Cheteshwar Pujara continued his stellar form and scored a watchful half-century while Sheldon Jackson struck a well compiled fifty to help Saurashtra book a place in the Ranji semi-final with a six-wicket win over Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow.

Chasing 372 in the fourth innings, Saurashtra got off a brilliant start as openers Harvik Desai (116) and Snell Patel (72) put on 132 runs for the first wicket. After the dismissal of both the openers, Saurashtra lost two quick wickets and were in a spot of bother before the pair of Pujara and Jackson combined to forge an unbeaten 136-run partnership and guided the team over the finishing line.  

While Pujara scored 67* off 110 balls with 9 boundaries, Jackson hit 73* off 109 balls with 11 boundaries and a six.

Earlier, Saurashtra conceded 177 runs lead after being bowled for 208 in the first innings. Pujara, who played an instrumental role in India’s recent Test series triumph on Australian soil by scoring 521 runs at an average of 74.72, managed to score only 11 runs in the first essay.

However, Saurashtra turned the table by dismissing Uttar Pradesh for 194 in their second innings. Dharmendrasinh Jadeja was the stand-out bowler for Saurashtra, claiming 4 wickets for 53 runs in his 19 overs.

Saurashtra now will face Karnataka in the second semi-final from January 24. 

Brief scores: Uttar Pradesh – 385/10 (Rinku Singh 150; Jaydev Unadkat 5-86) & 194/10 (Mohammad Saif 48; Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 4-53) lost to Saurashtra – 208/10 (Harvik Desai 84; Yash Dayal 4-55) & 372/4 (Harvik Desai 116) by six wickets.