A seemingly stronger Western Australia took the top honours in their drawn encounter against a hurriedly assembled Karnataka side on the second and final day here at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Thursday.
With most of their top players in action in the ongoing Moin-Ud-Dowla Gold Cup tournament in Hyderabad, Karnataka State Cricket Association was forced to call back a few of their players home with the Australians turning up as part of their annual India trip.
Wicket-keeper Devraj Patil, who is leading the side here, all-rounder Gaurav Dhiman and opener Bharath Chipli among others had to pack their bags to City to turn up for the State side.
Captain’s knock
Skipper Marcus North took all the accolades on the last day with a well-made century as the visitors held sway over hosts throughout the match.
Resuming at their overnight score of 176 for two, in pursuit of Karnataka’s first innings total of 234, Aussies finished their innings at 420 for six at the completion of their quota of 90 overs, establishing a handsome 186-run lead.
North, overnight nine, played the captain’s knock notching up an authoritative 122 that came off 182 balls laced with 18 hits to the fence. His century was the cornerstone around which Australia built their huge innings.
Vital contribution
The other notable contribution on the day came from Shaun Marsh, who scored a flamboyant 56 (99b, 8x4). Theo Doropoulus (34, 55b, 3x4, 1x6) and Michael Johnson (23 n.o., 55b, 2x4) provided the meat towards the end. For Karnataka, left-arm spinner Arjun Shetty and off-spinner Sunil Raju picked up two wickets each.
Needing to score another 187 to make Aussies bat again, Karnataka, in their second essay, were 80 for four from 27 overs when the match was called off. SN Amith top-scored with 29.
Left-arm spinner Aaron Heal picked up two wickets in the second innings.
Brief scores:
Karnataka: 234 and 80/4 in 27 overs (SN Amith 29; Aaron Heal 2-6) drew with Western Australia (O/n 176/2): 420/6 in 90 overs (Shaun Marsh 56, Marcus North 122, Theo Doropoulus 34; Arjun Shetty 2-98, Sunil N Raju 2-99).
