Prasidh Krishna (five for 49) stole the show on the opening day of the three-day match between Karnataka and Bangladesh ‘A’ here on Tuesday.
On the back of Prasidh’s exploits, the home side dismissed Bangladesh ‘A’ for 158 just after lunch. Karnataka, however, failed to drive home the advantage, finishing the day on 163 for six.
The 19-year-old Prasidh took a wicket off the very first ball of his first-class career, drawing an edge from Rony Talukdar. Captain Mominul Haque fell to H.S. Sharath in the next over before Prasidh took the next three wickets in quick succession.
Anamul Haque was cleaned up by a delivery which nipped in, an impatient Sowmya Sarkar flashed hard outside off and paid the price, and Nasir Hossain nicked a length ball to wicketkeeper C.M. Gautam.
Prasidh’s first spell — four for 21 in seven overs — left Bangladesh ‘A’ in tatters. He returned later and picked up his fifth victim, to more than compensate for the absence of regular speedsters Vinay Kumar (flu), S. Arvind (India camp) and Abhimanyu Mithun (personal engagement in Chennai).
Liton Das (50, 50b, 11x4), who came in at two-drop, was the best batsman on view. He was unperturbed by the turbulence at the other end, and made a compact fifty. Das, however, fell to left-arm spinner J. Suchith, and Bangladesh sank further to 76 for six.
A dogged 65-ball 55 from Shuvagata Hom later in the innings made the fielders sweat, but his dismissal triggered the end.
The Karnataka reply was hardly convincing, with Abhishek Reddy (28, 38b), R. Samarth (25, 42b) and Mayank Agarwal (16, 26b) unable to build on starts.
Much was expected from Robin Uthappa and C.M. Gautam, but neither got to double digits.
Spinners Saqlain Sajib and Hom picked up three wickets each, aided by clever variations in flight. Southpaw Shishir Bhavane (55 n.o., 88b, 8x4, 1x6) battled hard at No. 7, allowing Karnataka to move five runs past the Bangladesh ‘A’ total at close of the day’s play, with four wickets in hand.
A content Prasidh pointed to his work at the MRF Pace Foundation as a key reason behind his success here.
“I trained under Glenn McGrath (director) and M. Senthilnathan (chief coach) for four to five months earlier this year. They gave me individual attention, and the experience was tremendously helpful,” Prasidh said.
The scores:
Bangladesh ‘A’ — 1st innings: Anamul Haque b Prasidh 5 (25b, 1x4) , Rony Talukdar c Bhavane b Prasidh 0 (1b) , Mominul Haque c Gopal b Sharath 1 (8b) , Liton Das c Gautam b Suchith 50 (50b, 11x4) , Soumya Sarkar c Bhavane b Prasidh 0 (3b) , Nasir Hossain c Gautam b Prasidh 8 (6b, 1x4) , Shuvagata Hom lbw b Udit 55 (65b, 7x4, 1x6) , Kamrul Islam lbw b Prasidh 8 (27b, 1x4) , Jubair Hossain c Abhishek b Gopal 4 (5b, 1x4) , Saqlain Sajib (not out) 15 (30b, 2x4) , Al-Amin Hossain c Mayank b Udit 5 (11b, 1x4) , Extras (b-6, lb-1) 7; Total (in 38.4 overs) 158.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-1, 3-27, 4-27, 5-41, 6-76, 7-104, 8-109, 9-148.
Karnataka bowling: H.S. Sharath 7-2-28-1, Prasidh Krishna 12-2-49-5, Mayank Agarwal 1-0-5-0, Shreyas Gopal 9-1-36-1, J. Suchith 6-1-22-1, Udit Patel 3.4-0-11-2.
Karnataka — 1st innings: R. Samarth lbw b Hom 25 (42b, 4x4) , Mayank Agarwal b Sajib 16 (26b, 3x4) , Abhishek Reddy lbw b Hom 28 (38b, 5x4) , Robin Uthappa c Nasir b Sajib 1 (15b) , C.M. Gautam c Anamul b Sajib 3 (8b) , Shreyas Gopal c Jubair b Hom 17 (28b, 2x4) , Shishir Bhavane (batting) 55 (88b, 8x4, 1x6) , J. Suchith (batting) 14 (50b, 1x4) , Extras (nb-1, lb-3) 4; Total (for six wickets in 49 overs) 163.
Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-52, 3-65, 4-69, 5-75, 6-100.
Bangladesh ‘A’ bowling: Al-Amin Hossain 9-0-31-0, Kamrul Islam Rabbi 4-0-19-0, Saqlain Sajib 14-3-48-3, Shuvagata Hom 16-4-29-3, Jubair Hossain 3-0-27-0, Nasir Hossain 3-2-6-0.
