Agarwal saves day for hosts Karnataka in Ranji Trophy semis

Skipper Mayank Agarwal slammed an unbeaten ton as Karnataka recovered to post 229/5

Captain Mayank Agarwal anchored a faltering Karnataka to reasonable safety against nemesis Saurashtra on a largely attritional but engrossing opening day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal here on Wednesday.

Exhibiting wonderful composure and maturity against a disciplined Saurashtra attack, which constantly kept prising out Karnataka wickets with the classic off-stump channel bowling, Agarwal scripted his 15th first-class century — a high-quality 110 not out (246b, 11x4, 1x6) — to help the hosts reach 229/5 at stumps on day one at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

If not for Agarwal’s brilliance and an unbroken 117-run stand with wicketkeeper Sharath Srinivas, who hit a patient 58 (143b, 4x4) to calm the nerves, Karnataka would have been in deep trouble against a Saurashtra attack that just kept hitting the right notes all through the first two sessions.

Opening pacers Chetan Sakariya (1/39) and Kushang Patel (2/64) made the maximum use of helpful morning conditions by pitching the ball up constantly and moving it both ways. While left-armer Sakariya swung the ball away and brought the odd one in to consistently keep Agarwal, Samarth and then Devdutt Padikkal on their toes, Kushang tormented them by getting the ball to swing away late.

They barely delivered bad balls and didn't bowl too many hitting-length deliveries as Karnataka batters struggled to force the pace. First-change pacers Chirag Jani and Prerak Mankad then took over the baton beautifully from their colleagues. Both had identical game plans, just keep landing the ball in and around the off-stump and force the Karnataka batters into errors. They also were quite accurate, barely loosening the grip that they took at the start itself by Sakariya and Kushang.

This constant application of pressure from both ends saw Padikkal and Manish Pandey play loose shots as Karnataka slipped to 79/4 in the very first over after lunch. When Pandey attempted to hit himself out of trouble and ended up getting caught at midwicket, the disappointment was evident on Agarwal who was waging a lone battle. And rightfully so.

Perhaps, Pandey, more experienced then Agarwal, could have taken cue from his skipper on how to apply oneself in such demanding situations. Agarwal, a naturally attacking batter, was happy to don the defensive role against a disciplined attack on a pitch that offered assistance until the last ball of the day.

To counter the probing swing bowling of the four pacers, Agarwal either batted out of his crease or kept stepping down. He did that only to smother any late movement that troubled the rest of his team-mates. He read the ball early, left them well and barring a dropped chance when on 13, was largely untroubled. Runs were hard to come by, but not once did he lose his concentration.

He changed gears an hour into the final session when the obduracy of Sharath gave him the confidence to open his shoulders. As Sharath blocked one end up nicely with his ultra defensive batting, Agarwal got the much-needed boundaries to hasten the run flow and inject momentum. He cracked back-to-back boundaries to bring up his century, the third of this season, as the small crowd stood up in applause.

All hopes now rest on Agarwal and Sharath as Karnataka seek a competitive first-innings total.