Saurashtra sealed their berth in the final clash of the Ranji Trophy for the fifth time in the history of the tournament. They defeated Karnataka by four wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.
Saurashtra skipper Arpit Vasavada played brilliant knocks in both innings to guide his team to victory. He smashed a match-altering double century in the first innings and played another knock of unbeaten 47 just when the Karnataka bowlers had reduced the team to 42/5 in the second innings.
With Karnataka looking poised to defend a 100-plus total and Krishnappa Gowtham (3/38) and Vasuki Koushik (3/32) on fire, Vasavada remained calm to guide his side to a hard-fought win in 34.2 overs.
Karnataka, whose first innings had folded up at 407 after which Saurashtra slammed 527 to take the crucial first-innings lead, started day five at 123/4. Nikin Jose shared a century partnership with captain Mayank Agarwal and led his team to 114. However, Karnataka's second innings wound up at 234 in 58.2 overs.
Chetan Sakariya did the maximum damage returning with figures of 4/49 in 11 overs, while Saurashtra's veteran left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja registered a four-wicket haul.
Vasavada and new batter Prerak Mankad (7 not out) ensured no more hiccups as Saurashtra set up a title clash with Bengal. Vasavada was adjudged "Player of the Match" for scoring 202 off 406 balls in the first innings and a match-winning 51-ball 47 under pressure in difficult circumstances in the second innings.
Team Saurashtra will face Bengal in the final clash starting on the 16th of February. The previous time these two teams faced each other in a Ranji final was back in the 2019-2020 edition. Saurashtra had won the tournament and finished as champions, while Bengal had finished second best.
