Koushik puts Karnataka in the driver's seat

With pitch expected to play true on the second day too, Karnataka will be looking to make a statement early on the tournament.

Bengaluru: Karnataka let slip some of the pressure they had built up early in the day, but they still managed to keep Gujarat on the mat by bowling the opposition out for 264 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday. 

Having won their season opener against Punjab by seven wickets, Karnataka came into this contest with wind in their sails, and it showed because they reduced Gujarat to 45 for 4 inside 17 overs. 

Had it not been for the 157-run alliance between Kshitij Patel (95) and Umang Kumar (72), perhaps Karnataka’s batters would have gotten a chance to bat on the opening day. But that was not to be. 

Besides that fifth-wicket alliance, Karnataka also had to endure an unbeaten 45 from No. 8 Chintan Gaja. All these crucial runs led to Gujarat reaching 264 all out in 88 overs. 

As for the bowlers, Karnataka’s pacers were on point yet again with V Koushik finishing with four wickets for 49 runs and Vyshak Vijaykumar yielding two for 42 in 18.1 overs. 

The reason for that extra delivery in his overall figures is because he had to finish Prasidh Krishna’s over after the latter pulled up with an injury after bowling 14.5 overs for two wickets. 

As for the spinners, Rohit Kumar played his role well picking up two wickets for 70 runs from 26 overs, but Shubhang Hegde was expensive during his nine-over quota, giving away 35 runs. 

The only other bowler who was more generous was Prasidh, conceding at an economy of 4.17. 

The pitch is expected to play true on the second day too, giving Karnataka’s batters a stable enough platform to pick up the lead. But Karnataka will be looking to make a statement early on the tournament. 

SCOREBOARD

GUJARAT (I Innings): Priyank Paschal b Vijaykumar 24 (60b 5x4) Het Patel c Padikkal b Koushik 4 (7b 1x4) Sunpreetsingh Bagga lbw Koushik 0 (1b) Manan Hingrajia c Sharath b Prasidh 4 (14b 1x4) Kshitij Patel c Sharan b Vijaykumar 95 (161b 11x4) Umang Kumar c Padikkal b Rohit 72 (143b 12x4) Ripal Patel c Prasidh b Rohit 0 (10b) Chintan Gaja (not out) 45 (92b 1x4 3x6) Siddharth Desai c Padikkal b Prasidh 4 (16b 1x4) Rinkesh Vaghela c Sharath b Koushik 0 (15b) Arzan Nagaswalla c Jose b Koushik 6 (12b 1x4). Extras (B-4 LB-2 NB-3 W-1) 10. TOTAL (all out 88 overs) 264.  Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Het) 2-17 (Bagga) 3-27 (Hingrajia) 4-45 (Panchal) 5-202 (Kshitij) 6-208 (Umang) 7-213 (Ripal) 8-222 (Siddharth) 9-240 (Vaghela).  Bowling: Prasidh Krishna 14.5-4-62-2 V Koushik 20-6-49-4 (nb-3) Vyshak Vijaykumar 18.1-3-42-2 Rohit Kumar 26-4-70-2 (w-1) Shubhang Hegde 9-0-35-0. 

Other Group C scores:

In Mullanpur: Railways: 118/3 in 34 overs (Shivam Chaudhary 31 Pratham Singh 50 n.o.; Siddarth Kaul 2-35) vs Punjab. 

In Porvorim: Goa: 267/3 in 90 overs (Ishaan Gadekar 45 Suyash Prabhudessai 124 n.o. Krishnamurthy Siddharth 77) vs Chandigarh. 

In Agartala: Tripura vs Tamil Nadu (day's play abandoned).