'Unfortunate to lose late wickets'

Karnataka vice-captain CM Gautam termed the three quick dismissals in the dying moments of the final session as unfortunate and stressed that the first hour of play on day two will be crucial for the hosts.

“Vidarbha made a good comeback and it was unfortunate for us to lose three wickets in the last session,” he said.

The wicketkeeper-batsman felt that Karnataka will have to post a strong first innings score of 450-500 runs to give themselves a chance of an outright win. “We are looking at a score of 450-500 and the first hour will be crucial for us.”

Gautam praised Karun Nair and Manish Pandey for their partnership. “They (Nair and Pandey) batted really well. They took their own time to get adjusted to the wicket but once they got set, they played their natural game and it was crucial for the team’s cause for them to make runs,” said Gautam.

Defending his side’s slow and cautious approach in the first two sessions, Gautam opined that the wicket had some help for the pace bowlers initially. “We had to play on the merit of the ball and couldn’t really go hard at their bowlers.”

Vidarbha seamer Ravikumar Thakur revealed there was no specific plan to counter the strong batting line up of Karnataka and said that his side was happy to have removed the top-order at the end of first day. “We just wanted to maintain a good line and length and there was no specific plan. We are happy that we got the crucial wickets of Manish Pandey and Karun Nair,” he said.

Thakur added that Badrinath’s knee injury wasn’t serious and the skipper might take the field on Friday.