Umesh’s best figures destroy Kerala
WAYANAD: Umesh Yadav destroyed Kerala with a fiery spell, picking up seven wickets as Vidarbha took control on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final at the Krishnagiri stadium here on Thursday.
The defending champion reached 171 for 5 in 45 overs after winning the toss and bundling out Kerala for 106 in the first innings. Umesh, part of the India team that won the Test series in Australia recently, ran through the hosts batting line-up, taking a personal best 7 for 48 to skittle out Kerala in just 28.4 overs. Just three of the Kerala batsmen could reach double figures.
On a pitch which was on the bouncier side, the burly pacemen posed Kerala batsmen a lot of trouble and was ably assisted by Rajneesh Gurbani (3 for 38), the star of Vidarbha’s maiden Ranji triumph last season. Brief scores: Kerala 106 all out (Umesh Yadav 7 for 48) vs Vidarbha 171 for 5 in 45 overs (Faiz Fazal 75, Wasim Jaffer 34)
KARNATAKA STRUGGLE AGAINST SAURASHTRA
BENGALURU: There were three attractive half-centuries but a top and lower-middle order collapse saw hosts Karnataka manage a below-par 264 for 9 against Saurashtra on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final on Thursday.
After being reduced to 30 for 4 within the first hour, half-centuries from skipper Manish Pandey (62 off 67 balls), Shreyas Gopal (87 off 182) and wicketkeeper S Sharath (74 batting off 177 balls) took Karnataka to a score of 232 for 5 before they again lost wickets in a heap — four for 26 runs.
Skipper Jaydev Unadkat took 4/50 and Kamlesh Makvana took
3/73.
Unadkat took four of the first five wickets. He pitched the ball up and moved it both ways troubling the batsmen early in the morning session.
Brief scores Karnataka 264/9 in 90 overs (Manish Pandey 62, Mayank Agarwal 2, Shreyas Gopal 87, Srinivas Sharath 74*, Jaydev Unadkat 4/50, Kamlesh Makvana 3/73).