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Uttar Pradesh upset hosts Karnataka, enter Ranji Trophy semis
The former champions, led by young skipper Karan Sharma, capped a brilliant comeback to register a five-wicket victory on the third day of the quarterfinal in Alur.
People didn’t know much about Karan Sharma when he was handed the reins of the Uttar Pradesh Ranji Trophy team in February. Sharma hails from Delhi, but within four matches this season, the youngster has helped former champions UP defeat strong contenders Karnataka on Wednesday and enter the semi-finals.
Showing a positive approach, the 21-year-old all-rounder smashed an unbeaten 93 to guide his side to a thrilling five-wicket win on the third day of the five-day quarter-final, after being set a tricky fourth-innings target of 213, having conceded the first innings lead in the low-scoring contest. Debutant Prince Yadav too played his part, hitting an unbeaten 33 and stitching an unbroken 99-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Sharma.
This is the second time this season that Sharma has anchored UP to victory. He hit a century in the last league match against Maharashtra, at Sultanpur, Haryana in March, Uttar Pradesh chasing down 357 runs on the last day. Opener Almas Shaukat (100) and Rinku Singh (78*) too had played fine knocks, the combined effort helping edge out favourites Vidarbha from the knockouts by one point.
Before Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh had suffered five defeats against Karnataka in 14 face-offs. Sharma and Co now are two wins away from regaining the prestigious trophy they won in the 2005-06 season. To challenge a disciplined Karnataka bowling attack on a pitch at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur that showed signs of wear and tear, UP were given a rousing start by prolific batter Priyam Garg, who laid the foundation with a sparkling 60-ball 52.
Openers Samarth Singh (14) and Aryan Juyal (1) fell to seamer Vijaykumar Vyshak, and a repeat of the first innings, when UP were dismissed for 155, looked imminent. Garg and Sharma steadied the innings with a 59-run partnership for the third wicket before Garg edged a straight catch to Shreyas Gopal at leg slip off off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham (1/49).
Eight balls later, UP suffered another blow when in-form Rinku Singh (4) was castled by Vidhwath Kaverappa as he tried to leave the ball. When keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel (9) fell soon after to Vyshak, the scoreboard read 114/5.
A smiling Karnataka skipper Manish Pandey reflected Karnataka’s rising hopes, but Sharma and Yadav countered the Karnataka bowlers well. Sharma waited for loose deliveries to hit. His 163-ball 93 was laced with 13 fours and a six. He didn’t allow the Karnataka spinners, leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal and Gowtham to dictate terms. Yadav’s unbeaten 33 came off 73 balls (3x4, 1x6).
It was a great win for UP, who bounced back through bowlers Saurabh Kumar (3/36), Ankit Rajpoot (2/15) and Yash Dayal (2/35) to skittle out Karnataka for 114 in the second innings, thus giving their batters a reasonable target to chase down.
BRIEF SCORES
Karnataka 253 and 114 (S Sarath 23, S Kumar 3/36, A Rajpoot 2/15, Y Dayal 2/35) lost to UP 155 and 213/5 (K Sharma 93*, P Garg 52, P Yadav 33*, V Vyshak 3/47).
