Ranji Trophy: Baroda-Karnataka match evenly poised
By IANSMonday, January 3, 2011
VADODARA - Murtuja Vahora claimed five wickets as Baroda shot out Karnataka for 107 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal here Monday. But Karnataka came back strongly, reducing Baroda to 133 for eight.
Vahora took five wickets for 34 runs while left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt took three as the strong Karnataka batting line-up succumbed in just 44.2 overs.
Veteran Sunil Joshi then triggered the Baroda collapse, taking four for 46. Abhimanyu Mithun got two wickets while R.Vinay Kumar and S.Aravind got one wicket each.
Baroda has taken a 26-run first innings lead with Pinal Shah (72) and Ajitesh Argal (0) at crease.
Karnataka were in dire straits when Vahora took two wickets in the seventh over to leave them at four for eight.
Stuart Binny (27) and Muralidharen Gautam (28) held fort for sometime to take the score past 100.
In the other semifinal at Jaipur, Akash Chopra struck a century as Rajasthan, who are high on confidence having beaten champions Mumbai in the quarterfinals, reached 236 for one at stumps against Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu captain Dinesh Karthik put Rajasthan in to bat, giving a chance to his bowlers to take advantage of cold morning conditions.
Chopra (115) and Vineet Saxena (72),however, stood solid and brought up 181 runs for the opening stand.
Laxmipathy Balaji bowled well and looked like taking wickets, but Chopra, who is well versed in the art of tackling the new ball, played with patience showing discerning judgement to leave the ball.
Chopra played 252 balls and hit 13 fours to occupy the crase for the entire day. Saxena’s 72 came in 204 balls and included nine fours and one six.
Hrishikesh Kanitkar was unbeaten at 28.
Chopra played 252 balls and hit 13 fours to occupy the crease for the entire day. Saxena’s 72 came in 204 balls and included nine fours and one six.
Hrishikesh Kanitkar was unbeaten at 28.
