RANJI TROPHY, 2017-18

Live Cricket Score - Ranji Trophy 2017-18, semifinals, Day 3

by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on

Karun compiled a brilliant unbeaten 148 on Day 2 © AFP

Delhi reach summit clash

Bengal have been nipped out for 86 to hurtle to a heavy innings and 26 runs defeat. Sudip Chatterjee top-scored with 21. Only four other batsmen reached double-digit scores.

Hence, the 7-time champions, Delhi have progressed to the summit clash! They last won the championship in 2008. They will meet either Vidarbha or Karnataka in the final. Can they win the coveted championship? One has to wait and watch.

Vidarbha vs Karnataka - stumps

Stumps have been drawn with Vidarbha 79 in front. Earlier, bad light had stopped play in the final session. Satish's brisk 71 has given Vidarbha a chance of bouncing back and eking out a historic. win. Aravind picked up a couple of scalps in the second essay, but the bowling was largely below par. Binny, in particular, bowled too many half volleys.

Bengal vs Delhi - Major collapse

The sorry tale for Bengal continues as they are now 65 for 8! Monumental collapse this. Navdeep Saini picks up his fourth scalp by dismissing Amit.

Vidarbha vs Karnataka

With the Vidarbha-Karnataka match tantalisingly poised, umpires decided to stop play due to bad light. Satish was batting on 71 and the lead was 79.

Bengal in tatters

Meanwhile, Kulwant Khejroliya, the left-arm pacer, castled Easwaran for 13 in the Bengal versus Delhi game. Bengal then lost the key scalp of Sudip Chatterjee to slip further to 35 for 3.

It turned into a major collapse as Writtick Chatterjee was run out on the back of a terrible mix-up with the captain Tiwary. The Bengal skipper wanted to steal another run via the overthrow. His partner wasn't interested. He had even yelled 'no'. But Tiwary continued to run and both batsmen ended up at the same end. Chatterjee sacrificed his wicket! Oh, Bengal in tatters at 39 for 4.

Vidarbha vs Karnataka

Wankhade cracked drives, pulls and flicks while Satish too continued to pile on the runs. But just in the nick of time, Aravind tempted Wankhade to drive and he could only drive it to Vinay at covers. He just lost concentration at the wrong time.

Satish, however, soon reached his fifty with a delightful punch off the back foot. Nice way to get to your fifty. At the break, Vidarbha were 174 for 4, lead by 58. Good session for them as they collected 116 runs at a good pace.

Delhi vs Bengal, Vidarbha vs Karnataka

Fine comeback by Shami as he picked up a six-fer. It also helped Bengal to bundle out Delhi for 398, lead by 112. Bengal have bounced back quite impressively as at 232 for 0, Delhi seemed set to notch up 500. However, with a lead of over 100, the Delhi think tank would be pleased.

Toakes then bagged the crucial scalp of Raman to reduce Bengal to 6 for 1 in the second innings.

Meanwhile, Satish (35 not out) is enjoying his stay against his former team Karnataka. Satish and Wankhade have shared an unbeaten stand of 52 in just 65 balls to pilot Vidarbha to 114 for 3, trailing by just 2. The pair would have lifted the camp.

Shami strikes for Bengal

Meanwhile, Shami has bagged his fourth scalp by dismissing Himmat Singh for a crucial 60. Delhi, though, now lead Bengal by a sizeable 98 runs.

Shami then was on a hat-trick as he also sent Saini back to the hut the very next ball. Vikas Mishra, however, survived the hat-trick ball. It was just inches away from clipping the off-stump! Shami now has a five-wicket haul.

Aravind succeeds...

Try and try again until you succeed. The mantra for Aravind. Right after the break, Aravind trapped Jaffer in front with a similar delivery to the one he had bowled break Lunch. It came in with the angle to strike Jaffer on the pads. This time around, the umpire raised his finger. Decisive blow.

Delhi vs Bengal - Lunch break

Himmat Singh, who cracked a fine fifty in the last game versus MP, is again shoring up Delhi's line-up after they lost the plot early on in the day. The 21-year-old composed a fluent 54 not out to propel Delhi to 378 for 6, in front by 92 at the Break. Tokas, who was dropped on five, is giving him company.

At the start of the day, Shami and Dinda had removed Rana and Pant before Shami dislodged Manan Sharma for 34 to raise hopes of Bengal bouncing back.

Vidarbha vs Karnataka - Lunch break

On the brink of Lunch, Jaffer survived a very close LBW shout, with Aravind pleading for it to be given out. To me, that looked out as from round the wicket, it pitched in line and would have likely hit middle and off.

Satish, who has played and led Karnataka, looked in decent touch and was batting on 9 at Lunch. Vidarbha were 58 for 2, still trailing by 58.

Vidarbha lose openers

Just when Ramaswamy (17) and Jaffer were stitching a vital stand for the 2nd wicket, the former fell to Binny. Binny bowled in that one square foot window outside the off-stump, extracted a hint of movement to produce the edge. Lovely channel from Binny.

There is enough moisture in the wicket for the seamers to exploit it to their advantage.

Delhi recover after early wobble

Delhi have progressed to 353 for 6. There was an early wobble with Shami and Dinda picking up the scalps of Rana and Pant with the score reading 281 for 5. At that time, they weren't even in the lead. Rana, though, would feel hard done by as the ball was clearly not pitching in line.

However, Himmat Singh (32 not out) showed the resolve to handle the experienced pace duo and propel the North Zone side to a lead of over 50. Manan Sharma rode his luck a bit before falling to a short ball from Shami.

Bengal, on the other hand, would rue the fact that Tokas was dropped off Amit on five.

Karnataka earn lead of 116

Vidarbha have done well to bowl out Karnataka for 301. Umesh picked up both the wickets to fall on Day 3. Karun top-scored with a superb 153 before he fell to Umesh, with Wadkar pouching the catch. Gurbani bowled with penetration by generating swing and extracting seam movement to snare a five-wicket haul.

By bundling out Karnataka early on in the day, Vidarbha have given themselves a slim chance of bouncing back. They trail by 116 runs. At the start of the day, light rain had delayed the proceedings.

Oh, no. Vidarbha have lost their captain and man in form, Fazal, for zero. Huge blow for them. The ever-persistent Vinay got one to jag back off the seam to trap him in front of the stumps.

Karnataka vs Vidarbha - Rain delays start of play

Unfortunately, the start of Day 3 at Eden has been delayed due to light rain. The pitch and outfield have been covered as of now but on a bright note, it seems to be a passing shower.

Build Up

At the historic Eden Gardens, on a track that assisted pacers, Karun Nair played a splendid knock, showcasing supreme balance and eye-catching shots to remain undefeated on 148 and pilot Karnataka to a lead of 109 over Vidarbha in the first semifinal. CM Gautam made a valuable 73 and Vinay, down the order, composed a crucial hand of 20* to give Karun some much needed support.

Rajneesh Gurbani bowled incisively, generating decent pace and moving the ball in the air and off the seam to bag a five-fer. However, Umesh Yadav, the India pacer, was a tad below par and finished with two wickets. Vidarbha need to wrap up the innings quickly on Day 3 and hope to bat much better in the second essay.

Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir (127) and Kunal Chandela (113) essayed a brilliant stand of 232 for the opening wicket to put Delhi in pole position versus Bengal in the other semifinal in Pune. The North Zone side ended Day 2 at 271 for 3 in their first essay, behind by just 15 runs.

On the brink of stumps, Shami dislodged Gambhir to give Bengal slim hopes of making a comeback. Shami, however, didn't exactly have a great day, going for 83 runs and snaring that lone scalp of Gambhir.

As there is a bit of time for the start of day's play, you can enjoy this excellent interview with Mayank Agarwal

You can also share your views via the Twitter handle @fancricket12

© Cricbuzz

TAGS

RELATED STORIES