Karnataka eye quarterfinal spot in Ranji Trophy

Bengaluru: A transitioning Karnataka have had their fair share of problems this season but somehow they’ve managed to stay in the race for the quarterfinals and they’ll be looking to button down that spot when they lock horns with Chandigarh in their final Ranji Trophy Elite Group C contest here from Friday.

Batting implosions every now and then, a shock defeat early in the season against Gujarat, fresh-faced spinners struggling to make a mark, injuries to seasoned stars at different stages, a captain who suffered an in-flight health scare just after take-off, in-form players going out on national duty.... Karnataka's list of woes is quite long indeed.

Despite all the turbulence, Karnataka lead Group C with 24 points and need just three points – first innings lead would suffice – against Chandigarh to secure one of the two last-eight spots from this pool.

The other key clashes from the group are Tripura (17) vs Railways (18), Tamil Nadu (22) vs Punjab (9) and Goa (4) vs Gujarat (19) with at least four of them standing a chance to secure the other quarterfinal ticket.

Karnataka couldn’t have asked for a better opponent than Chandigarh, languishing second from bottom in the group, as their final opponent to get the job done. Chandigarh have been hopeless this season and have not taken the first innings lead even once so far.

Karnataka, missing their leading run-getter Devdutt Padikkal due to national duty, will yet again be banking on their senior batters Mayank Agarwal, R Samarth and Manish Pandey to do all the heavy lifting.

Skipper Agarwal, who returned to action last week against Tamil Nadu, has been batting well this season, scoring two centuries and a half-century. With a lot riding on this game and the pitch here expected to aid batting, Agarwal will be gunning for a big knock and leave nothing to chance.

One big worry for Karnataka has been the poor form of former captain R Samarth, who has managed just 238 runs from five games. The Chandigarh game offers a good opportunity for the right-hander to find his groove before the tougher challenges come calling in the knock-outs, if Karnataka makes it.

Other Elite C matches: Tripura vs Railways, Tamil Nadu vs Punjab, Goa vs Gujarat.