NEW DELHI: Anubhav Agarwal's exceptional performance, clinching a remarkable six-wicket haul, propelled Madhya Pradesh into the
Ranji Trophy
semifinals with a narrow four-run triumph over Andhra on Monday. \
In a low-scoring quarterfinal at the
Holkar Stadium
, bowlers dominated proceedings, and despite Andhra's determined effort, Madhya Pradesh emerged victorious, securing a spot in the final four.
This victory marked Madhya Pradesh as the second team, alongside Tamil Nadu, to advance to the semifinals, maintaining their quest for the title following their 2021-22 championship win.
On what turned out to be the final day, Andhra were bowled out for a mere 165 chasing 170 to win on the fourth day.
Resuming at 95/4 and with their senior batter
Hanuma Vihari
on strike with 75 runs more needed to win, Andhra were the more confident side but Agarwal led a stunning fightback once again for Madhya Pradesh.
Having taken three wickets in the first innings to help Madhya Pradesh take a vital lead of 62 runs, Agarwal terrorised the Andhra batters in the second innings to return figures of 6/52 from 19 overs.
Kulwant Khejroliya picked 2/40 while Kumar Kartikeya and Saransh Jain bagged one wicket apiece.
Agarwal struck thrice to put Madhya Pradesh in complete command when he had overnight batter Karan Shinde (14) trapped leg-before in the 51st over of the innings.
In his next over, Agarwal had Vihari (55 off 136 balls, 5 fours) caught by wicketkeeper Himanshu Mantri and pinned Shoaib Mohammed Khan (0) in front of the wickets for a first-ball duck.
While Khejroliya removed KV Sasikanth (7), Andhra threatened to take the game away from MP's grasp with a 32-run stand for the ninth wicket between Girinath Reddy (15 off 42 balls) and Ashwin Hebbar (22 off 52 balls).
Agarwal found a timely breakthrough getting rid of Girinath, which made the task more difficult for Andhra who needed another nine runs with one wicket in hand.
With five runs needed for Andhra to win, Khejroliya trapped No 7 Hebbar (22 off 42 balls) to deliver a narrow win for his side.
For his match-haul of 9/85, Agarwal was declared the player of the match.
(With inputs from PTI)
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