Ranji Trophy 2022-23: Bengal sets up title clash with Saurashtra

Indore: Left-arm spinner Pradipta Pramanik's brilliant fifer (5/51) led Bengal to the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 final with a massive 306-run win over defending champions Madhya Pradesh in the second semi-final at Holkar Cricket Stadium, here on Sunday.

Chasing a mammoth target of 548, Madhya Pradesh could only score 241 in their second innings.

With this, Bengal also avenged last season's semi-final loss to MP. They will now face Saurashtra in the summit clash on February 16 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Since MP was chasing a big total, most of their batters looked to play with positive intent on the final day. However, in the process, they ended up losing wickets at regular intervals.

Rajat Patidar was the top-scorer for the side with a 58-ball 52 while no other MP batter passed the 50-run mark. The likes of Yash Dubey and Anubhav Agarwal scored 30 each. On the other hand, Mukesh Kumar, Shahbaz Ahmed and Akash Deep provided support to Pramanik by chipping in with crucial wickets.

Earlier, Anustup Majumdar and Sudip Gharami scored hundreds in the first innings to lay the foundation for Bengal's win. Akash then ripped through MP's batting order to bag a five-for as Bengal gained the crucial first innings lead of 268.

In their second innings, Bengal scored 279, leaving MP with an improbable target to chase on the last day.

In the first semifinal match, Arpit Vasavada, fter his brilliant double-century in the first innings, followed up his with a vital unbeaten 47 to guide Saurashtra to the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 final with a four-wicket win over Karnataka

Vasavada's knock helped Saurashtra chase down the target of 115 in the 35th over.

With spinner Krishnappa Gowtham running through Saurashtra's batting order by removing Sheldon Jackson, Vishvaraj Jadeja and Chirag Jani, Saurashtra were struggling at 42 for 5. But, Chetan Sakariya scored a crucial 47-ball 24 and also stitched a key partnership of 63 runs with Vasavada to almost seal the win for his team.

Semifinals Brief scores:

Karnataka 407 (Mayank Agarwal 249; Chetan Sakariya 3-73) and 234 (Nikin Jose 109, Mayank Agarwal 55; Chetan Sakariya 4-45) lost to Saurashtra 527 (Arpit Vasavada 202, Sheldon Jackson 160; Vidwath Kaverappa 5-82) and 117/6 (Arpit Vasavada 47 not out; V Koushik 3-32, K Gowtham 3-38) by four wickets.

Bengal 438 (Anustup Majumdar 120, Sudip Gharami 112; Kumar Kartikeya 3/95) & 279 (Anustup Majumdar 80; Saransh Jain 6-103) beat Madhya Pradesh 170 (Saransh Jain 65; Akash Deep 5-42) & 241 (Rajat Patidar 52; Pradipta Pramanik 5-51) by 306 runs.