Karnataka settle for a draw

Hosts claim three points to lead table, assure quarterfinal berth

Resuming at their overnight 302 for four, Karnataka opted to bat on and scored 391 for eight, giving them an overall lead of 479, before declaring their second innings closed nearly two hours into the first session of the final day at the Gangotri Glades. Baroda made 151 for three when the teams decided to end the proceedings.

Karnataka earned three points from this match while Baroda bagged one point. The hosts, sitting on top of the table with 20 points and assured of a berth in the quarterfinals, will now travel to Kanpur to face Uttar Pradesh in their last league encounter from December 15.

It’s easy to term Karnataka’s methods as negative and one lacking in purpose, but they approached this match, more precisely the second innings, with a specific plan — give their top-order batsmen as much time as possible in the middle to get their act together. Their game plan was evident when they decided to bat the entire third day on Friday, and they continued the policy this morning as well.

Overnight batsmen Amit Verma and Stuart Binny started the day by making clear their intentions to stay long at the crease while stonewalling nearly every delivery. But their designs did not bear fruit as Verma departed in the fourth over of the day, edging Sankalp Vohra to Pinal Shah behind the stumps.

Binny too did not last long as Vohra trapped him in front of the wicket, and it was natural to expect a declaration at that juncture with the overall lead well over the 400-run mark. But with skipper R Vinay Kumar also deciding to polish his batting skills, the element of excitement soon vanished.

Vinay, who is playing for the State after missing the matches against Orissa and Himachal Pradesh due to his national commitments, batted confidently in the company of A Mithun and S Arvind to score a fifty. However, the time consumed in the morning session also robbed Karnataka bowlers of a chance to bowl in helpful conditions and have a go at the inexperienced Baroda line-up.

Still, there were a few exciting moments when in-form Karnataka bowlers tried wholeheartedly, particularly in the post-lunch session, to make some inroads into the Baroda batting order. The visitors’ inept show in the first innings might have also fuelled the Karnataka hopes.

Baroda openers Connor Williams and Jaykishen Kolsawala found the going tough against Mithun and the right-arm pacer soon got rewards for his perseverance. Mithun’s snorter caught Williams off guard and the left-hander was in no position to duck under or weave away from the delivery, edging it to Verma in the slip. Sunil Joshi dismissed Ketan Panchal to raise hopes of another Karnataka surge.

At 43 for two, Baroda needed a solid alliance to ward off the persistent Karnataka bowlers. A 45-run alliance off 92 balls for the third wicket between a stubborn Kolsawala and Rakesh Solanki was precisely what Baroda needed at that stage. Kolsawala was much more positive in his approach this time and even used his feet well against the spinners. His run-out a few minutes before tea was just a minor deterrent as Ambati Rayudu and Rakesh Solanki took Baroda to safety while milking 63 runs for the fourth wicket.

However, there won’t be too much disappointment in the Karnataka camp after their three-point effort because it was the path they chose to travel.


Scoreboard

KARNATAKA (I Innings): 257 all out in 88.1 overs.
BARODA (I Innings): 169 all out in 69.4 overs.
KARNATAKA (II Innings, O/n: 302/4): KB Pawan c Shah b S Vohra b 18 (102m, 77b, 2x4); Robin Uthappa c Shah b Vahora 7 (33m, 16b); Ganesh Satish c Rayudu b Panchal 76 (232m, 151b, 12x4); Manish Pandey c Vahora b Bhat 42 (99m, 67b, 7x4); Amit Verma c Shah b Vahora 80 (268m, 215b, 10x4); Stuart Binny lbw Vohra 70 (221m, 145b, 5x4); CM Gautam c Gagandeep b Vohra 12 (41m, 28b, 2x4); R Vinay Kumar (not out) 50 (76m, 60b, 3x4, 2x6); A Mithun b Bhat 6 (27m, 13b); S Arvind (not out) 3 (21m, 14b); Extras (B-4, LB-4, NB-6, W-13) 27; Total (eight wickets declared, 130 overs) 391.
Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Uthappa), 2-48 (Pawan), 3-121 (Pandey), 4-167 (Ganesh), 5-314 (Verma), 6-316 (Binny), 7-339 (Gautam), 8-368 (Mithun).
Bowling: Murtuja Vahora 25-6-70-2 (w-1), Sankalp Vohra 28-7-71-3 (nb-1, w-1), Bhargav Bhat 31-3-109-2 (nb-2, w-7), Gagandeep Singh 29-6-79-0 (w-4), Ketan Panchal 16-4-50-1 (nb-4), Ambati Rayudu 1-0-4-0.
BARODA (II Innings): Connor Williams c Verma b Mithun 17 (32m, 26b, 3x4); Jaykishen Kolsawla (run out) 42 (136m, 107b, 6x4, 1x6); Ketan Panchal c Ganesh b Joshi 5 (42m, 34b); Rakesh Solanki (not out) 46 (144m, 101b, 7x4); Ambati Rayudu (not out) 33 (83m, 65b, 6x4); Extras (B-4, LB-1, NB-3) 8; Total (for three wickets, 55 overs) 151.
Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Williams), 2-43 (Panchal), 3-88 (Kolsawala).
Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 8-2-15-0, A Mithun 8-1-25-1 (nb-3), Amit Verma 6-1-12-0, Ganesh Satish 4-1-10-0, Sunil Joshi 8-2-24-1, S Arvind 8-1-34-0, Stuart Binny 7-4-14-0, Robin Uthappa 3-1-7-0, Manish Pandey 3-1-5-0.