Ranji Trophy | Emanjot Chahal’s gritty 77 lifts Punjab after Karnataka’s early strikes

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.