JOIN USFading light denies Karnataka win
They obviously had no control over the fading light, but an opposition that was trying every trick in its bag, even if they were unfair, to save the match and the umpires’ inability to check Delhi players’ time-wasting tactics certainly left them seething.
Skipper Rahul Dravid made his displeasure known to the umpires when they finally decided to call off the proceedings due to bad light as Karnataka’s Ranji Super League match ended in a draw at the Roshanara ground here on Friday. By virtue of their 106-run first innings lead Karnataka grabbed three points while Delhi settled for one point. Karnataka now have eight points from two outings.
If Dravid was left feeling that his team was denied of two points, he wasn’t farther from the truth. Chasing a tricky 172 for victory from a possible 57 overs, Karnataka were 149 for six after 38 overs, when umpires Kamlesh Sharma and Vilas Karhadkar decided to stop the play.
“To be fair to the umpires they kept the play going, did whatever possible from their side to ensure the game was on. But I still feel the light was good enough to bat. They obviously had decided to stop the play, so there was nothing much one could have done about it,” said Dravid after the match.
However, dramatic moments were gallore during the course of the action too.
Lively pitch
A lively pitch, hard-working bowlers and enterprising batsmen contributed to an exciting game of cricket. The final day was delayed by 165 minutes owing to lack of light and Delhi, resuming at their overnight score of 255 for nine, added another 22 runs to finish their second innings at 277 all out.
Pavinder Awana carted pacemen R Vinay Kumar and S Aravind for a few as Delhi extended their lead to 171, the runs scored in the morning eventually proving crucial in the outcome of the result.
Meanwhile Aravind completed his five-wicket haul when he accounted for last man Pawan Suyal.
The target wasn’t going to be easy, but Karnataka backed themselves to chase it down till the last minute.
At one stage it appeared as though it could be anybody’s game when Karnataka lost wickets in a heap, but Manish Pandey and Thilak Naidu turned things around with fine batsmanship that was as much attractive as daring. CM Gautam once again failed while Amit Verma spent 71 minutes for his five runs without ever looking in.
An assured Pawan (29) was trapped in front while Dravid suffered a rare failure as Karnataka were reduced to 60 for four and the exaggerated celebrations in the Delhi camp were perfectly understandable.
Even as saving the match seemed a difficult proposition, Pandey (50, 44b, 5x4, 1x6) and Naidu (22, 23b, 4x4) went about their job in an uninhibited way; pulling, cutting and driving the bowlers with utter disdain. With the match seemingly slipping away from their grasp, Delhi resorted to time-wasting by either finding problems with their shoes or suddenly asking for physio’s assistance. Unmindful of all this Pandey and Naidu added 46 runs to set the match up for Karnataka before the latter perished attempting an uppercut.
Pandey was dismissed soon after bringing up his half-century and his partner B Akhil would have been better off sacrificing his own wicket in the mix-up. Promoting R Vinay Kumar indicated that Karnataka hadn’t yet given up, but the umpires’ had other ideas.
Score Board
DELHI (I Innings): 154
KARNATAKA (I Innings): 260
DELHI (II Innings, O/n: 255/9): Aakash Chopra lbw Vinay 6 (18m, 16b, 1x4) , Shikhar Dhawan (run out) 100 (317m, 180b, 13x4), Gaurav Chabra c Dravid b Aravind 12 (33m, 26b, 2x4), Rajat Bhatia b Aravind 64 (214m, 156b, 9x4), Mayank Tehlan lbw Aravind 0 (24m, 17b), Yogesh Nagar b Aravind 0 (1m, 2b), Puneet Bisht c Dravid b Vinay 14 (78m, 45b, 1x4), Abhishek Sharma c Naidu b Mithun 34 (68m, 58b, 7x4), Sumeet Narwal c & b Vinay 14 (13m, 11b, 3x4), Parvinder Awana (not out) 21 (21, 17b, 4x4)), Pawan Suyal c Akhil b Aravind 0 (16m, 8b). Extras (LB-4, B-4, W-2, NB-2) 12. Total (all out, 89.1 overs) 277.
Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Chopra), 2-41 (Chabra), 3-176 (Bhatia), 4-184 (Tehlan), 5-184 (Nagar), 6-191 (Dhawan), 7-233 (Bisht), 8-251 (Sharma), 9-255 (Narwal).
Bowling: Vinay Kumar 20-6-70-3 (w-1), A Mithun 25-2-96-1 (nb-1, w-1), S Aravind 21.1-7-49-5 (w-1, nb-1), B Akhil 10-4-22-0, Sunil Joshi 12-1-32-0, Amit Verma 1-1-0-0.
KARNATAKA (II Innings): KB Pawan lbw Narwal 29 (104m, 73b, 3x4), CM Gautam c Dhawan b Awana 5 (9m, 7b, 1x4), Amit Verma lbw Narwal 5 (71m, 40b), Rahul Dravid c Bisht b Narwal 5 (35m, 31b), Manish Pandey (run out) 50 (81m, 44b, 5x4, 1x6), Thilak Naidu c Bisht b Awana 22 (34m, 23b, 4x4), B Akhil (not out) 15 (45m, 17b, 1x4), R Vinay Kumar (not out) 2 (11m, 3b). Extras (B-1, LB-1, W-14) 16. Total (for 6 wkts, 38 overs) 149.
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Gautam), 2-34 (Verma), 3-50 (Pawan), 4-60 (Rahul Dravid), 5-106 (Naidu), 6-142 (Pandey).
Bowling: Sumeet Narwal 15-2-36-2 (w-1), Parvinder Awana 14-4-54-2 (w-12), Pawan Suyal 8-1-46-1, Rajat Bhatia 1-0-11-0 (w-1).