The ball hissed, spun, reared like a cobra and brushed Fazil Rashid’s blade. For the batter, it was the kiss of death.
Shreyas Gopal’s exuberant celebration reflected the importance of the scalp. The Karnataka leg-spinner had broken the developing fourth-wicket partnership of 79 between Rashid and skipper Ian Dev Singh.
Shreyas, bounding in and getting some fizz off the pitch, scalped three but Jammu & Kashmir, set a mammoth target of 508, fought hard to finish Saturday, day three of this Ranji contest at the IIT-Chemplast ground, at 190 for four.
Free-flowing knock
Ian Dev (65 batting, 113b, 8x4, 2x6) impressed with his free-flowing strokeplay; both Shreyas and off-spinner K. Gowtham were struck beautifully for straight sixes.
And Abdul Samad (21 batting), a talented batter, took Shreyas on, dumping him over wide long-on and extra-cover for sixes.
Earlier, Rashid (65, 140b, 8x4, 2x6) caught the eye. The pacemen were driven firmly. Shreyas was sent crashing through covers and then pulled for the maximum.
Jammu & Kashmir was dented early. Prasidh Krishna bowled a series of away going deliveries and then set Qamar Iqbal up by bringing one back; the batter was leg-before.
Then, Jatin Wadhwan was caught at slip by Devdutt Padikkal off a Shreyas leg-break.
Adjusting his line to the left-handed Shubham Pundir, Shreyas bowled one with extra bounce for R. Samarth to grab a sharp catch at short-leg.
Karnataka was without seamer Ronit More, nursing a back spasm.
Karun keeps it going
In the morning, Karun Nair followed his first innings 175 with a polished unbeaten 71 (114b, 6x4, 1x6).
Once again, Karun’s mind and body were in harmony. His shots on either side were crisp and he rotated the strike with K.V. Siddharth attacking the bowling.
Karun and Siddharth (72, 72b, 8x4, 1x6) added 113 for the third wicket in 137 deliveries.
The fluency in Siddharth’s batting is hard to miss. A natural stroke-maker, he gets into good positions for shots off either foot. Then, skipper Manish Pandey blitzed a cameo before the declaration.
However, J & K refused to cave in a second time.
The scores:
Karnataka — 1st innings: 302.
Jammu & Kashmir — 1st innings: 93.
Karnataka — 2nd innings: R. Samarth b Mushtaq 62, Devdutt Padikkal lbw b Mushtaq 49, Karun Nair (not out) 71, K.V. Siddharth st Fazil Rashid b Abid Mushtaq 72, Manish Pandey (not out) 37; Extras (b-1, lb-6): 7; Total (for three wkts. decl. in 71 overs): 298.
Fall of wickets: 1-106, 2-125, 3-238.
Jammu & Kashmir bowling: Mujtaba 9-0-44-0, Rasool 28-5-90-0, Nabi 5-0-21-0, Mushtaq 18-1-65-3, Samad 5-0-28-0, Umran Malik 6-0-43-0.
Jammu & Kashmir — 2nd innings: Qamran Iqbal lbw b Prasidh 4, Jatin Washwan c Padikkal b Gopal 15, Fazil Rashid c Pandey b Gopal 65, Shubham Pundir c Samarth b Gopal 9, Ian Dev Singh (batting) 65, Abdul Samad (batting) 21, Extras (b-5, lb-4, w-2): 11; Total (for four wkts. in 59 overs): 190.
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-39, 3-57, 4-136.
Karnataka bowling: Prasidh 13-7-21-1, Gowtham 18-3-59-0, Patil 9-4-11-0, Shreyas 19-3-90-3.
