Bengal steamroll Saurashtra, to meet Karnataka in semifinals

After the Bengal bowlers restricted hosts to 255 for seven in 50 overs, the visitors made the short work of a challenging total, racing to victory in 40.5 overs at the cost of opener Arindam Das.

Bengal will take on Karnataka in the semifinals on Saturday.

Saurashtra built their total mainly on the strength of Cheteshwar Pujara’s stroke filled 110 (112b, 9x4. 1x6) and opener Sagar Jogiyani’s 71 (97b, 7x4). The duo was also involved in 100-run association for the third wicket.

The target of 256 wasn’t going to be cakewalk or so it appeared, but Bengal made it look like a walk in the park. Arindam Das’ brisk start ended quickly, before Goswami and Ganguly put the innings in overdrive. Goswami struck 11 fours and seven sixes during 138-ball knock. Ganguly wasn’t to be denied his share of spotlight as he finished with five fours and an equal number of sixes.

TN thump Mumbai

In the other quarterfinal of the day at Rajkot and in a repeat of last year’s match, Tamil Nadu gave Mumbai the hiding to set up a semifinal clash with Madhya Pradesh. Tamil Nadu put up a dominant performance both with the bat and the ball to register a thumping 174-run win.

After putting up a massive total of 302/6 in 50 overs with S Badrinath producing a 92-ball 105 (8x4, 4x6), Tamil Nadu bowled out Mumbai for a paltry 128 in 35 overs.

Murthy Prabhu picked 4/34 while Lakshmipathi Balaji grabbed 3/27 for Tamil Nadu.

Brief scores:

At Vadodara: Saurashtra: 255/7 in 50 overs (Sagar Jogyani 71, Cheteshwar Pujara 110; LR Shukla 3-35) lt to Bengal: 256/1 in 40.5 overs (Srivats Goswami 149 n.o., Sourav Ganguly 87 n.o.).
At Rajkot: Tamil Nadu: 302/6 in 50 overs (Murali Vijay 43, Abhinav Mukund 80, S Badrinath 105; Ajit Agarkar 2-55) bt Mumbai: 128 all out in 35 overs (Sushant Marathe 64, Lakshmipathi Balaji 3-27, Murthy Prabhu 4-34).