Until late in the afternoon, it seemed like this was going to be a day of hard work and little reward for Karnataka. Saurashtra was 223 for four in the final session, only 53 runs away from taking the first-innings lead, when the balance swung dramatically. Ronit More struck three times in three successive overs, removing Sheldon Jackson, Prerak Mankad and Kamlesh Makwana, as Saurashtra collapsed to 227 for seven at stumps at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday. More walked back with five for 54, his post-tea spell of three for 16 leaving this Ranji Trophy semifinal finely poised with three days left.
In the morning, Karnataka was bowled out for 275, the final pair having added 11 runs to the overnight score. More then struck twice before lunch, with Vishvaraj Jadeja departing on the stroke of the break.
Intense action
Saurashtra was 63 for two and what followed after lunch was an hour of intense red-ball cricket. Abhimanyu Mithun and More probed away relentlessly, bowling with pace and discipline and causing Cheteshwar Pujara much discomfort. The India star, on what was his 31st birthday, needed 12 balls to get off the mark, a single squeezed into the leg-side.
Then came the day’s big moment. Mithun got one ball to rise sharply off the surface, a surprised Pujara could not react quick enough, and as the ball deflected through to the ‘keeper, Karnataka erupted in celebration. Replays would later suggest that the ball had kissed the glove but the umpire was unconvinced. Mithun pounded the turf in disgust. Karnataka looked genuinely stunned. Pujara had faced 18 balls for one run at that point. In 12 overs between lunch and the first drinks break, Saurashtra had added only 17 runs.
But Pujara and Snell Patel weathered that period of hostility and quickly got to work. They scored freely off Karnataka’s spinners, Pujara even heaving a short ball from Shreyas Gopal over mid-wicket for six.
On the stroke of tea, Patel fell for 85 to a poor shot. Pujara was guilty of a similar error after the interval, top-edging an ungainly pull off Mithun. As the ball went up in the air, the bowler gratefully settled under it. Pujara (45) had begun walking off even before Mithun had completed the catch.
After the day’s final drinks break, More ripped through Saurashtra, having Jackson, Mankad and Makwana caught behind. Replays suggested that Mankad had not made contact with the ball, but Karnataka was not complaining.
The scores:
Karnataka — 1st innings: R. Samarth lbw b Unadkat 0, Mayank Agarwal c Patel b Unadkat 2, K.V. Siddharth lbw b Unadkat 12, Karun Nair c Patel b Sakariya 9, Manish Pandey b Unadkat 62, Shreyas Gopal b Makwana 87, Sharath Srinivas (not out) 83, K. Gowtham c Desai b Makwana 2, R. Vinay Kumar b Jadeja 8, A. Mithun c Unadkat b Makwana 4, Ronit More c Desai b Jadeja 2; Extras (b-1, lb-2, nb-1): 4; Total (in 100.3 overs): 275.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-14, 3-19, 4-30, 5-136, 6-232, 7-238, 8-251, 9-258.
Saurashtra bowling: Unadkat 21-6-56-4, Sakariya 15-6-32-1, Mankad 13-4-31-0, Jadeja 30.3-5-79-2, Makwana 21-0-74-3.
Saurashtra — 1st innings: Harvik Desai c Pandey b More 16, Snell Patel c Sharath b Shreyas 85, Vishvaraj Jadeja c Sharath b More 5, Cheteshwar Pujara c and b Mithun 45, Sheldon Jackson c Sharath b More 46, Arpit Vasavada (batting) 26, Prerak Mankad c Sharath b More 0, Kamlesh Makwana c Sharath b More 1; Extras (b-1, lb-2): 3; Total (for seven wickets in 66.3 overs): 227.
Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-63, 3-137, 4-178, 5-223, 6-223, 7-227.
Karnataka bowling: Vinay 15-4-32-0, Mithun 17-5-44-1, More 15.3-1-54-5, Siddharth 3-0-9-0, Gowtham 11-0-50-0, Shreyas 5-0-35-1.
