Ranji Trophy: Siddharth Desai's seven-for sparks dramatic collapse, helps Gujarat pip Karnataka in thriller

Gujarat’s left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai displayed a tremendous performance to clinch six points against Karnataka in a thrilling Ranji Trophy fixture played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Karnataka dominated for three days but stumbled on Monday as they could not chase down an achievable total of 110, ultimately losing the match by six runs.

Karnataka seemed well-placed during the run chase at 50/0 with Devdutt Padikkal and skipper Mayank Agarwal batting confidently. The situation changed rapidly with Karnataka losing their opening batters in quick succession. Desai wreaked havoc by claiming seven wickets in the second innings.

Shubhang Hedge, batting at number four, put up some resistance with 27. Karnataka, however, could not avoid a defeat with big name like Manish Pandey failing to do anything impressive. Karnataka eventually surrendered as they got bowled out for 103 in 26.2 overs.

Desai continued his impressive performance, claiming Pandey as his fourth victim, and by the 18th over of the innings, he had also dismissed Sujay Sateri and Vijaykumar Vyshak, leaving Karnataka struggling at 74 for 6.

This stunning turnaround gave Gujarat an outright victory, a prospect that seemed unlikely until the fourth day. Gujarat batted first and posted 264 runs in their first innings after being 45/4 at one stage. Karnataka responded with a century from skipper Agarwal (109) and half-centuries from Pandey (88) and Padikkal (60), posting

Gujarat, in their second innings, recovered from a precarious 52/4 to score 219. Even at 145/7, their lower-order batsmen pushed the lead beyond 100 runs. Umang Kumar and Manan Hingrajia scored a half century each for Gujarat in the second innings. Despite this, Karnataka were considered favourites to chase down the target.

I.C.Y.M.I

7⭐️ performance!