Ranji Trophy: Karnataka pacers rattle Punjab

Smaran R led Karnataka's strong reply with the bat with an unbeaten 83 while R Kaushik claimed four wickets as Punjab were bowled out for 55 on the opening day.

Bengaluru: In a team filled with old warhorses and young aspirants, V Koushik is an interesting amalgam.

At 32-years-old, the medium pacer has only a few years left in those knees and he knows it. And the dreamer still hopes for bigger things, but within reason.  

This attitude allows Koushik to be present. This is why he looks as committed as a water boy when benched as he is a bowler when on the field.  

That, and his genial smile, make him one of the most easy-to-like cricketers in the Karnataka set-up, and his team-mates all attest to that. Don’t, however, take these traits and niceties for meekness. That’s the mistake Punjab made on the opening day of their Group C Ranji Trophy contest at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here.

Punjab, though more mentally involved against each of Karnataka’s three pacers in Prasidh Krishna (2/11), Abhilash Shetty (3/19) and Yashovardhan Parantap, were loose against Koushik because they needed someone to go after.    

Maybe it’s Koushik’s non-threatening approach to the crease or that sleep-inducing speed at which the ball arrives. Either way, four of Punjab’s batters were back in the hut for falling prey to his deception, and Punjab were bowled out for 55.

This, while somewhat expected given the still-winter morning and all the offerings from the strip, was still bizarre because when Karnataka took to their innings, they put up 199 for 4 in 50 overs with R Smaran and Abhinav Manohar unbeaten on 83 and 1 respectively at stumps, establishing a 144-run lead.  

Granted, the pitch had dried up a bit over the course of 29 overs that Punjab batted, but there were no signs of trouble here until the batter made a mistake. 

This is why Punjab skipper Shubman Gill should be beside himself for having played a nothing stroke en route to inside-edging a harmless delivery from Abhilash Shetty to a wrong-footed KL Shrijith behind the stumps. 

There were quite a few other errors on Punjab’s part, but Karnataka’s bowlers deserve credit for having induced most of them. 

Conversely, Punjab found little to no success in pushing Karnataka’s batters to err. The ones who were dismissed were so as a result of their own doing. 

KV Aneesh’s (33) inane attempt at a pull which managed a top edge to the fielder inside the circle and Mayank’s lead-footed forward press which had him stranded in front of the stumps were instances of this.  

With the openers back in the hut within five minutes of each other, it was up to Devdutt Padikkal (27) and Smaran to give Karnataka shape. Between the two, it was Smaran who locked in and looked immovable. 

Padikkal, with all the caution he was practicing, ended up getting squared up and edging to the keeper. Smaran, now joined by KL Shrijith, forged a healthy 81-run stand with the other southpaw. But, 15 minutes from close of play, Shrijith fell to an innocuous delivery from Mayank Markande. Surely, he will hope his absent-minded drive won’t change the course of this game.  

Smaran R spearheaded the Karnataka bowling.

SCOREBOARD PUNJAB: Prabhsimran Singh c Aneesh b Abhilash 6 (28b 1x4) Shubman Gill c Shrijith b Abhilash 4 (8b 1x4) Pukhraj Mann c Shrijith b Koushik 1 (11b) Anmolpreet Singh b Koushik 0 (2B) Ramandeep Singh c Smaran b Prasidh 16 (35b 2x4) Sanvir Singh c Shrijith b Prasidh 1 (31b) Sukhdeep Singh Bajwa c Shrijith b Abhilash 0 (4b) Mayank Markande c Shrijith b Koushik 12 (42b 1x4) Aaradhya Shukla c Shrijith b Parantap 0 (10b) Gurnoor Brar (not out) 0 (1b) Jassinder Singh c Gopal b Koushik 4 (6b). Extras (B-5 LB-1 NB-4 W-1) 11. TOTAL (all out 29 overs) 55.  Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Gill) 2-13 (Pukhraj) 3-14 (Anmolpreet) 4-14 (Prabhsimran) 5-23 (Sanvir) 6-28 (Sukhdeep) 7-46 (Ramandeep) 8-50 (Aaradhya) 9-50 (Markande).  Bowling: Vasuki Koushik 11-4-16-4 Abhilash Shetty 9-4-19-3 Prasidh Krishna 8-3-11-2 Yashovardhan Parantap 1-0-3-1. KARNATAKA: KV Aneesh c Jass Inder b Aaradhya 33 (37b 5x4 1x6) Mayank Agarwal lbw Sanvir 20 (44b 2x4) Devdutt Padikkal c Prabhsimran b Gurnoor 27 (45b 5x4) R Smaran (batting) 83 (100b 12x4 1x6) KL Shrijith c Anmolpreet b Markande 26 (65b 4x4) Abhinav Manohar (batting) 1 (11b). Extras (NB-2 B-4 LB-3) 9. TOTAL (for 4 wkts 50 overs ) 199.  Fall of wickets: 1-55 (Aneesh) 2-59 (Mayank) 3-111 (Padikkal) 4-192 (Shrijith).  Bowling: Gurnoor Brar 16-2-74-1 Sukhdeep Bajwa 8-0-35-0 Aradhya Shukla 11-2-29-1 Sanvir Singh 10-2-38-1 Jass Inder 3-0-10-0 Mayank Markande 2-0-6-1.  Other Group C brief scores: In Kalyani: Haryana: 157 all out 44.5 overs (Ankit Kumar 57; Mukesh Kumar 2-52 Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 6-46 Mohammed Kaif 2-23) vs Bengal: 10/1 in 5 overs. At Patna: Bihar: 248 all out in 86 overs (Sharman Nigrodh 44 Ayush Loharuka 101 Sachin Kumar 38; Shivam Mavi 4-61 Vijay Kumar 2-48 Shivam Sharma 2-49) vs Uttar Pradesh: 4/0 in 1 over. At Thiruvananthapuram: Madhya Pradesh: 160 all out in 60.2 overs (Shubham Sharma 54 Venkatesh Iyer 42; MD Nideesh 5-44 N Basil 2-41 Aditya Sarwate 2-30) vs Kerala: 54/0 in 18 overs (Rohan Kunnummal 25 n.o.).