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After giving a glimpse of his spinning prowess playing for Mumbai Indians in the just concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 Kumar Kartikeya wreaked havoc with an exquisite six-fer as he spun a web around the Punjab batsmen to spur Madhya Pradesh (MP) in the Ranji Trophy semifinals on Thursday.
Kartikeya snared 6/50 to lead MP to an emphatic 10-wicket victory as he recorded his second-best bowling figures in the First Class cricket. Beside Kartikeya, another spinner Saransh Jain perfectly complemented him by picking 4/100 to wrap up Punjab's innings to palty 203 in the second innings.
Punjab resumed play on day four at 120 for 5, still 58 adrift of their opponent to make them bat again.
After a failure from the top order once again, wicket-keeper batter Anmol Malhotra (34) and Siddharth Kaul (31) began the day cautiously and steadily, and it appeared the duo would help Punjab take a respectable lead.
However, Kaul's patient display with the bat ended soon after, after Saransh Jain got the crucial breakthrough - the former was stumped by MP keeper Himanshu Mantri - after attempting to step out and haul the latter over midwicket.
Jain's dismissal set off a quick fall of wickets and helped MP consolidate their strangehold over the match, with both Malhotra and Sanvir Singh (0) departing soon after, courtesy a brilliant bowling display by Kartikeya.
With nothing to lose, it was Mayank Markande (33), who batted with freedom, taking the MP bowlers to the cleaners with one four and three sixes.
But Markande's lone battle did not prove to be enough as Jain picked up the wickets of both tailenders Vinay Chaudhary (2) and Baltej Singh (6) to finish off the Punjab innings.
With only 26 to chase down, MP openers Himanshu Mantri (9 not out) and Yash Dubey (17) achieved the target without much fuss in just 5.1 overs, helping their side to comfortably book a place in the last four of the elite domestic event.
