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[Saba Sports News] Tamil Nadu secured a significant victory over Saurashtra, the favourites, in the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 quarter-final in Coimbatore, winning by an innings and 33 runs. Their remarkable performance was led by Sai Kishore, who played a pivotal role both as a bowler and a batsman.
Kishore took nine wickets across both innings, including a vital four-wicket haul in the second innings, and contributed 60 runs to Tamil Nadu’s first-innings total of 338. This effort came in response to Saurashtra’s first innings score of 183 and their collapse to 122 in the second innings under the pressure of Tamil Nadu’s 155-run lead.
Supporting Kishore were Sandeep Warrier and Ajith Ram, each taking five wickets in the match, while Baba Indrajith and Boopathi Kumar added crucial runs with scores of 80 and 65, respectively. This win propels Tamil Nadu into the semi-finals for the first time since the 2016/17 season, with their next opponent dependent on the outcome of the Mumbai vs. Baroda match.
Simultaneously, Cheteshwar Pujara reached a personal milestone by surpassing 800 runs in a single Ranji Trophy season, marking his third such achievement and his first since the 2008-09 season. Despite being out of the Indian team since the 2023 World Test Championship Final, Pujara’s performance in the 2024 Ranji campaign has been outstanding, highlighting his resilience and skill.