JOIN USFazal's ton keeps Karnataka at bay
Skipper CM Gautam’s disappointed face after losing the toss to Vidarbha suggested that Karnataka were going to have a tough day at the office at the VCA Stadium here on Thursday.
For a very brief moment, it looked like Gautam’s reaction to fielding first on a flat track was a little extreme, but as the opening day unfolded it became clearer why the wicketkeeper looked skywards while walking back to the pavilion to pad up for what would eventually turn out to be an unfruitful day for Karnataka.
Led by a technically sound, unbeaten century from opener Faiz Fazal (139, 374m, 259b, 20x4) and skipper Shalabh Shrivastava’s patient unbeaten 75, the hosts reached 244 for two from 90 overs against a bowling unit that left a lot to be desired on a pitch that showed no life whatsoever.
At the start of the day, it looked like Karnataka were going to wrap things up quick. Abhimanyu Mithun got rid of Akshay Kolhar, who came in for injured Hemang Badani, in the very second ball of the match, eliciting an edge that Manish Pandey caught in the second slip with the score on one. Things could not have looked better for the visitors on a chilly morning. That, however, was one of the very few bright spots on the day for them.
Red-hot form
Following that early breakthrough, Fazal took the situation by the scruff of its neck and tilted the day’s honours in favour of Vidarbha. Coming into this game with 303 runs from five innings -- including a century against Odisha in their previous encounter -- Fazal was expected to strike again at the VCA where he had already notched up three out of his six first-class centuries.
Facing no real threat from paceman HS Sharath, who was surprisingly included ahead of left-arm pacer Sreenath Arvind who has done well in the first two matches, and left-arm spinner KP Appanna, the 28-year-old had only Mithun to ward-off, and he did so in style. He played the big-built seamer with caution but when others came on, he opened up and scored runs with ease. At the other end, Amol Ubarhande too looked set to make the most of the pitch and the poor bowling attack, but he was in for a rude surprise in the 22nd over. Debutant Abrar Kazi, who was brought in as the second spinner to lighten the workload on Appanna, seemed in control of his nerves as he trotted up to the crease for his first over in first-class cricket.
Four balls later, Kazi’s delivery snuck through Ubarhande’s defences and struck the right-hander’s pad. Kazi and the fielders inside the circle went up in unison but they were all visibly surprised when the umpire adjudged the batsman out leg before wicket. Ubarhande (18) stood transfixed for a minute before making way for skipper Shalabh Shrivastava.
Shrivastava seemed out of place for a few overs before settling in to play able foil to Fazal as the duo added 181 runs for the third wicket to put Vidarbha firmly in drivers’ seat.