Bowlers strike back as Karnataka stay in race

For the third day in a row, Baroda and Karnataka searched for domination relentlessly. Both of them had their moments too. But at the end of a sweltering Friday, Karnataka draped themselves with the winner-of-the-day cloak through an outstanding effort by their bowlers.

At the end of the day, Baroda had made 204 for eight in their second innings, largely due to Deepak Hooda’s 67. They now lead by 237 runs, having taken a 33-run first innings lead by bowling out Karnataka for 302. But the numbers didn’t reveal the fascinating and often intense tussle of two evenly matched teams.Karnataka paved the way for a see-saw day in the initial phase of the morning session. At 235 for six, they were exactly 100 runs behind Baroda, and needed some runs from the late order. Shreyas Gopal departed immediately after the first session commenced. But Abhimanyu Mithun, who completed 1000 first-class runs, and Abrar Kazi added 53 runs off 69 balls as the hosts inched close to Baroda’s 335. Once Mithun departed after a 35-ball 40, Karnataka caved in for 302. 

On a pitch that was getting increasingly double-paced, Baroda had their task cut out against a potent Karnataka attack. S Arvind slipped into his dangerous best immediately. Unlike in the first innings, Arvind pitched the ball much fuller and made it swing. He was rewarded with the wickets of Saurabh Wakaskar and Kedar Devdhar soon. At one for two, a Baroda collapse appeared imminent. But Skipper Aditya Waghmode, Hardik Pandya, Yusuf Pathan and Deepak Hooda held the innings together.

Waghmode and Pandya added 34 for the third wicket, 30 came for the fourth wicket between Waghmode and Hooda, and a further 65 off 112 balls were milked by Hooda and Yusuf for the fifth wicket as Baroda fought hard.

It wasn’t that Karnataka bowlers were not trying. Despite those two early strikes, Karnataka needed more wickets to stay ahead after having already conceded the lead. In their quest for wickets, they were even ready to try the unusual. 
Mithun often bowled from a step behind the crease to exploit the uneven bounce on the strip. He might not have the numbers to show for his effort but the right-arm pacer didn’t allow any liberty to the batsmen. Arvind hid the ball behind his back during his run-up, and revealed it only late, trying to exploit that hint of reverse swing.

Ronit More, the third pacer in the Karnataka ranks, was the beneficiary of his seniors’ labour. More didn’t try anything different, but he exploited the pressure at the other end to jettison Yusuf and Irfan Pathan.

Amidst the regular excursions of different batsmen to the other end, Hooda remained defiant. Of course, Karnataka gave him two reprieves during his innings. Manish Pandey grassed a tough chance at slips off Karun Nair, and Robin Uthappa spilled a much easier offering at first slip off Shreyas Gopal when Hooda was on 43.

The home bowlers constantly tested Hooda’s awareness of off-stump. Except on those two occasions, Hooda, who made a hundred in the first innings, never tried any expansive shots square of the wicket, waiting for balls on his pads to collect boundaries through flicks and glances. In fact, eight out of his 10 boundaries came through the leg side.

His first four through the off side came after facing 117 balls, a lofted drive over extra cover off Abrar Kazi. The left-arm spinner eventually dismissed him through a bat-pad catch to give Karnataka the edge. However, their work is far from over. Karnataka need to pluck two more Baroda wickets early on final day, and try to hunt down the target. The track is withering fast, and Baroda are a gritty opponent. Time then for Karnataka to show their champion stuff!  score board
BARODA (I Innings): 335 all outKARNATAKA (I Innings, O/n: 235/6):  Shreyas Gopal c Pinal b Irfan 26 (114m, 81b, 3x4), Abrar Kazi (not out) 35 (126m, 83b, 4x4), A Mithun lbw Swapnil 40 (49m, 35b, 6x4), S Arvind c Yusuf b Swapnil 0 (8m, 3b), Ronit More b Gagandeep 3 (24m, 21b). Extras (B-6, LB-6, NB-3) 15. Total (all out, 100.5 overs) 302.Fall of wickets: 7-236 (Shreyas), 8-289 (Mithun), 9-295 (Arvind).
Bowling: Irfan Pathan 22-3-54-2, Sagar Mangalorkar 21-4-78-2, Gagandeep Singh 22.5-6-52-2, Swapnil Singh 28-3-74-4 (nb-3), Yusuf Pathan 7-0-32-0.BARODA (II Innings): Saurabh Wakaskar lbw Arvind 0 (3m, 1b), Kedar Devdhar b Arvind 0 (16m, 10b), Aditya Waghmode c Uthappa b Karun 23 (103m, 70b, 3x4), Hardik Pandya c Uthappa b Arvind 22 (57m, 37b, 4x4), Deepak Hooda c Samarth b Kazi 67 (164m, 135b, 10x4), Yusuf Pathan lbw More 28 (76m, 38b, 3x4), Irfan Pathan c Samarth b More 14 (35m, 21b, 2x4), Pinal Shah lbw Mithun 8 (30m, 16b, 2x4), Swapnil Singh (batting) 11 (55m, 26b, 2x4), Gagandeep Singh (batting) 19 (43m, 40b, 3x4). Extras (B-4, LB-6, NB-2) 12. Total (8 wkts, 67 overs) 204.  
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Wakskar), 2-1 (Devdhar), 3-35 (Pandya), 4-65 (Waghmode), 5-130 (Yusuf), 6-156 (Irfan), 7-166 (Hooda), 8-166 (Pinal).Bowling: S Arvind 15-7-27-3, A Mithun 13-6-24-1, Ronit More 12-4-50-2, Karun Nair 8-2-33-1 (nb-2), Shreyas Gopal 6-0-29-0, Abrar Kazi 13-3-31-1.