Parthiv Patel and Chirag Gandhi put up a solid fight, but Jaydev Unadkat, scalping seven wickets, led from the front as Saurashtra managed to overcome a spirited Gujarat side to reach the Ranji Trophy 2019-20 final on Wednesday.
Unadkat took off from where he had left on Day 4 as he struck early on Day 5 to dismiss Samit Gohil and Dhruv Raval. While Gohil edged one to Harvik Desai in the slips, Raval was out caught and bowled.
Parthiv Patel then walked into the middle and the Gujarat skipper got off to a flying start, racing past 30 with the help of 7 fours.
However, Saurashtra struck twice in a quick succession, first getting out Bhargav Merai to break the 42-run stand for the fourth wicket and then Rujul Bhatt for 1.
Chirag Gandhi and Parthiv then began rebuilding the Gujarat innings. The two denied Saurashtra any immediate success, adding 158 runs together as the semifinal headed towards a close finish.
However, in the third and final session of the day, Saurashtra skipper Unadkat turned the tide in Saurashtraās favour as he dismissed his counterpart, Parthiv, after a hard-fought 93. On the next delivery, Unadkat took a stunning return catch to get Axar Patel out to become the pacer with the most number of wickets in a Ranji Trophy season.
While Dharmendrasinh Jadeja dismissed Roosh Kalaria, Unadkat removed Gandhi, who scored a gritty 96 off 139 balls, and sealed Saurashtraās 92-run win dismissing Arzan Nagwaswalla.
Saurashtra will now face Bengal in the final which commences on March 9.
