Sagar's hundred boosts Karnataka

Gautam Sagar’s hundred and bowlers’ good effort helped Karnataka tighten their grip over Tamil Nadu on the second day of the under-16 South Zone cricket tournament for the Vijay Merchant Trophy at the SDNRW ground here on Tuesday. 

Resuming from their overnight, 238 for five, Karnataka declared their first innings closed at 382/8 in 151 overs. Sagar, overnight 69, led Karnataka’s surge with a fine hundred (153, 387m, 331b, 16x4). The home side bowlers then reduced TN to 118 for four at close and they still trail by 264 runs. 

However, the day’ start was not so bright for Karnataka as they lost two quick wickets -- SS Luvnith and Utham Aiyappa -- to slip to 260 for seven. However, Sagar and Shubang Hegde (41 n.o.) added precious 117 runs for the eighth wicket to give the hosts a definite edge. 

Tamil Nadu openers Abhishek Selvakumar (43) and R Sonu Yadav started solidly adding 44 runs in a little over 17 overs as a dreary day on the field loomed for Karnataka. Leggie BM Shyreas dismissed Sonu to giev Karnataka an opening and they didn’t let that slip away. Shreyas (2-39) and right-arm pacer Manoj Bhandage (2-19) combined to winkle out three more TN batsmen before close as the hosts gained an upper hand. 

Andhra were in full control of their match against Goa after gaining a substantial innings lead of 132 runs at Mandya. 



Brief scores: At Mysore: Karnataka: 382/8 decl in 151 overs (Gautam Sagar 153, Nikin Jose 96, Shubang Hegde 43 n.o.; S Ajith Ram 3-121) vs Tamil Nadu: 118/4 in 42 overs (Abhishek Selvakumar 43; BM Shreyas 2-39, Manoj Bhandage 2-19). 

Kerala: 306 all out in 122.2 overs (Arun Aji 138, Shiv Ganesh 55, Ashwin Anand 63; Hitesh Yadav 5-88) vs Hyderabad: 27/0 in 13 overs. 

At Mandya: Goa: 122 all out in 80.5 overs and 28/3 in 19 overs (Bharadwaj 2-7) vs Andhra: 254/7 declared in 54 overs (Vamsi Krishna 75, Maheep Kumar 49, Sai Vardhan 44; Shanu Vantamuri 2-55, Umang Gosavi 2-37).