Karnataka hit a trough, crumbling from 302 for two to 358 for six, but recouped to 452 by tea on day two of its Ranji Trophy quarterfinal at the Holkar Stadium on Tuesday. The reigning champion then reduced Assam to 58 for three at the close.
Assam undermined Karnataka’s advance in the crucial first hour itself. Krishna Das probed the corridor, repeatedly beating the bat, his toil rewarded in due time with a bag of four for 101.
Two feather-touch cuts by Manish Pandey helped the industrious paceman spot a chink in the batsman’s armour. Getting the ball to rise off a good length Das squeezed out an edge from Pandey to Arun Karthick, fetching the stumper the first of his five victims.
The same duo enabled Samarth’s exit. Karthick juggled with the ball this time but clutched it low to his right. Bowling from the pavilion end proved more productive, the added lift also accounting for Karun Nair, caught behind, but off Arup Das.
Pallav Das from the far end frisked Shishir Bhavane’s blade and Karthick did the rest. The Karnataka bastion that had looked invincible the day before, suddenly seemed so susceptible to damage. C.M. Gautham was a steadying influence but batting at the other end proved brittle.
Shreyas Gopal, who cracked a century against M.P. at this very ground earlier in the season, backed up too far and was caught short by Sibsankar Roy’s accurate throw to Pallav at the bowler’s end. Skipper Vinay Kumar met with the same fate, felled by Pallav’s direct hit, following which the tail folded soon after.
The scores: Karnataka — 1st innings: Robin Uthappa c & b Mohammad 153, K.L. Rahul b Nechim 91, R. Samarth c Karthick b Krishna Das 46, Manish Pandey c Karthick b Krishna Das 36, Karun Nair c Karthick b Arup Das 20, Shishir Bhavane c Karthick b Pallav 10, C.M. Gautham (not out) 44, Shreyas Gopal run out 38, Vinay Kumar run out 3, Abhimanyu Mithun c Karthick b Krishna Das 6, S. Arvind b Krishna Das 0; Extras (b-1, lb-4): 5; Total (in 144.2 overs): 452.
Fall of wickets: 1-194, 2-264, 3-326, 4-327, 5-356, 6-358, 7-439, 8-442, 9-452.
Assam bowling: Arup Das 31-11-77-1, Krishna Das 37.2-8-101-4, Abu Nechim 20-0-95-1, Pallav Das 16-4-35-1, J. Syed Mohammad 23-4-74-1, Swarupam Purukayastha 15-4-63-0, Gokul Sharma 2-1-2-0.
Assam — 1st innings: Pallav Das c Samarth b Gopal 11, Sibsankar Roy c Rahul b Arvind 16, Gokul Sharma (batting) 18, Dheeraj Jadhav b Gopal 3, Arun Karthick (batting) 5; Extras (b-4, lb-1): 5; Total (for three wickets in 27 overs): 58.
Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-32, 3-45.
Karnataka bowling: R. Vinay Kumar 8-1-18-0, Abhimanyu Mithun 8-3-17-0, S. Arvind 5-3-12-1, Shreyas Gopal 6-1-6-2.
