Vidarbha fight but Karnataka ahead; Delhi in final

Kolkata, December 19: On a day marred by bad light, Vidarbha fought bright and hard but Karnataka still kept themselves ahead on the third day of their Ranji Trophy semifinals here on Tuesday.

Resuming from their overnight 294 for eight, Karnataka could not add much to their total, getting bowled out for 301. By then Karnataka had established a handy first innings lead of 116 runs.

Umesh Yadav plucked the remaining two Karnataka wickets. Vidarbha then reached 195 for four for a lead of 79 runs before bad light forced umpires to call it a day.

STUMPS, Day 3, Vidharba: 195/4, lead by 79 runs. 30+ overs lost today due to unplayable conditions. #RanjiTrophy #KARvVID

— Karnataka Ranji Team (@RanjiKarnataka) December 19, 2017

However, before that Vidarbha dished out a much better game despite losing skipper Faiz Fazal in the second ball of their second innings. His Karnataka counterpart R Vinay Kumar trapped him in front of the wicket.

Stuart Binny dismissed in-form Sanjay Ramaswamy as Vidarbha slipped to 36 for two as another batting collapse loomed large.

Stumps Day 3: Vidarbha - 195/4 in 46.6 overs (Ganesh Satish 71 off 128, A V Wadkar 19 off 30) #VIDvKAR @paytm #RanjiTrophy #SF2

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) December 19, 2017

But Wasim Jaffer and former Karnataka batsman Ganesh Satish (71 n.o, 128b, 10x4) took Vidarbha to 62 before S Arvind jettisoned the former.

Satish added a further 88 runs for the fourth wicket with quick scoring Apoorv Wankhede (49, 48b, 9x4) as Vidarbha obliterated Karnataka's lead and acquired the lead themselves.

Arvind ousted Wankhede to peg Vidarbha back but Akshay Wadkar and Satish sustained the fight for Vidarbha for another day. But Karnataka have already done enough to place themselves in a winning position.

Delhi in Ranji final

Meanwhile, Delhi hammered Bengal by an innings and 26 runs to enter the Ranji Trophy final to be played in Indore.