Ranji Trophy, Gujarat edge past Karnataka in a thriller: Stats
In a thrilling encounter, Gujarat snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Karnataka in the 2024 Ranji Trophy. The Gujarat bowlers, especially Siddharth Desai, ran through the Karnataka line-up in the second innings and guided the hosts to a six-run victory. After beating Tamil Nadu by a big margin, Gujarat dramatically edged past Karnataka. Here are the key stats.
A look at the match summary
Gujarat posted 264 in the first innings thanks to fifties from Kshitij Patel and Umang Kumar. V Koushik claimed 4/49. In reply, Karnataka reached 374 courtesy of Mayank Agarwal's century and Manish Pandey's 88. In the second innings, Manan Hingrajia and Umang slammed fifties, but they folded for 219. Chasing 110, Karnataka were shockingly bundled out for 103 as Desai starred with 7/42.
A valiant knock from Kshitij Patel
Kshitij came to the crease when Gujarat were 27/3, and soon they got reduced to 45/4. He stitched a 157-run partnership with Umang thereafter, bringing some stability to the Gujarat innings. He hammered 11 boundaries for his 95 in a gritty knock. However, he fell five runs short of his maiden First-Class century. Overall, he owns 226 runs in FC cricket.
Twin fifties for Umang Kumar
Umang was exceptional in the preceding game for Gujarat where he slammed two fifties in either innings. He repeated that feat for the second consecutive game as he scored 72 and 57 against Karnataka in both the innings respectively. He supported Kshitij brilliantly in the first innings before smoking another fifty in the second innings. Umang has raced to 521 runs in FC cricket.
A fiery spell from Koushik
It was a brilliant start for Karnataka with the ball as Koushik and Prasidh Krishna bowled in tandem. Koushik removed Het Patel first before dismissing Sunpreet Bagga. He later returned to clean up the tail, removing Rinkesh Vaghela and Arzan Nagwaswalla. He finished with 4/49 before he scalped three wickets in the second innings. Koushik has claimed 56 wickets in 11 First-Class matches.
A captain's knock from Agarwal
Agarwal was brilliant for Karnataka as he added a 172-run partnership with Ravikumar Samarth. He slammed 17 boundaries and a solitary six. Karnataka captain looked all set to score a big hundred but was eventually dismissed by Chintan Gaja right after Samarth returned to the pavilion. Notably, it was Agarwal's 16th First-Class century while amassing 7,248 runs from 96 matches.
Samarth played a fine knock
Samarth supported Agarwal brilliantly during his 60-run knock from 108 deliveries. He hammered seven boundaries and kept the scoreboard ticking. However, he was dismissed by Desai, which broke the momentum for Karnataka. The 30-year-old has compiled 5,228, slamming his 27th FC fifty (100s: 13)
Manish Pandey looked in complete control
After slamming a century in the preceding match, Pandey was close to adding another to his tally. He scored 88 runs which was studded with eight boundaries and two maximums. The veteran batter added 60 runs with Shubhang Hegde before stitching a 50-run partnership with Sujay Sateri. He was eventually dismissed by Vaghela. Pandey has amassed 7,572 runs, slamming his 30th FC fifty.
Gaja was the pick of the Gujarat bowlers
In the first innings, Gaja was the star bowler for Gujarat, scalping 3/65, which included wickets of Agarwal, Hegde, and Vyshak Vijaykumar. He has raced to 167 First-Class wickets. Desai returned with 2/113 while Vaghela claimed 2/95. While Vaghela has scalped 10 wickets in two FC matches, Desai has amassed 124 FC wickets for Gujarat in 27 matches.
Hingrajia has maintained his fine form
Hingrajia slammed a fine fifty in the second innings, which was crucial for Gujarat. He stitched a 57-run partnership with Kshitij before adding 36 runs with Umang. Hingrajia registered his fifth FC fifty. He owns 598 runs from 10 matches in this format (100: 1).
A match-winning spell from Desai
While Karnataka needed only 110 runs to win the match, many thought it would be a cakewalk for Agarawal's men. But Desai had other ideas as he finished with 7/42 and bowled out Karnataka for 103. He removed Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, Nikin Jose, Pandey, Sateri, Vyshak and Rohit Kumar to bundle out Karnataka. It was his 11th First-Class fifer as he owns 124 wickets.
