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Uthappa, Raghu make merry

Principal Correspondent

— Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar

USEFUL KNOCK: After some anxious moments early in his innings, Karnataka’s C. Raghu showed resilience during his knock.

Bangalore: Karnataka batsmen failed to stabilise as the host scored 277 for six against Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy super league Group ‘B’ cricket match that commenced at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, here on Friday.

After Mohammad Kaif won the toss and opted to bowl on a placid pitch, the Uttar Pradesh skipper had the relief of watching the host vindicate his decision as all the batsmen got their eye in before frittering it away.

Karnataka captain Robin Uthappa (65) and C. Raghu (64) managed to extend their cameos before falling prey to a bout of tentativeness.

Openers Uthappa and C.M. Gautam, who replaced an injured K.B. Pawan, stitched a 98-run partnership in which the captain dominated with drives on the off-side. However, the duo were guilty of not capitalising on their lives as Shivkant Shukla grassed them at gully while seamer Praveen Kumar fumed. Praveen Kumar, however, scalped Gautam who flashed hard and found the close-in cordon while Uthappa tried to cut R.P. Singh and only managed a snick.

At 98 for two, Karnataka soon had a breather as C. Raghu, on a blob, was dropped by a diving Kaif at first slip off seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Raghu then settled down though Deepak Chougule, after finding his feet, could not resist the sweep off leg-spinner Piyush Chawla and perished. Raghu then shared a 78-run fourth-wicket partnership with Thilak Naidu.

Raghu, after cheekily guiding Bhuvneshwar for a four, drove Chawla past long-on while Thilak cut left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta twice in succession.

Thilak, however, rushed his drive off Praveen Gupta and Suresh Raina caught him at covers. Raghu then fell to Chawla and with Manish Pandey hanging his bat to Praveen Kumar, Karnataka now banks on all-rounders B. Akhil and Sunil Joshi to stem the rot against the Uttar Pradesh bowlers who largely got their percentages right though the fielding was not up to the mark.

The scores: Karnataka — 1st innings: C.M. Gautam c Tanmay b Praveen Kumar 31, R. Uthappa c Amir Khan b R.P. Singh 65, D. Chougule lbw b Chawla 21, C. Raghu lbw b Chawla 64, Thilak Naidu c Raina b Praveen Gupta 28, M. Pandey c Amir Khan b Praveen Kumar 26, B. Akhil (batting) 22, S. Joshi (batting) 12, Extras (b-1, lb-2, nb-3, w-2): 8; Total (for six wkts. in 94 overs): 277.

Fall of wickets: 1-98, 2-98, 3-135, 4-213, 5-216, 6-255.

Uttar Pradesh bowling: R.P. Singh 17-3-68-1, Bhuvneshwar 22-5-61-0, Praveen Kumar 22-5-61-2, Chawla 16-1-59-2, Praveen Gupta 17-7-25-1.

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