Ranji Trophy: Karnataka let advantage slip

In another bewildering display of batting, Karnataka went from being magnificent to meek overnight. In the process of this unhealthy transformation, the hosts made it difficult for themselves to enforce an outright win, which looked within their grasp, on Chhattisgarh.

Overnight 202/1 and with two set batsmen at the crease, Karnataka were expected to carry the same positive intent, which they had displayed on the second day, to put themselves into a position from where they could have gone all out for victory. Instead, they were diffident, though the visiting attack remained nothing more than honest on a pitch showing few signs of difficulties.

They did take a small 55-run lead after managing to post 366 all out but with just a day's play left in the game, six points look out of their reach at the moment. By the time the stumps were drawn due to bad light with still 12 overs left in the day, Chhattisgarh had reached 35/2 to trail Karnataka by 20 runs on the third day of a Group C Ranji Trophy clash here at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Thursday.

Vidwath Kaverappa (8/1) and Koushik V (7/1) snared a wicket each early in Chhattisgarh's second innings but Ashutosh Singh (8 n.o.) and Amandeep Khare (23 n.o.) saw off the day without further damage.

Coming back to Karnataka batting, young Vishal Onat, who had consumed 67 balls for his 15 the previous night, continued in the same gear while taking a lion's share of the strike. With the innings moving at a purposeless pace, skipper Mayank Agarwal decided to try adventurous but ended up pulling Ajay Mandal straight into the midwicket fielder's hands.

While big hits weren't the need of the hour, staying busy was essential to maintain the tempo. No more than 34 runs came off 90 balls before Agarwal perished. Onat didn't last long either, attempting for a non-existent single after driving hard towards a slightly straighter mid-off where Sumit Ruikar had all the time and all three stumps to aim at. And the fielder made no mistake.

Manish Pandey, fresh from his fifth first-class double ton, looked the part with a crunchy cover drive off Ajay Mandal but a repeat of the same shot resulted in comfortable stumping as the left-arm spinner slipped one wide off the right-hander in a brilliant anticipation of batsman's intention.

Chhattisgarh spinners shunned the negative-line tactic they had adopted the previous day without much success, and reaped rewards for bowling attacking lines. Seamers Sourabh Majumdar and Ravi Kiran used the second new ball in telling fashion, removing Shreyas Gopal and BR Sharath respectively.

Only the pyrotechnics of Shreyas (23), K Gowtham (18) and the enterprise of Nikin Jose (67, 134b, 8x4, 1x6) guided Karnataka past Chhattisgarh's total much to the relief of the home camp which must have experienced some anxious moments at 287/6.

Jose was particularly impressive, farming strike with tailender Vidwath. Karnataka were 339 when the ninth wicket fell, but the 22-year-old Jose, playing just his fourth first-class match, showed maturity beyond his experience while adding 27 runs for the last wicket with Vidwath's contribution being zero.