Satisfying knock, says Binny

The Karnataka dressing room wore a very jovial look when the fourth day’s play began. They laughed, listened to music, played a few pranks and were looking in real good spirits.

Twenty minutes after the start, the music player was shut off and jocund voices became mere whimpers as Karnataka once again pushed the self-destruct button and stuttered to 86 for seven against a persistent Haryana. Only eleven runs were needed for the win but Binny was only genuine batsman left and with Harshal Patel breathing fire, anything was possible.

Binny, however, restored those smiles with an calm show with the bat to help the visitors register their second win on the trot. “I went out there with a clear game plan,” said the 29-year-old. “There is no point hanging around on a pitch like this. One needs to go out there with a positive frame of mind and stick to his style of play.

“So I just did what I had to do. Harshal was keeping it tight but we all knew that one ball was going to be bad and that ball needed to be put away. It is a cause for concern that we have been collapsing ever so often though. This was a very satisfying innings for me.”