Ranji Trophy: Aneesh K V stands tall amid Karnataka collapse against Madhya Pradesh

Bengaluru: Karnataka’s frailties against quality bowling attacks were exposed again as a frenetic collapse unfolded with the hosts staring down the barrel at 168/8 in 58 overs against Madhya Pradesh on the second day of their penultimate Ranji Trophy Elite Group B fixture in Alur (1) here. 

At stumps, Karnataka were still 155 runs behind Madhya Pradesh's 323 and needed six more to avoid the follow-on.

However, things could have been worse if not for a coming-of-age batting performance by young opener Aneesh KV (80 n.o., 153b, 8x4). The 24-year-old, who averaged 19.46 in his first-class career before this innings, found the perfect opportunity to showcase his mettle, with an innings of great assurance for future under pressure. 

While he was losing partners at the other end, Aneesh held one end up and, in the process, reached his first first-class fifty in 107 balls, and also stitched an 82-run partnership with Shreyas Gopal (41, 76b, 5x4).

Once Shreyas was trapped in front by Saransh Jain (3/42), MP picked up Shikhar Shetty (5) and Vidyadhar Patil (4) before the end of play. 

Mayank Agarwal (0, 7b), having missed two sessions of play on day 1, opened alongside Aneesh. However, he failed to survive a nervous two-over passage before lunch and handed a simple catch to point. 

Devdutt Padikkal's (0, 1b) return to the Ranji Trophy ended in a first-ball duck as he was trapped in front of the wicket by Saransh. Padikkal, however, was unhappy with the umpire's decision.

Karun Nair (12, 19b), who was fluent in his short stay, was short of his crease after a mix-up with Aneesh while attempting a quick single as Karnataka were reduced to 19/3. 

Coach Chandrakant Pandit's plan to bring in Saransh from Kumar Kartikeya's (0/45) end turned out to be a good call as Abhinav Manohar (14, 22b) was stumped after missing a loopy delivery after dancing down the track.

Earlier, Vidwath Kaverappa (2/50) kept bowling full, in contrast to his spell on the first day, and consistently got the ball to move both ways. And it paid dividends as early as his second over of the day when Aryan Pandey (5, 25b) nicked it to keeper Kruthik Krishna.

He continued to stay around the four-metre area and got the breakthrough by dismissing Saransh (32, 46b) LBW to infuse more energy in the camp.

While Vidwath meant business, Vidyadhar was not far behind and kept the pressure on from the other end. He got Sagar Solanki (20, 39b) into a tangle as Kruthik took a brilliant catch diving to his left. 

Madhya Pradesh lost three wickets for a run in 12 balls as Vidyadhar finished with figures of 3/56. 

SCOREBOARD: MADHYA PRADESH (I Innings): Yash Dubey c Vidyadhar b Shikhar 29 (54b, 6x4), Himanshu Mantri lbw Vyshak 39 (114b, 4x4), Shubham Sharma c sub Kruthik b Shreyas 33 (151b, 2x4), Venkatesh Iyer c Vidwath b Vyshak 87 (135b, 12x4), Rajat Patidar c Aneesh b Shreyas 30 (48b, 4x4), Saransh Jain lbw Vidwath 32 (46b, 6x4), Aryan Pandey c sub Kruthik b Vidwath 5 (25b, 1x4), Akshat Raghuwanshi b Vidyadhar 22 (76b, 1x4), Sagar Solanki c sub Kruthik b Vidyadhar 20 (39b, 2x4), Kumar Kartikeya b Vidyadhar 0 (2b), Kuldeep Sen 0 (not out). Extras (W-7, B-9, LB-10) 26. TOTAL (all out, 116.1 overs) 323. Fall of wickets: 1-53 (Yash), 2-89 (Mantri), 3-164 (Shubham), 4-233 (Venkatesh), 5-233 (Patidar), 6-256 (Aryan), 7-281 (Saransh), 8-322 (Sagar), 9-322 (Kartikeya). Bowling: Vidwath Kaverappa 20-6-50-2, Vidyadhar Patil 22.1-4-56-3, Vyshak Vijaykumar 22-5-71-2, Shikhar Shetty 27-4-70-1, Shreyas Gopal 24-7-56-2, Karun Nair 1-0-1-0.  KARNATAKA (I Innings): Mayank Agarwal c Sagar b Aryan 0 (7b), Aneesh KV (batting) 80, Devdutt Padikkal lbw Saransh 0 (1b), Karun Nair (run out) 12 (19b, 1x4), Shrijith KL c Himanshu b Sen 7 (17b, 1x4), Abhinav Manohar st Himanshu b Saransh 14 (22b, 2x4), Shreyas Gopal lbw Saransh 41 (76b, 5x4), Shikhar Shetty lbw Aryan 5 (31b), Vidyadhar Patil b Sagar 4 (12b), Vyshak Vijaykumar (batting) 0. Extras (LB-3) 3. TOTAL (for 8 wkts, 58 overs) 168. Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Agarwal), 2-5 (Padikkal), 3-19 (Nair), 4-39 (Shrijith), 5-60 (Manohar), 6-142 (Shreyas), 7-155 (Shikhar), 8-162 (Vidyadhar). Bowling: Kumar Kartikeya 10-1-45-1, Aryan Pandey 10-1-25-2, Saransh Jain 19-3-42-3, Kuldeep Sen 9-1-32-1, Sagar Solanki 10-3-21-1. Group B brief scores: In Mangalapuram: Kerala: 139 all out & 21/2 in 5.5 overs vs Chandigarh: (O/n 142/1) 416 all out in 115.4 overs (Arjun Azad 102., Manan Vohra 113, Shivam Bhamri 41, Arjith Singh 52, Tarandeep Singh 25, Vishu 31; Edhen Apple Tom 4-61, Vishnu Vinod 2-26). In Rajkot: Saurashtra: 172 & (O/n: 24/3): 286 all out 58.5 overs (DA Jadeja 27, Ravindrasingh A Jadeja 46, Prerak Mankad 56, HS Kotak 39, Parth Bhut 37; Harpreet Brar 5-106, Jass Inder 3-84, Prerit Dutta 2-86 bt Punjab: 139 all out & 125 all out in 39 overs (Uday Saharan 31; DA Jadeja  5-55, Parth Bhut 5-8).  In Pune: Goa: 209 all out in 82.1 overs vs Maharashtra: (O/n 19/0): 306/8 in 91 overs (Prithvi Shaw 31, Ruturaj Gaikwaj 66, SS Nawale 95 n.o.).