Karnataka stare at season's first defeat

Cricket Ranji Trophy :Haryana set hosts a daunting 373-run target

 A calculative approach from their batsmen in their second hit provided Haryana a strong chance to force their first win of the season as they tightened the screws on Karnataka on the third and penultimate day of their Group ‘A’ Ranji Trophy encounter here at the SDNRW Stadium on Saturday.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Nitin Saini (52) struck a patient half-century while skipper Virender Sehwag (40) played a quick cameo to help the visitors declare at 262 for nine and set a daunting target of 373 for the hosts. In response, Karnataka were at nine for no loss at the end of day’s play.

With one day to go, Vinay Kumar’s men have an onerous task at hand to avoid their first defeat of the season. With a victory looking far-fetched, especially with the unavailability of the injured Manish Pandey, Karnataka would be happy to walk off with one point in their kitty.  

As their rivals resumed from 27 for no loss, the Karnataka bowlers had to produce something special to get back in the game. But the hosts’ bowlers managed to impress only in parts and the absence of their key man HS Sharath in their attack due to dehydration saw them struggle further to mount pressure on their opponents. Shreyas Gopal was the most productive bowler for Karnataka, picking four for 53.

After gaining a strong first innings lead of 110 runs, the Haryana batsmen had to do nothing silly. Realising the importance of not losing too many wickets in the first session, the visitors did well to hang in in the middle. Though Rahul Dewan fell early, the promoted Saini and left-hander Chaitanya Bishnoi showed no urgency and scored at a slow pace. Saini was successful in finding the odd boundary and played an important role in his 61-run stand with Bishnoi. 

Karnataka dismissed Saini just before the stroke of lunch and they staged a small fightback in the second session. Suchith caught Bishnoi plumb in front and soon after, David Mathias castled Himanshu Rana with a ball that stayed a bit low. Vinay then removed Sachin Rana caught behind and Haryana were in trouble at 155 for five. The hosts sensed a small opening to run through the Haryana lower order but the brilliance of Sehwag spoilt their plans.

Demoting himself in the batting order, Sehwag upped the ante in his usual attacking manner. The veteran punished Suchith in his two consecutive deliveries, first with a late cut four and then slamming a straight six.

Sehwag remained in the same aggressive zone and slammed two fours off Mathias in the next over. Rahul Dagar (31) played perfect support to his captain and the crucial 39-run partnership between the duo pushed Haryana’s lead further. Sehwag’s breezy knock, which came off 36 balls, came to an end when he holed out at deep square leg to give Shreyas his third wicket of the match. 

score board

HARYANA (I Innings): 331
KARNATAKA (I Innings): 221
HARYANA (II Innings;O/n: 27/0): Rahul Dewan c Gautam b Vinay Kumar 19 (37b, 4x4), Nitin Saini c Uthappa b Shreyas 52 (121b, 5x4), Chaitanya Bishnoi lbw Suchith 33 (117b, 4x4), Himanshu Rana b Mathias 7 (36b), Sachin Rana c Gautam b Vinay Kumar 18 (52b, 3b), Rahul Dagar c Gautam b Mathias 31 (68b, 4x4), Virender Sehwag c Mathias b Shreyas 40 (36b, 4x4, 1x6) , Jayant Yadav b Shreyas 25 (32b, 3x4), Harshal Patel c Suchith b Shreyas 22 (22b, 1x4, 1x6), Sanjay Badhwar (not out) 6 (10b, 1x6), Ashish Hooda (not out) 3 (15b), Extras (B-4, LB-1, W-1) 6, Total (for 9 wkts, decl, in 91 overs) 262.

Fall of wickets: 1-42 (Dewan), 2-103 (Saini), 3-114 (Bishnoi), 4-116 (H Rana), 5-155 (S Rana), 6-194 (Dagar), 7-215 (Sehwag), 8-243 (Yadav), 9-256 (Patel). 

Bowling: Vinay Kumar 21-7-56-2, HS Sharath 2-0-8-0, J Suchith 23-5-57-1, David Mathias 17-5-61-2 (W-1), Karun Nair 7-2-19-0, KL Rahul 3-0-3-0, Shreyas Gopal 18-4-53-4. 

KARNATAKA (II Innings): Robin Uthappa (batting) 0 (25b), KL Rahul (batting) 9 (11b, 1x4), Total (for no loss, in 6 overs) 9.

Bowling: Harshal Patel 3-1-6-0, Jayant Yadav 2-0-2-0, Ashish Hooda 1-0-1-0.