Ranji Trophy 2019 | Umesh Yadav carries Vidarbha to final; Ronit More keeps things interesting for Karnataka

01/25/2019

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Umesh Yadav continued his marauding run on Day 2 of the match claiming 12 wickets to bundle out Kerala for 91 runs this time and lead Vidarbha to a second consecutive final. In other game, Saurashtra failed to exploit Karnataka’s batting fumble as Ronit More starred for the home side.

Vidarbha vs Kerala

Brief scores: Kerala 106 (Vishnu Vinod 37; Umesh Yadav 7/48) & 91/10 (Arun Karthik 36; Umesh 5/31) lost to Vidarbha 208 (Faiz Fazal 75; Sandeep Warrier 5/57) by an innings and 11 runs.

After posting 208 runs in the second innings, Vidarbha was always expected to be in the driver's seat. Despite having a slim lead of 102 runs, Kerala’s first innings batting performance had given Vidarbha enough confidence to go for the kill in the second innings. And that is exactly how the match panned out. Kerala looked to have understood the game this time around as Arun Karthik was seen in good touch and connecting the sweet spot often.

However, all hell broke loose as soon as star batsman Jalaj Saxena returned back to the pavilion after making just seven runs. Though Vishnu Vinod and Karthuk managed to take the team past 50, the calamity was waiting to happen. And as soon as Vishnu fell, Kerala moved from 59/1 to 66/7. Apart from Simon Joseph, no one even managed to get into double figures after Karthik left the field making a 33-ball 36. The star of the match was surely Yadav, who took five wickets this time, giving away 31 runs after his heroic 7/48 in the first innings.

All the bowling shenanigans totally hid Kerala’s batting shortcomings earlier in the day who had started at 171/5. They could add just 37 runs before their lower order gave away to Sandeep Warrier’s masterful bowling who completed a five-wicket haul, while Basil Thampi picked up three.

Karnataka vs Saurashtra

Brief scores: Karnataka 275/10 (Shreyas Gopal 87; Jaydev Unadkat 4-56) lead Saurashtra 227/7 (Sheldon Jackson 46; Ronit More 5-54) by 48 runs.

The day started with Karnataka reduced to their bare bones as they took the pitch at 264/9. As expected, they were soon bundled out after adding just 11 runs at 274, looking to limit Saurashtra from having a huge lead. However, to their early disappointment, Snell Patel and Harvik Desai got off to a decent start before Ronit More scalped off Desai reducing Karnataka to 45/1. It was followed by a brief scare as Vishvaraj Jadeja could add just five more runs before More struck again. But just when a collapse was in sight, in came Cheteshwar Pujara to Saurashtra’s rescue.

He was evidently struggling to make runs as he could make just one run off his first 18 balls and he also needed a huge help from the umpire, who turned a deaf ear to his loud edge behind the wicket, to get back into his groove. He went on to forge a 47-run partnership with Desai before the latter fell prey to More, again. Karnataka were soon running out of options and Sheldon Jackson's moderately aggressive play alongside Pujara steadied the ship for the visitors. However, before the day ended, both the set batsmen returned to the pavilion.

To further compound their pressure, lower order batsmen Prerak Mankad and Kamlesh Makvana could add only one run to the account before losing their wickets as Saurashtra ended on 227 for 7, still trailing by 48.

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