Vinay Kumar scythes through Mumbai top-order

The skipper’s six for 34 hands Karnataka massive advantage; Dhawal Kulkarni wages a lone battle

Ball of fire: Karnataka skipper Vinay Kumar, who removed the cream of Mumbai batsmen very early in the innings, celebrates his hat-trick with teammates.

R. Vinay Kumar’s second six-wicket haul against Mumbai, including a hat-trick, meant Karnataka took firm control of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against heavyweight Mumbai on the first day itself.

Thanks to Vinay’s six for 34, Karnataka bundled Mumbai out for 173 just before tea.

Later, an on-song Mayank Agarwal combined with R. Samarth and Kaunain Abbas, who was drafted into the XI after D. Nischal injured his finger moments before the toss, to help Karnataka end on 115 for one at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Jamtha on Thursday.

Considering the early start, it didn’t come as a surprise when Vinay opted to bowl the moment he won his seventh successive toss of the season. On a wicket suited for batsmen, early strikes were going to be the key.

Vinay helped Karnataka get the best possible start, bowling a nagging line and forcing Mumbai batsmen into errors.

He moved the last ball of the first over just a little bit after pitching it in the perfect channel to see promising Prithvi Shaw offering a simple catch to Karun Nair in the cordon.

Stunning catch

The first ball of Vinay’s next over was a repeat with Jay Bista being the victim. Karun pulled off a stunning one-handed catch.

A panicked Mumbai camp promoted Akash Parkar to see off the new ball and shield the middle-order but Vinay pitched the next one full to trap Parkar in front and burst into celebrations. He achieved his second hat-trick this season.

At seven for three, Mumbai pinned its hopes on the crisis-man Siddhesh Lad to bail it out yet again. But Vinay bowled the ball of the morning to force him to nick it to the ’keeper. From 21 for four, Mumbai could never recover and was precariously placed at 90 for seven.

Soon after lunch, Vinay changed ends and got rid of Akhil Herwadkar for his fifth wicket. He then added one more by forcing an edge off Karsh Kothari’s willow. At 103 for nine, Dhawal Kulkarni found an ally in debutant Shivam Malhotra.

The duo’s 70-run association, with Kulkarni scoring freely against spinners K. Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal en route to his third successive fifty, gave Mumbai score some respectability.

The scores:

Mumbai — 1st innings: Prithvi Shaw c Nair b Vinay 2, Jay Bista c Nair b Vinay 1, Akhil Herwadkar c Samarth b Vinay 32, Akash Parkar lbw b Vinay 0, Siddhesh Lad c Gautam b Vinay 8, Suryakumar Yadav c Gautam b Arvind 14, Aditya Tare c Samarth b Mithun 4, Shivam Dube b Gowtham 7, Dhawal Kulkarni c Vinay b Arvind 75, Karsh Kothari c Gautam b Vinay 1, Shivam Malhotra (not out) 7; Extras (b-8, lb-1, nb-2, w-6, pen-5): 22; Total (in 56 overs): 173.

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-7, 3-7, 4-21, 5-40, 6-49, 7-74, 8-95, 9-103.

Karnataka bowling: R. Vinay Kumar 15-2-34-6, A. Mithun 11-1-31-1, S. Arvind 15-4-45-2, K. Gowtham 11-1-31-1, Shreyas Gopal 4-2-18-0.

Karnataka — 1st innings: R. Samarth b Dube 40, Mayank Agarwal (batting) 62, Kaunain Abbas (batting) 12; Extras (nb-1): 1; Total (for one wkt., in 29 overs): 115.

Fall of wicket: 1-83.

Mumbai bowling: Dhawal Kulkarni 8-2-17-0, Shivam Malhotra 7-0-33-0, Akash Parkar 3-0-26-0, Karsh Kothari 4-0-25-0, Shivam Dube 6-2-11-1, Jay Bista 1-0-3-0.