Nair takes Karnataka into quarters

Skipper Karun Nair (71 n.o., 126b, 7x4) led from the front with an unbeaten half-century, only his third such score for the season, as Karnataka made short work of Baroda's small but tricky target.

The right-hander, who came in at No. 3 instead of his customary No. 4, forged an unbeaten 92-run stand with K V Siddharth (29 n.o.) for the third wicket to help the hosts reply with 150/2 while chasing 149 for a win in their Group B Ranji Trophy match here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday.

With this win, Karnataka bagged six points and qualified for the quarterfinals where they are likely to meet Jammu and Kashmir. Karnataka finished their group campaign with 31 points and they are most likely to finish at third position on the table.

It was't quite the MS Dhoni moment because it wasn't planned so but the similarities were hard to miss. On April 2 of 2011, the former India skipper walked out at No. 4, a position so well dominated by Yuvraj Singh up until that evening, in the World Cup final against Sri Lanka. Dhoni, on the other hand, had struggled for runs and his promotion in a pressure situation following the dismissal of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar had raised many an eyebrow. It was a big gamble but Dhoni aced it.

Cut to the present, the occasion was far less significant but crucial nonetheless in its own way. A fighting Baroda had posted 296 all out in their second innings, after adding 88 runs to the overnight score of 208/5 on the third day. While the target wasn't intimidating, given Karnataka's inconsistency with the bat this season, it wasn't going to be an easy chase batting last in the match. The last thing they needed was losing wickets early in the innings but that's exactly what happened when a rush of blood compelled opener Devdutt Padikkal into playing an aerial shot and pay the price. His dismissal, at the stroke of which the lunch was taken, had put Karnataka under pressure.

In walked Nair along with other opener R Samarth for the post-lunch session. Notwithstanding his fluent 47 in the first essay, his poor run of scores this season made one wonder if the move made sense in a match where their qualification was on the line. But then the circumstances had forced him to promote himself. The designated No.3 - Siddharth - had hurt his right palm while going for a catch in the morning and he had to be held back. Taking the onus on himself, Nair produced an innings that was characterised by remarkable restraint and responsibility. His determination took Karnataka past the winning target 40 minutes into the final session.

Both Nair and Siddharth showed admirable patience in the face of some negative tactics adopted by Baroda to dry up runs. Their idea obviously was to strangle the batsmen and force them into silly errors but the batsmen were prepared for the challenge. They kept padding away left-arm spinners Bhargav Bhatt and Krunal Pandya and with a bowler short in their ranks, they had to shun that strategy.

Earlier, the injured Babasafikhan Pathan and the indisposed Viraj Bhosale, much against speculations, turned up to bat to prolong Karnataka's wait for the chase. And before this duo, overnight batsmen Abhimanyusingh Rajput (52) and Parth Kohli (42) had raised 52 runs for the sixth wicket which extended from the previous night.

SCORE BOARD

BARODA (I Innings): 85 all out

KARNATAKA II Innings: 233 all out

BARODA (II Innings; O/n: 205/5): Kedar Devdhar c Dubey b Prasidh 15 (87m, 64b, 2x4), Ahmadnoor Pathan c S Sharath b Prasidh 90 (252m, 162b, 8x4, 3x6), Vishnu Solanki lbw Gowtham 2 (10m, 9b), Deepak Hooda b More 50 (83m, 71b, 3x4, 2x6), Krunal Pandya c Padikkal b More 5 (31m, 20b, 1x4), Abhimanyusingh Rajput b More 52 (96m, 72b, 8x4), Parth Kohli lbw Mithun 42 (119m, 88b, 3x4, 1x6), Bhargav Bhatt lbw Gowtham 6 (17m, 10b), Soyib Soporia c Samarth b Prasidh 4 (38m, 27b, 1x4), Babasafikhan Pathan lbw Prasidh 0 (24m, 4b), Viraj Bhosale (not out) 16 (20m, 19b, 2x4). Extras (B-4, LB-3, NB-7) 14. Total (all out, 89.5 overs) 296.

Fall of wickets: 1-45 (Devdhar), 2-48 (Solanki), 3-142 (Hooda), 4-159 (Hooda), 5-188 (A Pathan), 6-240 (Rajput), 7-249 (Bhatt), 8-280 (Soparia), 9-280 (P Kohli).

Bowling: A Mithun 12-2-43-1 (nb-1), Prasidh Krishna 17.5-4-45-4, K Gowtham 31-6-99-2, Ronit More 16-3-68-3 (nb-6), Pavan Deshpande 2-0-6-0, Shreyas Gopal 11-1-28-0.

KARNATAKA (II Innings): R Samarth b Bhatt 25 (98m, 58b, 3x4), Devdutt Padikkal c PA Kumar (sub) b Bhatt 6 (28m, 19b, 1x6), Karun Nair (not out)) 71 (167m, 126b, 7x4), K V Siddharth (not out) 29 (95m, 68b, 3x4, 1x6). Extras (B-1, LB-8, NB-3, W-7) 19. Total (for 2 wickets, 44.4 overs) 150.

Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Padikkal), 2-58 (Samarth).

Bowling: Soyib Sopariya 15-5-41-0, Abhimanyusingh Rajput 9-3-22-0, Bhargav Bhatt 19-5-62-2, Parth Kohli 1.4-0-16-0.

Result: Karnataka won by eight wickets