Ranji Trophy: Gritty Karnataka fight after faltering

Bengaluru: As the umpires called tea on the third day after Shreyas Gopal had pinned Chetan Sakariya, Saurashtra had taken a crucial four-run lead and the outcome of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B opener against Karnataka seemed very much predictable. 

The fourth day, however, turned out nothing as expected as Shreyas' fighting effort (3/43) went in vain as Saurashtra clung onto a tense draw after surviving a batting scare at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on the fourth and final day. 

Karnataka were bowled out for 232, setting Saurashtra a 229-run target. With under two sessions to go, the task was pretty straightforward for the hosts to bat out the remaining overs and take the three points which was already in the bag. 

Opener Harvik Desai took the aggressive route, hitting three quick boundaries to put the Karnataka bowlers under pressure, while his partner at the other end, Chirag Jani, remained a little conservative. 

Karnataka captain Mayank Agarwal turned to Shreyas in search for a breakthrough and the call paid dividends immediately. 

Shreyas sent Desai back for 13 while Jani (15) perished 12 balls later, again to the leg-spinner which left Saurashtra in a tricky situation at 36/2. 

The tricky position got even trickier as Shreyas picked up his third, breaching the defences of Ansh Gosai's (2). 

Left-arm orthodox Shikhar Shetty (1/40) added to Saurashtra's struggles, sending Arpit Vasavada (2) back to the hut. 

The Karnataka bowlers, led by Shreyas, went full throttle to try and breach into their middle and lower order, having the opposition four down for 43 runs.

Then, Gajjar Sammar (43 not out) and Jay Gohil (41) put their hands up in a precarious situation, showing some resistance to steer their troubled ship to safe shores. They batted over 25 overs in stitching an 81-run partnership.

Mohsin Khan (1/30) then picked up the wicket of Gohil but it came a little too late for the visitors. 

Earlier, the day began with Devdutt Padikkal and Agarwal out there in the middle, having put 89 runs overnight. The first wicket went down in the third over of the morning when Padikkal (19) was dismissed by Jaydev Unadkat. 

Karun Nair (8) suffered the same fate after being trapped by Dharmendrasinh Jadeja. Smaran R (10) soon followed to put Karnataka under pressure, having lost 4/124. 

Agarwal (64) and Shrijith KL (31) enjoyed a decent stand of 38 before Jadeja picked Agarwal. A late M Ventakesh (28) flurry drove Karnataka further but they bowled out for 232 in 74.2 overs. 

After claiming just one point, Karnataka will now travel to Shivamogga to face off against Goa, starting from October 25. 

SCOREBOARD 

KARNATAKA (I Innings): 372 all out SAURASHTRA (I Innings): 376 all out KARNATAKA (II Innings O/n: 89/1): Nikin Jose lbw b Gajjar 34 Mayank Agarwal c Mankad b Jadeja 64 Devdutt Padikkal c Desai b Unadkat 19 Karun Nair lbw Jadeja 8 Smaran R c Mankad b Unadkat 10 KL Shrijith lbw b Dodiya 31 Shreyas Gopal c Gosai b Dodiya 3 Shikhar Shetty b Jadeja 3 M Venkatesh c Vasavada b Dodiya 28 Mohsin Khan st Desai b Gajjar 17 Abhilash Shetty (not out) 1. Extras (B-12 LB-2) 14. TOTAL (all out 74.2 overs) 232.  Fall of wickets: 1-52 (Jose) 2-96 (Padikkal) 3-111 (Nair) 4-124 (Smaran) 5-164 (Agarwal) 6-169 (Shreyas) 7-176 (Shrijith) 8-180 (Shikhar) 9-231 (Mohsin) Bowling: Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 28-7-79-3 Jaydev Unadkat 14-2-49-2 Yuvrajsinh Dodiya 15.2-3-40-3 Chetan Sakariya 8-0-25-0 Sammar Gajjar 8-1-25-2 Ansh Gosai 1-1-0-0. SAURASHTRA (II Innings): Harvik Desai c Abhilash b Shreyas 13 Chirag Jani b Shreyas 15 Sammar Gajjar (not out) 43 Ansh Gosai b Shreyas 2 Arpit Vasavada c Aneesh b Shikhar 2 Jay Gohil lbw Mohsin 41 Prerak Mankad (not out) 4. Extras (LB-4 B-4) 8. TOTAL (for 5 wkts 43 overs) 128. Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Desai) 2-36 (Jani) 3-40 (Gosai) 4-43 (Vasavada) 5-124 (Gohil).  Bowling: Abhilash Shetty 3-1-2-0 Shikhar Shetty 14-4-40-1 Shreyas Gopal 15-1-43-3 Mohsin Khan 9-2-30-1 M Venkatesh 1-0-5-0. Result: Match drawn after Saurashtra took the first innings lead. Saurashtra: 3 points; Karnataka: 1 pt. Karnataka's next match: Vs Goa (Oct 25-28 Shivamogga). Other Group B brief scores: At Thiruvananthapuram: Maharashtra: 239 & (O/n: 51/0) 224/2 in 71 overs (Prithvi Shaw 75 Arshin Kulkarni 34 Siddhesh Veer 55 n.o. Ruturaj Gaikwad 55 n.o.) drew with Kerala: 219. Maharashtra: 3; Kerala: 1. At Porvorim: Goa: 566 bt Chandigarh: 137 & (O/n: 159/3) 354 all out in 91.4 overs (Arjun Azad 141 Bhagmender Lather 38 Ankit Kaushik 82 Mayank Sidhu 33 n.o.; Darshan Misal 5-124 Mohit Redkar 3-39). Goa: 7; Chandigarh: 0.  At Indore: Punjab: 232 & 143/5 in 63.2 overs (Jaskaranvir Singh Paul 28 Uday Saharan 36; Shubham Sharma 3-20 Kumar Kartikeya 2-33) drew with Madhya Pradesh: 519/8. Madhya Pradesh: 3; Punjab: 1.