Spinner Kumar Karthikeya set a trap around Punjab’s batsmen with his scintillating bowling performance as Madhya Pradesh entered the Ranji Trophy semi-finals with a 10-wicket win here on Thursday.
Karthikeya scored 6 for 50 as his second best bowling in first-class cricket, with another spinner Saransh Jain taking 4 for 100 in the second innings, while Punjab scored 203 in the second innings.
Punjab resumed the game on the fourth day at 120 for 5, still 58 ahead of their opponent forcing them to bat again.
After failing once again from the top-order, wicket-keeper batsmen Anmol Malhotra (34) and Siddharth Kaul (31) started the day cautiously and steady, and it looked like the pair could help Punjab take a respectable lead. Will help
However, after briefly getting Jain critical breakthrough, Kaul’s patient performance with the bat soon came to an end – the former was stumped by MP keeper Himanshu Mantri – with the latter running out at midwicket and attempting to catch the latter. After.
Jain’s dismissal triggered a rapid fall of wickets and helped MP consolidate his peculiar grip on the match, with Malhotra and Sanvir Singh (0) both departing soon after, brilliant bowling performance by Karthikeya. Courtesy.
With nothing to lose, it was Mayank Markande (33) who batted with freedom, hitting one four and three sixes to take the MP bowlers to the cleaners.
But Markande’s lone fight did not prove enough as Jain picked up the wickets of both Vinay Choudhary (2) and Baltej Singh (6) to end Punjab’s innings.
With just 26 runs chased down, MP openers Himanshu Mantri (9 not out) and Yash Dubey (17) chased down the target in just 5.1 overs without any fuss, helping their team reach the last four of the elite domestic event. Helped to create a comfortable space. ,
Brief Scores:
Punjab: 219 and 203 (Anmolpreet Singh 31, Mayank Markande 33; Kumar Karthikeya 6 for 50).
Madhya Pradesh: 397 and 26 for 0 (Shubham Sharma 102, Himanshu Mantri 89, Rajat Patidar 85, Akshat Raghuvanshi 69; Vinay Choudhary, 5/83).
m. State won by 10 wickets
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