Looking for six points, says Vinay

With two wins and one draw from three games here, the Rajnagar Stadium seems to be a happy hunting ground for Karnataka. Skipper Vinay Kumar feels the venue has been a lucky one for his side but said that Karnataka will have to be on top of their game to produce a victory.

“I scored my first Ranji century at this ground and the venue has been lucky for us. But we still need to play good cricket,” Vinay said.

Speaking on the importance of the game, Vinay stressed that his team believed in fighting for nothing less than six points. “It's a very important game for us. We're looking to get six points. We're very confident, having won two games back to back.”

The medium pacer admitted that a win here will take Karnataka closer to the quarterfinals. “We always go with the mindset to win every game and not to just get the first-innings lead. If we win this game, we are 90% through to the quarters. If we get a first innings lead, then we will have to take the last game seriously. We are going with a positive mindset.”

Vinay said that Karnataka might play an extra seamer, considering the nature of the surface. “If the wicket remains the same, we will go in with an extra seamer. We can take a call only after looking at the wicket tomorrow,” said Vinay.

The Delhi top order, in the likes of captain Gautam Gambhir, Dhruv Shorey and Unmukt Chand have contributed immensely but the continuous struggle of their middle order batsmen is an aspect of concern for the visitors, feels coach Vijay Dahiya. “I'm looking for some more runs from our middle order. They need to chip in. None of our middle order batsmen has got a hundred yet. I want our middle order to fire.”

Dahiya added that Delhi's defeat to Assam is not entirely a setback to the side. “Assam played better cricket than us. We didn't apply ourselves on that kind of wicket. We should have put more runs on the board. Credit should be given to Assam.”