Confidence high ahead of Mumbai tie: Vinay

Karnataka skipper R Vinay Kumar termed the victory a big confidence-booster ahead of their tough third away match against Mumbai from November 17. “We were a bit disappointed with our performance against Rajasthan,” said Vinay after Karnataka picked up six points against Railways inside three days. “The innings win also means we have nine points now and that should help us go into our next match against a strong side like Mumbai with a positive mindset,” he remarked.

Vinay didn’t read too much into the nature of the track that was clearly designed to blunt Karnataka pacemen. “It’s okay,” he replied when asked if the wicket was a good advertisement for first-class cricket. “It’s their home ground and obviously they will prepare it to suit their strengths. It’s quite natural and we had no problem with that,” he added.

The medium pacer also had a word of praise for KP Appanna who played a stellar role claiming 11 wickets in the match. “He was simply brilliant. He was under great pressure before the start of the season because he was coming in for someone like Sunil Joshi but in the two matches so far he has more than lived up to our expectations.”

Appanna himself was over the moon after bagging his maiden 10-wicket haul. The left-arm spinner’s previous best effort in a match was 6/87 during the 2008-09 season.

“It feels really great,” he noted when asked to reflect on his performance. “It’s an amazing feeling to get your first 10-wicket haul at this level but more importantly we managed to win big. That’s even more satisfying,” he pointed out.