Ganesh, Vinay help Karnataka grab lead

Ganesh Satish usually takes the backseat amidst his more chirpy team-mates, but he could no longer hide behind the mask on a sultry Saturday at the Gangothri Glades.

Satish was the toast of his team-mates and a Saturday crowd of 500 after playing a big role in helping Karnataka take first innings lead against Jharkhand.

In response to Jharkhand’s first innings total of 364, Karnataka, overnight 123 for one, looked well placed to earn the lead. But they faltered on several occasions and were precariously placed on 304 for six in their Ranji Trophy Group ‘A’ match here.
By the end of the third day, riding on gritty performances from Satish (63, 154m, 93b, 6x4) and skipper R Vinay Kumar (55 n.o., 124m, 92b, 5x4), Karnataka declared their first innings at 424 for seven for a lead of 60 runs. Jharkhand played out the six overs left in the day and scored four runs without any casualties to trail by 56 runs.

Coming into the third day’s play, Jharkhand did not expect to be behind Karnataka at any stage. Needing 65 runs to have a chance of claiming the three points for innings lead should the match end in a draw, it looked bleak for the hosts as Jharkhand’s bowlers -- especially Rahul Shukla (3/106) -- were firing on all cylinders.

After most of the top order returned to the hut, Satish, who usually plays up the order came in at number seven and carved a calm 29 runs alongside Manish Pandey (52, 170m, 100b, 4x4, 1x6) before the latter fell playing a casual shot.

Vinay arrived at the crease and looked at ease but the possibility of falling short of Jharkhand’s total still loomed large. However, Satish, who was by then comfortable with the uneven bounce of the third-day pitch, ensured the score board ticked along and trusted his partner in holding up the other end.

Vinay’s was tenacious presence and that gave Satish the freedom to play to his strengths. Brick by brick, the duo added fifty runs for the seventh wicket -- during the course of which Satish completed his half-century -- and at that point Karnataka needed eleven runs to ensure that Jharkhand would not end up with the innings lead. That target was achieved when Satish cut Shiv Shankar Rao for three runs, helping Karnataka reach 366.

With that hurdle out of the way, Satish looked to free his hands a little but instead ended up top-edging a delivery from Jharkhand skipper Shabaz Nadeem straight to wicketkeeper Ishank Jaggi off a mistimed sweep, and walked back to the pavilion to a standing ovation. However, Abhimanyu Mithun took things to a whole new level.

Standing and delivering the most powerful strikes with nonchalance, Mithun raced to 30 with three fours and two sixes -- one of which went out of the ground. Vinay too shed his inhibitions and went after Jharkhand bowlers to reach his fifty before close of play.  Now, it’s the turn of Karnataka bowlers.

JHARKHAND (I Innings): 364 all out.
KARNATAKA (I Innings, O/n: 123/1 in 32 overs): Mayank Agarwal b Shukla 90 (235m, 144 balls, 12x4, 1x6), KL Rahul c Jaggi b Rao 33 (82m, 47b, 6x4), Kunal Kapoor c Gautham b Nadeem 49 (135m, 96b, 5x4), Manish Pandey c (sub) b Aaron 52 (170m, 100b, 4x4, 1x6), CM Gautam b Shukla 42 (86m, 64b, 7x4), Stuart Binny c (sub) b Shukla 2 (11m, 6b), Ganesh Satish c Jaggi b Nadeem 63 (154m, 93b, 6x4), R Vinay Kumar (not out) 55 (124m, 92b, 5x4), Abhimanyu Mithun (not out) 30 (24m, 13b, 3x4, 2x6). Extras (LB-6, W-1, NB-1) 8. Total (for 7 wkts declared, 109 overs) 424.
Fall of wickets: 1-61 (Rahul), 2-160 (Mayank), 3-176 (Agarwal), 4-245 (Gautam), 5-249 (Binny), 6-304 (Pandey), 7-372 (Satish).
Bowling: Shiv Shankar Rao 28-5-78-1 (w-1), Varun Aaron 25-8-81-1, Rahul Shukla 20-0-106-3 (nb-1), Shabaz Nadeem 27-6-90-2, Sunny Gupta 9-0-63-0.
JHARKHAND (II Innings): Bhavik Thaker (batting) 2 (23m, 17b), Aakash Verma (batting) 2 (23m, 19b). Total (for no loss, 6 overs) 4.
Bowling: Sreenath Aravind 2-2-0-0, KP Appanna 2-0-4-0, Abhimayu Mithun 2-2-0-0.