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Ranji Trophy Plate League, semi-finals, 4th day
Gujarat through to Super League
Cricinfo staff
December 28, 2007
Gujarat 192 (Timil Patel 71*) and 265 (Parthiv Patel 84, Dholpure 5-64) beat Madhya Pradesh 93 (Amit Singh 4-31) and 205 (Jatin Saxena 66, Trivedi 6-61) by 159 runs
Scorecard
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Siddharth Trivedi's six-wicket haul wrecked MP
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Siddharth Trivedi took 6 for 61 as Gujarat beat Madhya Pradesh comprehensively to earn promotion to the Super League and enter the final of the Ranji Trophy Plate League. Resuming at 63 for 1, chasing 365, MP lost their second wicket in the second over of the day. Three ducks followed as Trivedi sliced out the middle order, striking in the fifth, seventh and ninth overs of the day.
Jatin Saxena put up a brief fight, but once he was dismissed for 66, it was easy pickings for Gujarat. With this win, Gujarat, who were relegated last season, ensured their stay in the Plate League will be the briefest possible one, as they will play in the Super League next season by the virtue of having made it to the top two. This completes a good day for all Gujarat teams as Baroda and Saurashtra made it to the semi-finals and Gujarat got promoted.
Kerala 357 and 249 for 7 (Gomez 101, Sebastian 70, Bangar 5-91) lead Railways 402 by 204 runs
Scorecard
After the last three Railways wickets took them to a first-innings lead of 45, the Kerala openers scored at a hectic pace looking to set a stiff target. However, Kerala lost wickets towards the end of the day to finish 204 runs ahead with three wickets in hand. Raiphi Gomez scored 101 off 124 balls as he and Antony Sebastian added 165 for the first wicket in 36.4 overs, a run-rate of 4.5, a clear departure from their Kerala's slow scoring through the season. After Gomez got out, Kerala lost wickets regularly as Sanjay Bangar picked 5 for 91. Sebastian became the fourth wicket to fall, he scored 70. The consistent fall of wickets brought the run-rate down and Kerala will need more runs before they can go for the declaration.
Earlier, Railways resumed the day nine runs behind Kerala's 357 with three wickets in hand. The eighth wicket stand of 63 took them well clear, and the Railways tail frustrated Kerala for 24.5 overs. Murali Kartik, the captain, and Raja Ali scored patient thirties.
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