JOIN USBinny, Ganesh make merry
Resuming at their overnight 178 for two, Karnataka decided to give their batsmen more time at the middle. The top order responded to the decision in a stellar fashion dishing out their strongest batting effort thus far. Karnataka’s top six batsmen fired in unison for the first time in the season as the visitors garnered 537 for four at the Green Park stadium here on Satuday before they freed Uttar Pradesh from the misery with a merciful declaration well after tea.
It might have come against a dispirited Uttar Pradesh attack, but the amount of runs they put on board and against their names on the day will certainly stand in good stead during their quarterfinal match against Madhya Pradesh at Indore starting on December 24. Stuart Binny and Ganesh Satish notched up hundreds while Amit Verma and Manish Pandey helped themselves to fifties as Karnataka ended their league campaign as the group topper with 23 points.
Uttar Pradesh got one point from this match and their inability to score an outright win meant the former champions will miss the quarterfinals for the first time in five years.
Binny (127 n.o, 157b, 14x4, 3x6) and Satish (100 n.o, 157b, 12x4) have so far experienced a contrasting season with the former making a hundred and two fifties in six innings. But Ganesh, who led Karnataka against Orissa and Himachal Pradesh in the absence of R Vinay Kumar, had experienced a patchy season with just three fifties coming in 11 innings.
But on a sunny day, Ganesh heralded his return to the run-making ways with a fluent hundred, a knock filled with a clutch of attractive shots. A straight drive off Piyush Chawla, a crisp cut past the point fielder off Rohit Chaudhary and a few aerial shots vouched for his increasing touch and confidence.
Ganesh might have been under a bit of pressure to score some big runs and the way he started the innings reflected his state of mind, pushing at the cherry a bit hard. But he did well to keep his nerves in check to play a fine innings and realised 237 runs for an entertaining unbeaten fifth wicket stand with Binny.
At the other end, Binny was in excellent rhythm and notched up his second hundred of the season. His first ton came under pressure against Himachal at Dharamsala two weeks back, but the burly all-rounder fully exploited his team’s strong position on the day to add a few more runs under his belt.
It was the free-flowing Binny on view, playing some power-packed shots and he reached his hundred with a six down the ground off part-time spinner Shivkant Shukla. Ganesh too reached the three-figure mark, for the first time this season, soon in a more sedate fashion with a gentle flick off Parvinder Singh to mid-wicket, also prompting a Karnataka declaration.
Verma, overnight 31, too appeared to be on course to join the centurions’ list in the morning, playing with ease and poise in the company of Pandey, who looked in fine fettle, to milk 134 runs for the third wicket. But a little streak of impatience ended his stay. Verma was perhaps eager to get to the three figure mark, and his attempt to steer Shivkant past slip resulted only in a simple catch to UP skipper Mohammad Kaif.
But that was only a slight relief for UP as Binny and Ganesh produced a mammoth alliance.