Vasavada holds nerve to haul Saurashtra into final

Posted By on February 12, 2023

Saurashtra 527 (Vasavada 202, Jackson 160, Kaverappa 5-83) and 117-6 (Vasavada 47*, Koushik 3-32, Gowtham 3-38) beat Karnataka 407 (Agarwal 249, Sakariya 3-73) and 234 (Jose 109, Sakariya 4-45) by four wickets

Saurashtra are fast establishing themselves as one of the most consistent domestic teams. Next week in Kolkata, they will have an opportunity to add the Ranji crown to their trophy cabinet, alongside the Vijay Hazare Trophy they won in December.

A third Ranji final appearance in four seasons was confirmed late on the final day in Bengaluru, when Arpit Vasavada, their stand-in captain, stood tall amid carnage at the other end as Karnataka made a late pitch to upset the visitors.
Defending a mere 114, Saurashtra stumbled to 42 for 5 with K Gowtham, the offspinner, picking up three wickets – all lbws. On each occasion, the ball spun sharply and kept a tad low to beat the batter’s defence. And just like that, a surface that had played very well all along sprung to life to add another layer of intrigue to the clash.
Just when it looked as if Karnataka had the upper hand, Saurashtra pulled off a masterstroke. Out came Chetan Sakariya, their designated No. 10, to try and disturb the bowlers’ rhythm. With no first-class half-century to his credit and a highest of 45, it’s fair to say Sakariya wasn’t asked to just try and survive.

Soon enough, it was clear he was asked to try and attack. Sakariya, who picked up four second-innings wickets to help bowl out Karnataka for 234, used the slog sweep to good effect as he walloped Gowtham against the turn for two massive sixes over deep midwicket. Shreyas Gopal, the legspinner, wasn’t spared either as Sakariya sent him to the second tier. Suddenly, nerves gave way to a sense of freedom as Saurashtra started whittling down the runs.

Sakariya made 24 in his partnership of 63 with Vasavada. When he fell to V Koushik, Saurashtra were within nine runs of victory that was sealed when Prerak Mankad hit a boundary in the 35th over of their innings, much to the delight of the entire team that sprinted onto the field.

At the other end, Vasavada, who stonewalled his way to 202 in the first innings, stood triumphant on an unbeaten 47, wiping beads of sweat and embracing his teammates in a warm hug. Saurashtra had just beaten the favourites yet again to set up another date with Bengal, the team they’d beaten in the final in 2019-20 to seal their maiden title.

That Karnataka gave themselves a chance to make a spirited defence was courtesy a fine century from rookie Nikin Jose. The 22-year-old, who has been a constant feature for the team in every match in the middle order, raised his maiden first-class hundred, a 161-ball 109. There were also contributions from Mayank Agarwal (55) and then lower down the order from Gowtham (23) and Vyshak Vijaykumar (20).

Those runs gave Karnataka a fighting chance, but once again – as has been the case for a while now – it was a case of being so near yet so far.

Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Source: ESPN Crickinfo

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