Haryana wrest command

Cricket Ranji Trophy : Karnataka batters falter as visitors take 110-run first innings lead

 After their batsmen helped them post a competitive first innings total, Haryana bowlers produced a quality bowling performance to put rivals Karnataka on the mat on day two of their Group ‘A’ Ranji Trophy encounter here at the SDNR Wadiyar Stadium on Friday.

Resuming at their overnight score of 319 for eight, Haryana folded up early, adding just 12 more runs. Pacer HS Sharath (5/48), who dazzled with a hat-trick on day one, bagged a five-wicket haul for Karnataka.

The spin duo of Rahul Dagar (3/10) and Jayant Yadav (2/75) then troubled the Karnataka batsmen as Haryana restricted the defending champions to a modest 221 all out, to take a handsome first innings lead of 110 runs.

In their second essay, the visitors finished at 27 for no loss for an overall lead of 137 runs. The Karnataka batsmen have themselves to blame for their sloppy show and the R Vinay Kumar-led unit faces an uphill task to come back into the contest.
 
Karnataka’s innings got off to a shaky start, with Robin Uthappa falling cheaply for five in the second over. KL Rahul (63) and R Samarth (30) though scored at a fair clip and didn’t allow their rival bowlers to put too much pressure on them.

The duo scripted an 80-run stand and Karnataka seemed to end the first session without further damage. But with four overs to go before lunch, Samarth misread a straighter one from off-spinner Yadav and gave an easy catch to first slip.

Rahul, who had failed to convert his starts against Vidarbha, looked in firm control and slammed seven fours en route his half-century. But a horrible mix-up in the middle with Shreyas Gopal while running between the wickets ended Rahul’s quest for a big knock. Rahul’s wicket was the start of Karnataka’s slump.

Shreyas, who was promoted up the order after Manish Pandey was ruled out to bat due to a finger injury, played a nothing shot and was caught at short mid-wicket. The in-form Karun Nair never looked comfortable against the off-spinners of Yadav and eventually fell for the 25-year old all-rounder, caught behind.  

After J Suchith’s soft dismissal, CM Gautam and Vinay showed some resistance and the captain and vice-captain duo forged an alliance of 55 runs to prevent a meek surrender.
With 10 overs to go before the end of day’s play, Vinay went for a needless pull off off-spinner Dagar and missed it completely to see his stumps rattled. Dagar then cleaned up the tail in no time as Haryana set themselves up for a potential win.

After winning the toss on the opening day, Haryana were helped by centuries from skipper Virender Sehwag (136) and all-rounder Yadav (100) as they dominated proceedings in the first two sessions. But after the dismissals of the centurions, the visitors wobbled and lost wickets in clusters to squander their chances of posting a big total.

Sharath was the most successful bowler for the hosts while debutant David Mathias chipped in with two wickets.

score board

HARYANA (I Innings; O/n: 319/8): Rahul Dewan c Nair b Sharath 9 (28b, 1x4), Chaitanya Bishnoi c Gautam b Mathias 13 (53b, 2x4), Virender Sehwag c Pandey b Mathias 136 (170b, 16x4, 3x6), Jayant Yadav c Rahul b Suchith 100 (173b, 11x4, 1x6), Himanshu Rana c Gautam b Vinay 33 (55b, 4x4), Sachin Rana lbw Sharath 4 (27b), Rahul Dagar c Gautam b Sharath 0 (1b), Nitin Saini lbw Sharath 0 (1b), Harshal Patel (run out) 6 (13b, 1x4), Ashish Hooda (not out) 12 (20b, 2x4), Sanjay Badhwar c Rahul b Sharath 0 (1b). Extras (NB-1, W-3, B-3, LB-11) 18. Total (all out, in 90.1 overs) 331.

Fall of wickets: 1-18 (Dewan), 2-53 (Bishnoi), 3-259 (Sehwag), 4-278 (Yadav), 5-309 (H Rana), 6-313 (Dagar), 7-313 (Saini), 8-313 (S Rana), 9-325 (Patel).

Bowling: Vinay Kumar 23-4-80-1, HS Sharath 19.4-5-48-5 (w-1), David Mathias 14-3-48-2 (w-1, nb-1), Karun Nair 5.3 0-20-0, Shreyas Gopal 16-1-73-0 (w-1), J Suchith 12-0-48-1.

KARNATAKA (I Innings): Robin Uthappa c Saini b Hooda 5 (4b, 1x4), KL Rahul (run out) 63 (103b, 7x4), R Samarth c S Rana b Yadav 30 (65b, 3x4), Shreyas Gopal c H Rana b Harshal 5 (34b), Karun Nair c Saini b Yadav 28 (68b, 3x4), CM Gautam (not out) 41 (103b, 4x4), J Suchith c Bishnoi b Badhwar 8 (10b, 2x4), Vinay Kumar b Dagar 34 (65b, 4x4), David Mathias lbw Dagar 0 (1b), HS Sharath c&b Dagar 0 (2b). Extras (NB-1, LB-6) 7. Total (all out, in 75.4 overs) 221.

Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Uthappa), 2-87 (Samarth), 3-102 (KL Rahul), 4-117 (Shreyas), 5-155 (Nair), 6-166 (Suchith), 7-221 (Vinay), 8-221 (Mathias), 9-221 (HS Sharath).

Bowling: Harshal Patel 18-3-44-1, Ashish Hooda 15-4-29-1, Sanjay Bhadwar 8-0-42-1, Jayant Yadav 25-4-75-2, Rahul Dagar 5.4-1-10-3, Chaitanya Bishnoi 4-0-15-0.

HARYANA (II Innings): Rahul Dewan (batting) 10 (27b, 2x4), Nitin Saini (batting) 13 (27b, 2x4). Extras (B-4) 4. Total (for no loss, 9 overs) 27.

Bowling: Vinay Kumar 5-2-9-0, Sharath HS 2-0-8-0, J Suchith 2-0-6-0.