Ranji Trophy: Rahul, Smaran take Karnataka past Mumbai into the semis

K.L. Rahul made optimum use of a reprieve to score a gritty century and R. Smaran hit an unbeaten 83 as Karnataka defeated Mumbai by four wickets to enter the semifinals of the Ranji Trophy here on Monday.

With a calm and composed Rahul (130, 182b, 14×1, 1×6) leading the batting unit and bringing up his 24th First Class hundred, Karnataka survived a scare and eventually chased down the target of 325 on the penultimate day.

Knowing the conditions at the MCA-BKC ground well, Mumbai took the field on the fourth day, hoping its spinners Tanush Kotian and Shams Mulani will make an impact on the surface that offered some turn.

Even though Karnataka lost Karun Nair early on, Rahul looked determined to get the visiting team home. He forged a 147-run partnership with Smaran (123b, 11×4) for the fourth wicket.

Mumbai squandered an opportunity to bounce back as its slip fielders botched up a regulation catch of Rahul, then on 75, off a nippy Shardul Thakur delivery. As Rahul nicked, the ball moved towards Yashasvi Jaiswal, stationed in first slip, but in a bizarre move, Siddhesh Lad dived in from the second slip to make an attempt, and eventually dropped the catch.

There was no looking back since. It was a measured innings by the India international as Rahul went on to score a century, but barely celebrated the milestone, raising his bat only briefly before getting back to the job.

With Smaran going for the shots and Rahul holding fort, it seemed a matter of time before Karnataka romped home. However, there was some drama in the post-lunch session as Rahul mistimed a one-handed hook off Tushar Deshpande and was caught at short third-man by Jaiswal. Deshpande tightened the noose further as a short ball saw Shreyas Gopal being caught behind. Soon Kotian had Kruthik Krishna stumped.

Having lost three quick wickets, Karnataka was in a spot of bother before Smaran and Vidyadhar Patil rebuilt with an unbroken 40-run stand to get it across the line. While Smaran remained solid, Vidyadhar’s unbeaten 30-ball-31 run cameo saw the eight-time champion setting up a last-four clash with Uttarakhand.

The scores: Mumbai — 1st innings: 120.

Karnataka — 1st innings: 173.

Mumbai — 2nd innings: 377.

Karnataka — 2nd innings: Mayank Agarwal c Avasthi b Shardul 3, K.L. Rahul c Jaiswal b Deshpande 130, Devdutt Padikkal c Jaiswal b Kotian 39, Karun Nair lbw b Shardul 13, R. Smaran (not out) 83, Shreyas Gopal c Akash b Deshpande 1, Kruthik Krishna st. Akash b Kotian 2, Vidhyadhar Patil (not out) 31; Extras (b-15, lb-3, nb-4, wd-1): 23; Total (for six wkts. in 73.4 overs): 325.

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-96, 3-119, 4-266, 5-268, 6-285.

Mumbai bowling: Shardul 10-1-55-2, Avasthi 7-0-36-0, Mulani 14.4-0-64-0, Deshpande 18-2-67-2, Kotian 21-2-77-2, Musheer 3-0-8-0.