Ranji Trophy 2012-13, Quarter-finals, Day 4

4.15pm - It's all over @ Siddarth Monga, Now Final Day (5th day) is not required for result for all 3 matches

25-Feb-2013

4.15pm - It's all over

@ Siddarth Monga, Now Final Day (5th day) is not required for result for all 3 matches. They can stop today itself no.

Gajanan TP, I don't know about the play, but I am stopping this blog now itself. Saurashtra lead by 493, Mumbai by 527, and Punjab have eight wickets in hand with a three-run lead. I don't see declarations coming, I see a lot of "nets" out in the middle, but I don't blame the teams either. The format is such that there is no incentive to put your bowlers back in the sun. I am disappointed the first set of knockout matches didn't match up to the excitement of the league stages, but it was not totally unexpected either. Anyway, thanks for being with us throughout the season. This blog is done for, for this season, that is. It was great fun bringing the Ranji Trophy league stages to you. It's going to be Punjab v Saurashtra and Mumbai v Services in the semis. We will be bringing those as well, but not in the form of this blog. Cheers

Saurashtra (toss) 469 (Vasavada 152*, Jackson 83) and 420 for 3 (Pujara 230*, Jogiyani 70) lead Karnataka 396 (Pandey 177, Uthappa 60, Makvana 3-91) by 493 in Rajkot

Mumbai (toss) 645 for 9 decl. (Jaffer 150, Nayar 132, Tendulkar 108, Tare 64) and 153 for 1 lead Baroda 271 (Rayudu 89*) by 527 in Mumbai

Punjab 404 for 2 (Taruwar Kohli 143*, Jiwanjot 131) lead Jharkhand (toss) 401 (Jaggi 132, Nemat 100, Ladda 4-118) by 3 in Jamshedpur

4.10pm - Amol Karhadkar in Jamshedpur

And Punjab have assured themselves of a showdown with Saurashtra in the semis. Taruwar Kohli pulls Shahbaz Nadeem for a one-bounced boundary off the first ball after the last drinks break of the day to take Punjab's tally to 404 for 2.

@Siddarth Monga: What will be the semiFinal Line up?

Naval, in all likelihood it will be Mumbai v Services in Delhi and Saurashtra v Punjab in Rajkot, but let's wait for the official word from BCCI on the venues. From my understanding, the venues alternate between home and away. So if you last played your future opponent at home, your next game against them will be away

3.45pm - Second double-century for Pujara Says Sid Ravindran: "Double-century for Pujara. 'Shabaash Chintu,' shout the few dozen spectators at the ground. Pujara tried to get to his landmark with a shot he hasn't attempted all innings, a reverse-sweep, but he couldn't connect properly. There was some advice from the dressing room to play cautiously, he acknowledged it and tucked the next ball towards backward square leg to get his second consecutive second-innings double-century. Saurashtra 382/3 in 79th over"

"Totally toying with the bowlers, Pujara plays three successive reverse-sweeps against KP Appanna, and Amit Verma is serving up half-tracker that are sitting up for the batsmen to dispatch wherever they want on the leg side"

3.20pm - Amol Karhadkar from Jamshedpur

The Punjab batsmen have decided to change gears. If Mandeep Singh's twin boundaries off SS Rao in the third over of the session was a a start, Taruwar Kohli sealed it with a six over long-on off Sunny Gupta in the next over. 357 for 2

2.40pm - Tea Mumbai are having a net in the middle, and have reached 90 for 1 in 29 overs, a lead of 464, and I don't see a declaration coming, and I don't blame Mumbai for it. Where is the incentive for winning outright, which will mean poor overworked bowlers out in the sun again?

Punjab have cruised to 341 for 2 by tea, and need another 61 to make it to the semi-final

And in Rajkot, this is how Siddarth Ravindran sums it: "Another session of dominance for Saurashtra comes to an end. Finishes on an appropriate note as KP Appanna casually saunters after the ball without realising the batsman wanted the second. Should have only been one, a chorus of Karnataka fielders shout at Appanna to hurry but he can't prevent the second. Glares from plenty in the Karnataka camp. Saurashtra 320 for 3"

2.35pm - Hundred for Taruwar Kohli Says Amol Karhadkar: "And Taruwal Kohli - playing his first game of the season - sweeps Nadeem behind square leg for a boundary to raise his hundred. It has been a real grind for him. 103 not out, 289b, 12x4. Punjab 338 for 2

2.30pm - Siddarth Ravindran in Rajkot

150 comes up for Pujara. 'Ho hum,' his expression says. A half-hearted raise of the bat is all he does to acknowledge the milestone

"@Siddarth Monga : Will there be live blogs for the Vijay Hazare ODI tournament & the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament?"

No, Nithin. No other tournament in India has the same charm as the Ranji Trophy

2.20pm - Amol Karhadkar in Jamshedpur

Mandeep Singh reverse-sweeps Nadeem for a boundary to raise his fifty. Kohli, meanwhile, is on 98. Punjab 331 for 2

2.10pm - Siddarth Ravindran in Rajkot

Things going from bad to worse for Karnataka. Both Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey had spent time in the dressing room getting some treatment after limping around in the first session. Now Kunal Kapoor has been struck a painful blow on the leg while fielding at silly point and is rolling around in pain. The entire Karnataka team are in a huddle around him. Saurashtra 274/3 in 57 overs

1.35pm - Amol Karhadkar in Jamshedpur

As drinks are on the field, Punjab have closed in on Jharkhand's first innings lead. They are 292 for 2, 110 adrift of the magic mark of 402. Taruwar Kohli is marching towards his hundred, batting on 85.

1.30pm - Jaddu's Food Field Sid Ravindran from Rajkot: "Had a chance to visit Ravindra Jadeja’s restaurant in Rajkot a couple of evenings ago. Called Jaddu’s Food Field, it has a cricket theme. You are welcomed by a giant set of neon stumps on which the restaurant name is in giant neon lights, when you enter it is on a green mat designed to remind you of the outfield, and the two sections of the restaurant are divided by an old-school picket fence. On the walls there is an autographed bat, a Chennai Super Kings helmet and a set of pads, besides a stylised outline of Jadeja in his delivery stride. The menu’s tagline has a cricketing pun -"Catch eat" – it says. The restaurant serves a whole range of cuisines – Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Continental, North Indian – but all vegetarian, because as one of the staff members says, ‘If you serve meat at a hotel in Rajkot, 80% of the people will not turn up.’ I had some pasta, wasn’t too bad and can’t complain about the prices either. More pictures are there. This one of his autograph on glass, and this is what greets you at the entrance"

1.20pm - Siddarth Ravindran in Rajkot

Pujara being troubled a bit now by Sharath. A couple of short balls, Karnataka were certain Pujara helped it over to the diving wicketkeeper CM Gautam down the leg side, but the umpire wasn't. And the second one was uncomfortably kept out by Pujara. Clearly a strategy here against Pujara. Short ball from Mithun now, a pull down to fine leg, not off the middle of the bat, bit of a top edge.

Some thrilling cricket here in Rajkot, as Karnataka continue to try bouncing out Pujara, who has just hit three boundaries in this Sharath over. First a pull towards deep backward square leg, then a controlled glance off his chest to fine leg and finally an audacious upper cut over slips, the sort of shot Tendulkar popularised. Saurashtra gallop along to 244

You could say there is a tinge of excitement as we arrive at the hotel in Rajkot twitter.com/timbresnan/sta…
— Tim Bresnan (@timbresnan) January 9, 2013

1.10pm - Karnataka get a wicket, but too late? Jaydev Shah is dismissed, edging Sharath to the substitute Karun Nair at gully for 31. Saurashtra lead by 296

1pm - Hundred for Pujara Siddarth Ravindran again: Some terrible cricket from Karnataka. Pujara glances the ball down to fine leg for what should have been a single. Mithun fields and rifles in a throw towards the bowler's end. The bowler, Sharath, is completely uninterested in what is going on after the batsman played the shot, and it is only after his team-mates scream that he realises the throw is coming straight at him. He tries to evade it at the last moment, but it is off boot and rolls towards mid-off. The backing-up isn't great either, and Saurashtra sneak an overthrow.

And the hundred comes up for Pujara, guides the 111th ball he faces past a diving Rahul at slip. No dramatic celebration from Pujara. He scores Ranji hundreds whenever he wants. Just a calm wave of the bat after taking the helmet off. Saurashtra 218 for 2"

12.55pm - Siddarth Ravindran from Rajkot

Change of strategy from Karnataka after lunch. Quick bowler HS Sharath gets his first over of the innings, no relenting in the scoring though as Pujara cover-drives for four and then glides one down to the third-man boundary to bring up the 200

12.50pm - When a man's got to go... Amol Karhadkar from Jamshedpur: "Despite the sun blazing at Keenan, the air is chilly. And it has got to Taruwar Kohli it seems. The batsman sprints outside the fence and relieves himself in an empty stand. Mandeep, meanwhile, hydrates himself with a drink before his partner rejoins him in the middle."

12.45pm - Amol Karhadkar in Jamshedpur

Jharkhand are getting desperate for wickets now. After letting opener Akash Verma roll his arm over for a solitary over before lunch, Nadeem throws the ball to Manish Vardhan, a top-order batsman. Mandeep is happy to block him. Punjab 278 for 2

12.40pm - All over for Baroda Not only have Mumbai asked them to bowl again, Murtuja Vahora, Baroda's only bowler who troubled the batsman a bit, is injured and not on the field

12.25pm - Amol karhadkar in Jamshedpur

First ball after lunch. Loud lbw appeal as Mandeep Singh fails to take a big stride forward off Shahbaz Nadeem. But the umpire is unmoved. As are Punjab captain Harbhajan Singh and national selector Roger Binny who have been involved in a discussion for well over half an hour.

Noon - Lunch in Rajkot Saurashtra have raced to 195 in one session with 28 fours and two sixes. Forty overs bowled, but still they have gone at five an over, and have almost killed this off. Pujara unbeaten on 82 off 97. Saurashtra lead by 268 now. We will be back soon

11.51am - All over for Baroda Javed Khan has taken the two remaining wickets to leave Rayudu stranded on 89, and Baroda are bowled out for 271. Rayudu is not happy with the tail, but there is not much they could have done. Don't think there will be a follow-on, but we won't know because this is also lunch. However, I will be shocked if I see Baroda batting again today

11.35am - Pujara reaches fifty Pujara is taking Saurashtra towards the semis, and in the process warming up well for his ODI against England on Friday. Good for him that the match is in Rajkot itself. Saurashtra lead by 228 now, Pujara's fifty has come off just 67 balls

11.30am - Lunch in Jamshedpur Taruwar Kohli and Mandeep Singh keep the scoreboard moving as Punjab go into lunch at 259 for 2

In Mumbai, meanwhile, new ball has been taken in the 100th over. Baroda 247 for 8. Kulkarni to bowl

11.25am - Siddarth Ravindran from Rajkot

More trouble for Karnataka as Robin Uthappa is hobbling in the field, not able to chase a Jaydev Shah that runs away for four to take the lead past 200

11.20am - Mumbai get closer Ankeet Chavan has Ketul Patel stumped, and Mumbai are a step closer to the semi-final. They haven't taken the new ball yet, but if I am not mistaken they will have to take it at the end of 100 overs, a rule in Indian first-class cricket. Baroda 237 for 8, Rayudu 64 not out

Rayudu is batting very sensibly. Mumbai are clearly employing unfair and negative tactics against him.

Papi Reddy, negative or positive is subjective, but this is definitely not unfair

will mumbai enforce the follow-on.

Unlikely, Mani

11.10am - Siddarth Ravindran from Rajkot

Wearing track? Saurashtra 114 in 24 overs. It's all going wrong for Karnataka here. In the previous over from Gowtham, Jogiyani stepped down the track and lofted the ball towards long-on, where Mithun wasn't right on the rope, so the ball landed beyond him. Then an off-drive slipped through Stuart Binny's fingers at mid-off and rolled away for our. And on the last ball of the over, a rank short ball was powerfully swatted by Pujara, striking a painful blow to Kunal Kapoor at short leg

The Karnataka camp being pretty vocal here, with lots of encouragement for the bowlers, but the spinners have bowled pretty badly so far. Too short, or too much on the leg side. KP Appanna, K Gowtham and Amit Verma all averaging at least 50 this season

Hang on, just as I type that, Karnataka make a breakthrough. Gowtham removes Jogiyani, there was first an appeal for lbw and then a louder one for a catch as the ball lobbed towards Lokesh Rahul at slip.

Jogiyani, with 70 off 95, might well have ended this contest here

11.05am - Rayudu gets fifty Against over-the-stumps bowling bowling from left-arm spinners, Rayudu has attacked well, and got to his fifty with dance down the wicket and a pick-up over wide mid-on. Baroda 224 for 7

11am - Jharkhand get Jiwanjot now Says Amol Karhadkar: "What a ball! Nadeem sets up Jiwanjot nicely. He keeps on bowling the ones that are turning away from the opener. And then comes the arm ball. Jiwanjot shoulders arms only to see his middle stump uprooted. Jiwanjot scored 131 (250b, 19x4). Punjab 231 for 2"

So will there be ball-by-ball commentary for Semis and Finals?

Subramani, that's what we aiming for

Hi,I am a huge fan of Indian cricket and I follow your block religiously. Just read that this is the last match where the blog would be used. I dont know if you can change it but its a request if you can continue the blog till the finals, as we are at work and cant watch the match and also the score update is session by session. It has been a great time following your blog and once again request you to have the blog going till the finals. Thank You..

Alanwaz, we will cover those matches but the blog might not be the best way to do it. We need a certain minimum number of matches on to sustain this

10.40am - Saurashtra running towards semis Says Siddarth Ravindran: "Saurashtra are 86 for 1 in 18 overs, two more boundaries in this over from KP Appanna. The first was a lap sweep from Pujara - a shot he practised at the nets in the morning - and he played it so fine that it went and hit the sight screen. Then a leg-stump delivery is swept away behind square for four more and Appanna is left kicking the turf in disappointment"

10.38 - Dabholkar nearly has another Bowling over the stumps to Rayudu, the frustration seems to have worked, but Ajit Agarkar spills an easyish catch at short midwicket. Rayudu was 33 off 78 then. Baroda 202 for 7 now

10.35 - J'dawg going strong Says Amol Karhadkar: "A Jiwanjot cut through the vacant point boundary off Sunny Gupta, bowling round the wickets, takes the score to 203 for 1. Punjab are now less than 200 runs adrift. And then plays a leg glance to the fine leg fence helps Jiwanjot join CM Gautam in the 900-club for the season."

And soon Taruwar Kohli reaches his fifty too, with a square-cut off Nadeem

10.32am - Ankeet Chavan gets into the act in Mumbai New man Gagandeep Singh pushes hard at a length ball and gloves it to short leg. Baroda 191 for 7 now. Mumbai all but through to the semi. And I don't think they'll declare

10.30am - Siddarth Ravindran in Rajkot

A slog-sweep from Sagar Jogiyani sends the ball flying over the midwicket boundary and the umpire Hariharan signals a six with his signature roll of the arms. It’s the 15th over of the innings, gowtham bowling from round the wickets and on the pads is being taken for plenty. Too many deliveries on the leg stump, and he is either being helped along towards fine leg or swiped towards midwicket, as Jogiyani just did for four. 68 for 1 after 15 overs. Saurashtra running away with it. First ball of the next over, from Appanna, a bit of width and that is late cut for four more by Pujara.

10.20am - Another irresponsible shot from Baroda After hanging around for a bit, Pinal Shah has played a loose drive at a wide half-volley from left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar to be caught at gully. That just before the new ball will be available. Baroda haven't shown much smartness in this match. They are 188 for 6. New ball due in two overs

10.15am - Siddarth Ravindran in Rajkot

'Barthayide, barthayide' (It's coming, it's coming) - someone screams from the Karnataka dressing room as the two spinners keep it tight. Saurashtra 41 for 1, a lead of 114

The Saurashtra University campus has many grounds. Adjacent to the one where the Ranji match is taking place is the hockey ground, and there’s another one for football close by. And a two-minute walk from the ground is an empty space that is used for parasailing. A bunch of excited primary school kids are waiting for their turn to get in a parasail and soar in the air as they are towed by a "jeep" over a distance of about 100 yards. When in the air, the parachute isn’t too far behind the sight screen at the far end and I am hoping some batsman is distracted by it and we get to see "parasailing stops play" headlines

10.05am - Maidens near maidans In Mumbai, Rayudu and Pinal Shah are fighting grimly. They have just played out four successive maidens from Dabholkar and Kulkarni. Baroda 180 for 5. Rayudu 19 off 46, Shah 10 off 52. New ball due in seven overs

9.55am - Appanna strikes As I said earlier, we definitely can't count Karnataka out yet. Over to Siddarth Ravindran in Rajkot: "Karnataka get the early breakthrough. Shitanshu Kotak has been dismissed in what could be his last first-class innings if Saurashtra fail to make the semi-final. He has nicked Appanna behind for 7 and Saurashtra are 26 for 1.

He had taken a giant stride forward, and didn't move from the crease for quite a while after the umpire gave him out. There wasn't any chance of an lbw so not sure what he was indicating to the umpire. There was also a question over whether he was stumped, but the decision came from the umpire at the bowler's end, not the square leg ump.

Cheteshwar Pujara is in the middle. A potential match-turning phase coming up. Spin from both ends as Gowthan takes over from Mithun"

9.50am - J'dawg is back yo Says Amol Karhadkar: "here it is! Jiwanjot pushes SS Rao into covers and run a quick single, takes his helmet off and raises both his hands in the air to acknowledge the dressing room. 100 has come off 210 balls, 285 minutes, with 15 fours. Punjab 184 for 1. Jiwanjot has now moved into the third place in top run-getters' chart for the season and tied with Amol Muzumdar's five centuries. The only difference being Muzumdar has been around the domestic circuit for ages, while Jiwanjot is playing his maiden season."

@sid if punjab gets to the semifinal, which team will they play??

Simran, as of now it seems like it is going to be Punjab v Saurashtra, and Services v Mumbai. However, we shouldn't yet count Jharkhand and Karnataka out

9.40am - Spin right away in Rajkot KP Appanna has opened the bowling with Abhimanyu Mithun for Karnataka, but Saurashtra have made it to 10 without loss, which is a lead of 83

9.35am

Hey Sid, under what conditions does the match go into the sixth day?

Sud, if the first-innings lead has not been resolved in five days, the match can go into the sixth day. If it is still not decided after six days, another toss takes place

Published @Sidharth: last round of this blog? Does that mean the semifinals will have live commentary?

Karamanai, I will try that, but in any case two matches are too few to sustain a live blog

9.25am - Amol Karhadkar in Jamshedpur

Jiwanjot Singh has raced to 96, four runs shy of his fifth century of the season, as Punjab move to 174 for 1.

9.20am - Match state in Rajkot Karnataka have got to believe they can bowl Saurashtra out and try to chse the total down despite the 73-run lead they have conceded. This is what Stuart Binny has to say on the state of play: "I think it’s an open game right now, especially with what the wicket is doing. It spun a lot, especially after lunch. It’s important we don’t give them too many runs. I’ll look to try and get them all out for around 150. Two full days is a lot in a game.

I think it lies with spinners. If you look at their spinners, they just bowled one spot. They never tried too much, we never got too many cut balls. We didn’t bowl too well, we bowled slightly short. But the game is open, the morning session is going to be crucial. If we can get two-three wickets with the new ball, and then our spinners come into the game, then it’s all open again."

Binny also feels the pitch can help his side. He says, "Yes, it’s not holding as much as it was. It’s under-prepared, it’s definitely going to get worse. As I said, we shouldn’t be chasing more than 220 in the last day, with the ball turning. So the quicker we get them tomorrow, the better."

9.15am - Good news from Jamshedpur Play has started on time again. Punjab have added to their overnight 150 for 1 without incident. Jiwanjot is scoring runs again. Life is worth living again

9.10am Hello and welcome to day four of the last round of this blog. For this season, that is. It is shaping up to end on a slow note with nothing at stake tomorrow. Only Karnataka seem to have time to try to reverse the first-innings result

Ranji Trophy

Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo