<p>Bengaluru: Emanjot Singh Chahal hit an unbeaten, gritty half-century that not only stalled Karnataka’s march but bolstered beleaguered Punjab on the opening day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy encounter in Mohali on Thursday.</p><p>Arriving at the crease with Punjab in trouble at 168/6 and Karnataka threatening to bowl them out for a sub-200 score, Emanjot led a brilliant rear-guard fightback with 77 not out off 134 balls to take the hosts to 303/9 at stumps at the IS Bindra Stadium.</p><p>Third-placed Karnataka, who need a win to guarantee themselves a spot in the quarterfinals irrespective of what happens in the other games, made a rousing start when in-form pacer Vidyadhar Patil (3/46) had opener Prabsimran Singh caught in the fourth over.</p><p>Punjab, who have endured an ordinary red-ball campaign so far, however, hit back through Abhijeet Garg (81, 133b) and Uday Saharan (44, 72b), the duo forging a 102-run stand off just 132 balls for the second wicket.</p><p>But the moment off-spinner Mohsin Khan (2/85) had Saharan caught in the 26th over, Karnataka picked up a flurry of wickets to leave Punjab in disarray. In-form spinner Shreyas Gopal (3/48) was the wrecker-in-chief, picking up three of the four wickets to fall.</p>.Ranji Trophy: It's do-or-die for Karnataka.<p>However, Karnataka failed to build on the advantage from there, despite having India pacer Prasidh Krishna (1/58) in their ranks. Emanjot first steadied the ship for Punjab with an 81-run alliance for the seventh wicket with Ayush Goyal (23).</p>.<p>Even after Goyal departed to Mohsin in the 73rd over, Punjab’s tail comprising Harpreet Brar (9) and Sukhdeep Bajwa (20) continued to wag to frustrate Karnataka.</p>.<p>SCORE BOARD PUNJAB (I Innings): Abhijeet Garg c Rahul B Shreyas 81 (133b 8x4 2x6) Prabhsimran Singh c Shetty b Patil 5 (8b 1x4) Uday Sharan c Rahul b Mohsin 44 (72b 6x4 1x6) Jashanpreet Singh c Mohsin b Shreyas 6 (16b 1x4) Anmolpreet Singh b Shreyas 0 (1b) Anmol Malhotra c Krutik b Patil 25 (46b 2x4 1x6) Emanjot Singh Chahal (batting) 77 (134b 8x4 1x6) Ayush Goyal st Krutik b Mohsin23 (82b 2x4) Harpreet Brar c Krutik b Patil 9 (38b 1x4) Sukhdeep Singh Bajwa 20 (13b 4x4) Anmoljeet Singh (batting) 0 (3b). Extras (LB-12 W-1) 12. TOTAL (for 9 wkts 91 overs) 303. Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Prabhsimran) 2-108 (Saharan) 3-119 (Jashanpreet) 4-119 (Anmolpreet) 5-168 (Malhotra) 6-168 (Garg) 7-249 (Goyal) 8-272 (Brar) 9-301 (Sukhdeep). Bowling: Prasidh Krishna 14-1-58-1 Vidyadhar Patil 15-4-46-3 Shikhar Shetty 15-2-54-0 Mohsin Khan 25-0-85-2 Shreyas Gopal 22-6-48-3. Other Elite Group B brief scores: In Indore: Madhya Pradesh: 187 all out in 61 overs (Yash Dubey 29 Shubham Sharma 28 Venkatesh Iyer 39 Akshat Raghuwanshi 25; Jalaj Saxena 2-32 Rajvardhan Hangargekar 5-44 Arshin Kulkarni 2-31) vs Maharashtra: 52/2 in 13.2 overs (Arshin Kulkarni 27). In Chandigarh: Chandigarh: 136 all out in 42.1 overs (Arjit Pannu 29 Jagjit Singh 29; Jaydev Unadkat 4-44 Chirag Jani 2-18) vs Saurashtra: 167/1 in 38 overs (Harvik Desai 80 n.o. Jay Gohil 61 no.). In Porvorim: Goa: 279/8 in 83.4 overs (Suyash Prabhudesai 86 Snehal Kauthankar 29 Yash Kasvankar 50 Arjun Tendulkar 36; Nedumankuzhy Basil 2-55 Ankit Sharma 5-88) vs Kerala.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Emanjot Singh Chahal hit an unbeaten, gritty half-century that not only stalled Karnataka’s march but bolstered beleaguered Punjab on the opening day of their Elite Group B Ranji Trophy encounter in Mohali on Thursday.</p><p>Arriving at the crease with Punjab in trouble at 168/6 and Karnataka threatening to bowl them out for a sub-200 score, Emanjot led a brilliant rear-guard fightback with 77 not out off 134 balls to take the hosts to 303/9 at stumps at the IS Bindra Stadium.</p><p>Third-placed Karnataka, who need a win to guarantee themselves a spot in the quarterfinals irrespective of what happens in the other games, made a rousing start when in-form pacer Vidyadhar Patil (3/46) had opener Prabsimran Singh caught in the fourth over.</p><p>Punjab, who have endured an ordinary red-ball campaign so far, however, hit back through Abhijeet Garg (81, 133b) and Uday Saharan (44, 72b), the duo forging a 102-run stand off just 132 balls for the second wicket.</p><p>But the moment off-spinner Mohsin Khan (2/85) had Saharan caught in the 26th over, Karnataka picked up a flurry of wickets to leave Punjab in disarray. In-form spinner Shreyas Gopal (3/48) was the wrecker-in-chief, picking up three of the four wickets to fall.</p>.Ranji Trophy: It's do-or-die for Karnataka.<p>However, Karnataka failed to build on the advantage from there, despite having India pacer Prasidh Krishna (1/58) in their ranks. Emanjot first steadied the ship for Punjab with an 81-run alliance for the seventh wicket with Ayush Goyal (23).</p>.<p>Even after Goyal departed to Mohsin in the 73rd over, Punjab’s tail comprising Harpreet Brar (9) and Sukhdeep Bajwa (20) continued to wag to frustrate Karnataka.</p>.<p>SCORE BOARD PUNJAB (I Innings): Abhijeet Garg c Rahul B Shreyas 81 (133b 8x4 2x6) Prabhsimran Singh c Shetty b Patil 5 (8b 1x4) Uday Sharan c Rahul b Mohsin 44 (72b 6x4 1x6) Jashanpreet Singh c Mohsin b Shreyas 6 (16b 1x4) Anmolpreet Singh b Shreyas 0 (1b) Anmol Malhotra c Krutik b Patil 25 (46b 2x4 1x6) Emanjot Singh Chahal (batting) 77 (134b 8x4 1x6) Ayush Goyal st Krutik b Mohsin23 (82b 2x4) Harpreet Brar c Krutik b Patil 9 (38b 1x4) Sukhdeep Singh Bajwa 20 (13b 4x4) Anmoljeet Singh (batting) 0 (3b). Extras (LB-12 W-1) 12. TOTAL (for 9 wkts 91 overs) 303. Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Prabhsimran) 2-108 (Saharan) 3-119 (Jashanpreet) 4-119 (Anmolpreet) 5-168 (Malhotra) 6-168 (Garg) 7-249 (Goyal) 8-272 (Brar) 9-301 (Sukhdeep). Bowling: Prasidh Krishna 14-1-58-1 Vidyadhar Patil 15-4-46-3 Shikhar Shetty 15-2-54-0 Mohsin Khan 25-0-85-2 Shreyas Gopal 22-6-48-3. Other Elite Group B brief scores: In Indore: Madhya Pradesh: 187 all out in 61 overs (Yash Dubey 29 Shubham Sharma 28 Venkatesh Iyer 39 Akshat Raghuwanshi 25; Jalaj Saxena 2-32 Rajvardhan Hangargekar 5-44 Arshin Kulkarni 2-31) vs Maharashtra: 52/2 in 13.2 overs (Arshin Kulkarni 27). In Chandigarh: Chandigarh: 136 all out in 42.1 overs (Arjit Pannu 29 Jagjit Singh 29; Jaydev Unadkat 4-44 Chirag Jani 2-18) vs Saurashtra: 167/1 in 38 overs (Harvik Desai 80 n.o. Jay Gohil 61 no.). In Porvorim: Goa: 279/8 in 83.4 overs (Suyash Prabhudesai 86 Snehal Kauthankar 29 Yash Kasvankar 50 Arjun Tendulkar 36; Nedumankuzhy Basil 2-55 Ankit Sharma 5-88) vs Kerala.</p>