Shreyas Gopal stood defiantly tall as Karnataka stalled Saurashtra’s charge on the third day of their engrossing Ranji Trophy clash.
Jaydev Unadkat and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja had spearheaded Saurashtra’s bowling effort at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, with the home side reduced to 129 for six in the second innings.
But Shreyas, Karnataka’s top-scorer in the first dig, resisted yet again, making an unbeaten 61. He and Abhimanyu Mithun were involved in an unbroken partnership of 61 as their side recovered to 237 for eight at stumps.
Karnataka’s lead is now a healthy 276; with batting expected to get tougher, Manish Pandey’s men will believe they are ahead in the contest.
More takes six
It was a productive day out for Mithun, who in the morning was key to wiping Saurashtra’s tail out. He struck twice in two balls, while Ronit More claimed the other wicket, as the visiting side lost three for nine in 4.3 overs.
Karnataka’s advantage of 39 runs had barely swelled before R. Samarth was sent back, bowled through the gate by an in-ducker from Unadkat. K.V. Siddharth and Karun Nair fell to Prerak Mankad’s seemingly innocuous medium-pace. Mankad bowled off a few paces and generated no great pace, but his stump-to-stump line and extravagant in-swing accounted for both batsmen.
Mayank Agarwal survived an excellent appeal for leg-before early in his innings and then on 11 was put down at first slip by Arpit Vasavada; young Chetan Sakariya was the bowler to suffer on both occasions.
Agarwal went on to make 46, playing some sparkling drives through cover, until he was bowled by a beauty from Jadeja. The left-arm spinner, who now has 50 wickets for the season, got the ball to pitch on middle stump, break sharply, and hit the top of off. Pandey perished at the same bowler’s hands for 26, trapped leg-before by a ball that came in with the arm as he stretched forward in defence.
Unadkat’s 200
Sharath Srinivas and R. Vinay Kumar were claimed by Unadkat in a superb post-lunch spell. The Saurashtra captain, who got to 200 Ranji Trophy wickets on the day, dispatched both batsmen with balls that swung back in late.
Gripping finish
Shreyas, though, would not be beaten. He handled the spinners with ease early on, launching both Jadeja and Kamlesh Makwana over the ropes as a good Republic Day crowd cheered.
Once Mithun joined him, however, Shreyas batted with great maturity, avoiding risks and ensuring his partner did the same.
They got through to stumps unscathed; with two days left in the game, a gripping finish looks on the cards.
The scores:
Karnataka — 1st innings: 275.
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 c Nair b More 30, Prerak Mankad c Sharath b More 0, Kamlesh Makwana c Sharath b More 1, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja c Sharath b Mithun 3, Jaydev Unadkat lbw b Mithun 0, Chetan Sakariya (not out) 1; Extras (b-1, lb-3): 4; Total (in 71 overs): 236.
Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-63, 3-137, 4-178, 5-223, 6-223, 7-227, 8-230, 9-230.
Karnataka bowling: Vinay 15-4-32-0, Mithun 19-6-46-3, More 18-1-60-6, Siddharth 3-0-9-0, Gowtham 11-0-50-0, Shreyas 5-0-35-1.
Karnataka — 2nd innings: R. Samarth b Unadkat 5, Mayank Agarwal b Jadeja 46, K.V. Siddharth b Mankad 8, Karun Nair lbw b Mankad 15, Manish Pandey lbw b Jadeja 26, Shreyas Gopal (batting) 61, Sharath Srinivas lbw b Unadkat 7, R. Vinay Kumar b Unadkat 12, K. Gowtham b Jadeja 11, A. Mithun (batting) 35; Extras (b-5, lb-4, nb-1, w-1): 11; Total (for eight wkts. in 78 overs): 237.
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-26, 3-52, 4-89, 5-108, 6-129, 7-155, 8-176.
Saurashtra bowling: Unadkat 15-3-35-3, Sakariya 11-0-38-0, Mankad 10-0-27-2, Jadeja 27-3-77-3, Makwana 15-1-51-0.
