Left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai helped Gujarat snatch six points from Karnataka in a thrilling morning in Ahmedabad, where his seven-for scripted a stunning six-wicket win by defending 109 in the fourth innings. Karnataka were cruising at 50 for 0 in under 10 overs before Desai took six wickets in a row that turned the game around.

Karnataka soon slipped to 62 for 4, 77 for 7 and were bowled out for 103.

On a pitch where the ball turned and bounced viciously, Desai troubled Karnataka by going around the wicket – wide of crease at times – and added to the pressure with close-in fielders. Karnataka started the final innings strongly, with Mayank Agarwal, the only centurion of the match, and Devdutt Padikkal scoring quickly. Desai had opened the bowling alongside medium-pacer Chintan Gaja, but the task looked beyond them as Agarwal and Padikkal raced away. Agarwal scored 19 in 29 balls, with four fours, and Padikkal was in a hurry, hitting 31 from 29 balls with four fours and a six.

But Desai broke through with Agarwal’s wicket in the tenth over, and then got rid of Padikkal and Nikin Jose in his next over. Suddenly, Karnataka were 56 for 3. Time wasn’t the issue, and with the likes of Manish Pandey, R Samarth – who had opened in the first innings – and Shubhang Hegde to come, it wasn’t a worrying situation yet.