then, sent back Ravikumar Samarth and Dega Nischal to reduce the opposition to 40/3. But then the experienced pair of Karun Nair and CM Gautam got together and stitched 41 runs for the fourth wicket.

The final session was literally owned by Rajneesh Gurbani as he scalped all the four wickets to fall. Both Nair and Gautam were dismissed as Binny bagged a duck and even Krishnappa Gowtham was sent back to the hut. The fall of wickets stunned Karnataka as they were 104/7 needing 94 more runs to win the match. The match would have been almost sealed if Wasim Jaffer had not dropped Shreyas Gopal in the dying moments of the day as Karnataka finished on 111/7. The play was stopped due to light as it has been the case over the last four days in Kolkata at the Eden Gardens.

Vinay Kumar, the skipper is still out there in the middle with Gopal battling it out for his side. Vidarbha are favourites currently and would be assisted by the early morning moisture on the pitch as well. But the way the match has panned out so far, we might be in for another twist in the tail on the final day of what has been a fascinating game.

Brief Scores

Karnataka v Vidarbha, 2nd Semifinal

Vidarbha 1st innings: 185 all out in 61.4 overs

Karnataka 1st innings: 301 all out in 100.5 overs (Karun Nair 153, CM Gautam 73; Rajneesh Gurbani 5/94)

Vidarbha 2nd innings: 313 all out in 84.1 overs (Ganesh Satish 81, Aditya Sarwate 55; Vinay Kumar 3/71)

Karnataka 2nd innings: 111/7 in 43 overs (Karun Nair 30, Vinay Kumar 19*; Rajneesh Gurbani 4/35)