Vishal spins Saurashtra into summit tie

Riding on a splendid bowling performance led by off-spinner Vishal Joshi, Saurashtra on Sunday thrashed Punjab by 229 runs to enter the Ranji Trophy final for the first time in 75 years.

Saurashtra scored 477 in the first innings and took a vital 178-run lead over Punjab by dismissing them for 299.

In the second essay, the hosts were dismissed for 170, setting Punjab a victory target of 349.

However, the visitors were skittled out for 119. Saurashtra took just 21 overs to clean up the eight remaining wickets on the fifth and final day. Joshi, who scalped four wickets in the first innings, took five wickets conceding only 43 runs.

Score board

Saurashtra (I Innings): 477
Punjab (I Innings): 299
Saurashtra (II Innings): 170
Punjab (II Innings, O/n 45/2): Jiwanjot Singh c Vasavada b Unadkat 11, Ravi Inder Singh c sub (CR Pathak) b Joshi 25, Taruwar Kohli c Kotak b Unadkat 13, Mandeep Singh b Joshi 33, Uday Kaul lbw Jadeja 7, Amitoze Singh c Makvana b Joshi 5, Bipul Sharma c sub (SM Sanandiya) b Jadeja 0, Harbhajan Singh b Joshi 6, Siddarth Kaul lbw Jadeja 2, Sandeep Sharma b Joshi 12, Sarabjit Ladda (not out) 5. Total (all out, 40 overs) 119.
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-30, 3-71, 4-82, 5-88, 6-91, 7-98, 8-102, 9-102.
Bowling: Jaydev Unadkat 8-2-30-2, Kamlesh Makvana 4-0-15-0, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 14-3-25-3, Vishal Joshi 11-1-43-5, Siddarth Trivedi 3-0-6-0.