Abhimanyu Mithun finished with four wickets and K.P. Appanna three as Karnataka came away with the first-innings lead from its Ranji Trophy game with Vidarbha here on Tuesday.
The Group ‘B’ contest petered out to a draw on the final day as expected, but it was Mithun’s concerted effort in the morning that carved Vidarbha open.
The fast bowler removed overnight batsmen Amol Ubarhande (137) and Shalabh Shrivastava (97) in a decisive early spell of 9-3-15-2. That and Appanna’s strikes sent the visitor from 302 for two at the start of play to 447 all out an hour after lunch, handing Karnataka a lead of 172 runs.
The home side opted to bat a second time, and at stumps, drawn with the last 15 mandatory overs remaining, closed on 81 for three.
Mithun leads attack
Captain R. Vinay Kumar, who had walked off with an injury on day three, did not take the field. It left Karnataka relying on Mithun to lead the bowling group; the 23-year-old did not disappoint. He claimed Shrivastava nine overs into the day for 97, breaking the massive third wicket partnership for 228. Ubarhande lasted four more overs before pulling Mithun into short fine-leg’s hands.
The veteran Hemang Badani left not long after, edging Appanna to a juggling Robin Uthappa at first slip. Gaurav Upadhyay (38) and an aggressive Sairaj Bahutule (48 n.o.) contributed with the bat, but once Appanna had removed the former, the conclusion was in little doubt.
The scores:
Karnataka — 1st innings: 619 for eight decl.
Vidarbha — 1st innings: Faiz Fazal c Ganesh b Mithun 22, S.S. Das c Pandey b Stuart Binny 53, Amol Ubarhande c Pandey b Mithun 137, Shalabh Shrivastava c Verma b Mithun 97, Hemang Badani c Uthappa b Appanna 11, Apoorva Wankhede c Gautam b Sharath 19, Gaurav Upadhyay lbw Appanna 38, Sairaj Bahutule (not out) 48, Shrikant Wagh b Ganesh 0, Sandip Singh lbw b Appanna 4, Ravi Thakur c Gautam b Mithun 0; Extras (b-6, lb-9, nb-2, w-1): 18; Total (in 163.2 overs): 447.
Fall of wickets: 1-65, 2-93, 3-321, 4-330, 5-338, 6-368, 7-406, 8-407, 9-412.
Karnataka bowling: Vinay Kumar 13-3-45-0, A. Mithun 32.2-10-60-4, Stuart Binny 21-4-74-1, H.S. Sharath 28-5-90-1, K.P. Appanna 50-13-109-3, Kunal Kapoor 6-3-7-0, Ganesh Satish 13-0-47-1.
Karnataka — 2nd innings: Robin Uthappa lbw b Wagh 18, K.L. Rahul c Upadhyay b Sandip 6, Kunal Kapoor st. Ubarhande b Sandip 7, Ganesh Satish (not out) 14, Manish Pandey (not out) 28; Extras (b-4, lb-2, nb-2): 8; Total (for three wkts. in 24 overs): 81.
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-33, 3-33.
Vidarbha bowling: Shrikant Wagh 7-0-37-1, Sandip Singh 6-3-7-2, G. Upadhyay 6-0-18-0, Ravi Thakur 5-0-13-0.
Points: Karnataka 3 and Vidarbha 1.
Man-of-the-Match: C.M. Gautam.
