Karnataka nose ahead
Cricket Ranji Trophy
Satish’s men end day three on 169 for six, lead by 192 runs
An equal contest for the third straight day between bat and ball ended much the same way as the previous two – with the visitors having their noses marginally in front.
Little would Karnataka have expected, coming into their Group A Ranji Trophy encounter against Orissa, that things would get so difficult. After all, Ganesh Satish’s men were just one point behind table toppers Mumbai, while Orissa were languishing at the foot of the table, with only a solitary point.
A tricky deck with some spice has proved a great leveller, forcing Karnataka to play out of their skins. Having taken a token but crucial first-innings lead of 23, Karnataka finished Thursday’s penultimate day at the Railway ground on a scratchy 169 for six, 192 ahead and for that very reason the better placed of the two teams.
A spirited Orissa, who resumed on 211 for seven in response to Karnataka’s 278, had their moments despite being bowled out for 255, courtesy Stuart Binny’s maiden five-for in his 30th Ranji game. Karnataka got off to another frenetic start but led astutely by Halhadar Das, Orissa fought back admirably to pick up four for 34 and reduce the former champions to 114 for five.
Binny was the fifth of those wickets, trodding on his stumps even as he neatly worked Alok Mangaraj to mid-wicket, but perhaps the decisive moment of the game had come a little earlier. Amit Verma, a nervous and edgy starter, played an optimistic pull off Mangaraj with the bat coming from below the height of the ball, and put the ball up in the direction of fine-leg.
Santosh Jena made good ground to his left from long-leg and got under the ball nicely, but somehow let it slip from his grasp. Then only 10, Verma punished Orissa for their largesse, staying put till the close and defying the home attack for over three hours to ensure his own bowlers had something of a target to defend.
Verma’s comrade in arms during an innings-retrieving, undefeated stand of 33 (75m, 122b) for the seventh wicket was Sunil Raju, the duo showing great patience and remarkable resilience to keep Orissa at bay and retrieve a dicey situation caused by the second top-order collapse of the match.
Robin Uthappa and KB Pawan had built nicely on the first-innings lead, the former batting quite beautifully before a mix-up ended his entertaining knock. Pawan, becalmed for large periods, and Satish made steady progress during a second-wicket stand of 42, but when the hard-working Basanta Mohanty procured awkward bounce off a length and Biplab Samantray took a good catch at slip to see Pawan’s back, the soft underbelly was exposed.
Bharath Chipli fell to an outstanding low catch to his left at slip by Govind Podder, Ganesh was caught at gully, Binny was dismissed hit wicket and CM Gautam was cleaned up by a beauty from Mohanty that came back a mile before Verma and Raju stemmed the rot.
Podder had stemmed the rot the previous evening and carried Orissa’s hopes as they sought the 68 runs that would have given them the first-innings lead.
The stylish right-hander began with a succession of boundaries to push Karnataka on to the back foot despite the new ball having been requisitioned.
Binny, not brought on until the day’s 12th over, settled nerves by producing a beauty that shaped away and pegged back Podder’s off-stump, triggering relief and elation in the Karnataka camp.
KP Appanna kept the pressure up and got rid of Jena, while the 27-year-old Binny was rewarded for persistence, intelligence and the willingness to hit the deck as he went under Mangaraj’s blade and rattled timber to finish with five for 51.
