Wickets fell in a heap as the pacers called the shots on a helpful Eden Gardens pitch on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy semifinal between Karnataka and Vidarbha here on Sunday.
After opting to bat, Vidarbha was dismissed for a partly 185, with A. Mithun picking up his third five-for of the season. Vidarbha then scalped three Karnataka wickets by close of play.
Karnataka speedsters Mithun, Vinay Kumar, S. Arvind and Stuart Binny kept the ball full, and moved it around.
After openers Faiz Fazal and Sanjay Ramaswamy both fell leg-before, Wasim Jaffer and Ganesh Satish steadied the ship. Jaffer (39, 85b, 8x4) countered the threat by shouldering arms to deliveries even marginally outside the off-stump, and some were left to pass over the stumps.
Satish (31, 56b, 6x4) fell to a delightful one-handed catch by ’keeper C.M. Gautam, who flew to his left to grab a flick.
Next man Apoorv Wankhade, who hit a century in the previous match, lasted just four balls. He was bowled by Mithun, attempting an expansive drive.
Arvind got the crucial wicket of Jaffer, who edged an out-swinger to Samarth. Mithun then blew away the tail in a fiery spell. This included a three-wicket burst in four balls, which effectively ended Vidarbha’s hopes of getting past the 200-run mark.
The two spinners — K. Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal — were required to bowl a mere 3.4 overs.
The Vidarbha total could have been even smaller, if not for some poor slip catching. Mayank Agarwal and S. Arvind put down one chance each, while one edge bisected Mayank and Samarth in the cordon.
Then it was Karnataka’s turn with batting woes.
Samarth nicked one in the sixth over, while the in-form Mayank was trapped in front by India international Umesh Yadav.
Rajneesh Gurbani then produced a moment of magic when he had D. Nischal driving at a delivery which cut in sharply. The big gap between bat and pad resulted in an uprooted middle-stump.
Karnataka skipper Vinay Kumar, meanwhile, suffered a bout of cramps and left the stadium ahead of his teammates at the end of the day’s play.
The scores: Vidarbha batting — 1st innings: Faiz Fazal lbw Vinay 12, Sanjay Ramaswamy lbw b Binny 22, Wasim Jaffer c Samarth b Arvind 39, Ganesh Satish c Gautam b Mithun 31, Apoorv Wankhade b Mithun 1, Akshay Wadkar c Gautam b Vinay 12, Aditya Sarvate c Gowtham b Shreyas 47, Akshay Wakhare c Gautam b Mithun 18, Rajneesh Gurbani b Mithun 0, Umesh Yadav c (sub) b Mithun 0, Siddhesh Neral (not out) 0; Extras (lb-3): 3; Total (in 61.4 overs): 185.
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-49, 3-97, 4-99, 5-108, 6-130, 7-171, 8-171, 9-171.
Karnataka bowling: Vinay Kumar 15-4-36-2, A. Mithun 16-6-45-5, S. Arvind 12-3-42-1, Stuart Binny 15-3-48-1, K. Gowtham 3-0-7-0, Shreyas Gopal 0.4-0-4-1.
Karnataka batting — 1st innings: R. Samarth c Wadkar b Gurbani 6, Mayank Agarwal lbw b Umesh 15, D. Nischal b Gurbani 0, Karun Nair (batting) 6, C.M. Gautam (batting) 9; Total (for three wkts. in 14 overs): 36.
Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-21, 3-21.
Vidarbha bowling: Umesh Yadav 7-1-22-1, Rajneesh Gurbani 6-1-9-2, Siddhesh Neral 1-0-5-0.
