Bengaluru, January 18: Manish Pandey led from the front with an unbeaten 87 and shared an unbroken 129-run partneship with Karun Nair (61 not out) to steer Karnataka to a six-wicket win over Rajasthan at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Resuming at their overnight score of 45 for three in pursuit of a target of 184, Karnataka lost an early wicket when nightwatchman Ronit More was dismissed for eight with the score reading 56 for four.
However, Pandey and Nair ensured that there were no further hiccups to ensure the host team's passage into the last-four stage.
Karnataka win the quarter-final by 6 wickets. Knock-out Rajasthan and march towards semifinals. #ChampionStuff #RanjiTrophy #KARvRAJ
— Karnataka Ranji Team/ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ರಣಜಿ ತಂಡ (@RanjiKarnataka) January 18, 2019
Rajasthan had scored 224 in their first innings, riding on fifties by skipper Mahipal Lomrov (50) and Rajesh Bishnoi (79).
In reply, Karnataka were all out for 263 before returning to bundle out Rajasthan for 222 in their second innings, thus setting themselves a 184-run target.
Pandey spent some time on the wicket, before taking on the formidable Rajasthan bowling lineup.
He unleashed an array of delightful shots, cobbling up a match-winning knock in 75 balls, which was embellished with 14 boundaries and two sixes.
Pandey chased down the remaining 14 runs in five balls as Karnataka players started to celebrate the fantastic win in the dressing room.
Nair gave an able support to Pandey, who remained unbeaten, a knock decorated with six boundaries off 129 balls.
Though Pandey hogged the limelight on fourth day, Vinay Kumar's unbeaten 83 in first innings was an equally important innings as it forced Rajasthan to concede lead for first time this season.
Vinay Kumar is named Man of the Match for the unbeaten 83(144b, 10x4s, 2x6s) in the first innings. #RanjiTrophy #KARvRAJ
— Karnataka Ranji Team/ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ರಣಜಿ ತಂಡ (@RanjiKarnataka) January 18, 2019
Vinay also bagged two wickets in Rajasthan's first innings to bag the Man of the Match.
Brief scores:
Karnataka: 263 all out in 87.4 overs and 185 for 4 in 47.5 overs (Manish Pandey 87 not out, Karun Nair 61 not out (Aniket Choudhary 2/32)
Rajasthan: 224 in 77.1 overs and 222 all out in 67.2 overs (Robin Bist 44, Mahipal Lomror 42; Krishnappa Gowtham 4/54, Shreyas Gopal 3/52, Abimanyu Mithun 2/26).