Karnataka eke out draw

Cricket Ranji Trophy : Hosts survive Yadav (6/65) threat to finish the final day at 202/8

 The decorated batting line up of Karnataka huffed and puffed to eventually eke out a draw against Haryana on a nail-biting fourth and final day of their Group ‘A’ Ranji Trophy encounter here at the SDNRW Stadium on Sunday.

A resilient Haryana unit, spurred by a splendid bowling performance from Jayant Yadav, looked good to register their first win of the season and end Karnataka’s unbeaten Ranji streak of 34 matches. The 25-year old off-spinner bagged a six-wicket haul (6/65) in the second essay and led the visitors’ fight that went till the final over. But the hosts somehow held their nerve and denied their rivals an upset victory.

Resuming from their overnight score of nine for no loss, Karnataka finished at 202 for eight, with Robin Uthappa (66) scoring a hard-earned half-century.

After a good first session, where Karnataka were successful in not giving away too many wickets, Yadav’s success in the second session rattled Karnataka. The hosts lost five wickets in 27 overs, scoring 68 runs in the process.

And the most interesting moment arrived post tea when Haryana reduced Karnataka to 192 for eight, with eight overs remaining in the match. With HS Sharath declared not fit to bat and Manish Pandey suffering from a finger injury, Haryana thought they had the game in their bag but to Karnataka’s fortunes, Pandey walked in to join forces with David Mathias and the duo saw off a few anxious moments to help their side share honours with Haryana.

Despite their first innings lead giving them three points, Haryana are still placed at the bottom of the table with four points from three matches. Karnataka, who took home one point from the contest, are lying sixth with eight points from four games.

Classy knock

Earlier, the Karnataka openers – Uthappa and KL Rahul batted with great focus and composure to forge an alliance of 57 runs. A confident looking Uthappa struck some delightful fours.

Uthappa anchored another important 73 runs partnership with R Samarth to frustrate their opponents before Yadav sprang into action. 

After dismissing Samarth caught at short leg, Yadav removed the dangerous Karun Nair caught and bowled cheaply. Uthappa threw away his wicket when he half-heartedly lofted an Yadav delivery straight into the hands of Bishnoi at long on. Vice-captain Gautam and skipper Vinay Kumar too didn’t last long and with the score reading 162 for six, Karnataka stared at an embarrassing defeat. Shreyas Gopal and J Suchith battled hard, grinding out 29 runs in 105 balls. However, Haryana removed both the batsmen after taking the new ball.

But Pandey displayed immense grit to bail out his side in the dying moments of the game. Batting with an injured index finger, which may rule him out of action for two-three weeks, Pandey, along with Mathias played out the difficult final few overs, much to the disappointment of their opposition.

score board

HARYANA (I Innings): 331
KARNATAKA (I Innings): 221
HARYANA (II Innings): 262/9 decl
KARNATAKA (II Innings; O/n: 9/0): Robin Uthappa c Bishnoi b Yadav 66 (194b, 9x4), KL Rahul 24 (66b, 2x4), R Samarth c H Rana b Yadav 32 (92b, 1x4), Karun Nair c & b Yadav 2 (12b), CM Gautam lbw Yadav 10 (34b, 1x4), Shreyas Gopal c Saini b Yadav 24 (69b, 2x4), Vinay Kumar lbw Patel 3 (7b), J Suchith c Dewan b Yadav 6 (58b), David Mathias (not out) 9 (32b, 1x4) Manish Pandey (not out) 2 (36b), Extras (B-12, LB-5, PR-5, NB-2) 24, Total (for 8 wkts, decl in 98 overs) 202. 

Fall of wickets: 1-57 (Rahul), 2-130 (Samarth), 3-136 (Nair), 4-143 (Uthappa), 5-154 (Gautam), 6-157 (Vinay), 7-191 (Suchith), 8-192 (Shreyas).

Bowling: Harshal Patel 21-5-50-1, Jayant Yadav 39-15-65-6 (NB-1), Ashish Hooda 15.3-7-18-1 (NB-1), Chaitanya Bishnoi 10.3-5-23-0, Sanjay Badhwar 11-5-23-0, Rahul Dagar 1-0-2-0.