Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 25 (ANI): Tamil Nadu qualified for the semifinal of the Ranji Trophy following a superb all-round show by skipper and India international Sai Kishore, helping them beat Saurashtra in the quarterfinal at Coimbatore on Sunday.
Saurashtra elected to bat first after winning the toss but were bundled out for just 183 in their first innings. Wicketkeeper-batter Harvik Desai (83 in 185 balls, with 10 fours and a six) held the innings together with a gritty half-century while wickets fell at the other end.
Prerak Mankad (35), Arpit Vasavada (25) and Sheldon Jackson (22) also posted valuable knocks but their efforts couldn’t take the defending Ranji champions past the 200-run mark.
Out-of-favour Indian red-ball stalwart Cheteshwar Pujara fell for just 2 runs.
Sai was the pick of the bowlers for Tamil Nadu with 5/66 of 32.5 overs while Ajith Ram (3/56) and Sandeep Warrier (2/41) also came up with notable contributions with the ball.
Tamil Nadu secured a 155-run first-innings lead after piling up 338/10 of 119.4 overs. Half-centuries from the seasoned Baba Indrajith (80 in 139 balls, with six fours and a six), Boopathi Kumar (65 in 134 balls, with 11 fours) and Sai (60 in 144 balls, with six fours and three sixes) powered TN to a sizeable lead.
Chirag Jani (3/22), Jaydev Unadkat (2/57) and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (2/90) were among the wicket-takers for Saurashtra.
However, the two-time Ranji champions imploded in the second innings as TN bowlers stifled scoring and did not let their batters develop big partnerships. Pujara top-scored with a valiant 46 in 170 balls, with five fours, but got little support at the other end, with Kevin Jivrajani (27) and Arpit Vasavada (20) being the only other batters to have recorded double figures.
Saurashtra were eventually bowled out for 122, losing the match by an innings and 33 runs.
The India veteran, Pujara, couldn’t for his failure in the first innings.
Kishore (4/27) was once again the pick of the bowlers for the southern giants while speedster Warrier (3/18) and Ajith Ram (2/18) gave him able support. (ANI)
