Pacer Vidwath Kaverappa exults after dismissing Goa's Mohit on the fourth and final day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match in Shivamogga on Tuesday.
Credit: DH Photo
Shivamogga: When Vidwath Kaverappa (5/51) picked up Samar Dubhashi for Karnataka’s ninth wicket and his fifth, there was a stroll and a few punches in the air at the KSCA Navule Stadium.
On an expectedly sedentary fourth and final day, the game briefly sparked to life when Vidwath sent Arjun Tendulkar (47) back to the pavilion in the second over of the morning.
Soon, Karnataka grabbed three wickets in just 10.2 overs to take the first-innings honours.
After enforcing the follow-on, it left them with 78.2 overs to bowl out Goa again for an outright win, which was the thought in mind while making the trip to Shivamogga and once they picked four seamers with a tinge of grass.
If Goa’s second innings was anything to go by, it seemed they had visions of fighting it out and taking home at least a point. With the surface under covers, the pitch showed no wear and tear of a typical fourth-day wicket.
Abhinav (73 not out) and Manthan Khutkar (55 not out) stemmed the jitters after Suyash Prabhudessai’s dismissal (12), batting with flair as they guided Goa to 143/1 in 46 overs and forced Karnataka to shake hands.
It was a very calm end to a slightly chaotic morning, but nothing could dampen the spirits of around 100 fans, who were cheering to the very end as Ranji Trophy cricket had returned to the venue after five long years.
After Vidwath’s impressive first-innings outing, Goa did well to avoid being crushed by the weight of 154 runs. Despite following on, Abhinav and Manthan regained Goa’s composure by the fourth evening to bring proceedings to a halt as on-field umpires Saurabh Dhote and Anand M Ovalekar flicked the bails.
The two batters quickly got into their stride as time ticked on, driving, cutting, flicking a tiring Karnataka attack that was slowly starting to accept its fate.
The batting effort saw them stitch a 123-run partnership in 244 balls and it was just what the doctor ordered to take them to safety with no panic buttons being pressed in the change room.
After a brief shower in the afternoon, Agarwal quickly called his quicks for one final roll of the dice, and then gave his part-timers a go.