Press Trust of India
Bangalore/Kolkata, Feb 28: Defending champion Karnataka showed no mercy to the superior of the tournament, defeating 40-time champions Mumbai by 112 runs to enter the final of Ranji Trophy cricket tournament here, Saturday.
Resuming at 277 for six today, Mumbai’s hopes of making a miracle vanished after lower order batsmen Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Shardul Thakur were removed by pacer Abhimanyu Mithun (4/69) and leggie Shreyas Gopal (2/68) respectively. Karnataka completed formality after overnight batsmen Siddhesh Lad (74, 143b, 8×4, 1×6) was caught by Uthappa off Aravind.
After scoring a decisive 89 in the second innings, Abhimanyu Mithun turned out to be the star performer for Karnataka as he picked up four wickets to collapse Mumbai innings. India discard Karnataka captain R Vinay Kumar, who was adjudged the Man-of-the-Match for his six for 20 effort that helped Karnataka skittle Mumbai 44 all out in their first innings, praised his team-mates for delivering at right occasions. “We have shown that we can bat till No.11 and I am happy with the attitude we showed despite being all out for 202 in the first innings,” stated the winning captain.
Karnataka will meet winner of the Tamilnadu Maharashtra match which is scheduled 8-12 March at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Maharashtra looking for lead
Meanwhile, centuries from overnight batsmen Swapnil Gugale (154, 282b, 28×4) and Chirag Khurana (125, 241b, 13×4) kept Maharashtra in the hunt against a wary Tamil Nadu in the another semifinal at Eden Gardens, Kolkata Saturday.
Resuming the day 439 runs behind, Gugale and Khurana added 270 for the second wicket to curtail the deficit. Ankeet Bawne, unbeaten on (47, 95b 9×4), and captain Rohit Motwani (4 batting) were in the middle at stumps. Maharashtra still needs 155 runs to take a first innings lead with half of the side remaining to bat.
