Ton-up Padikkal, Pandey put Karnataka on top

Hubballi: The exuberance of youth and the evergreen fire of a veteran warrior forged a heady cocktail to put Karnataka on top against Punjab in their season-opening Ranji Trophy Group C encounter here on Saturday.

Devdutt Padikkal, just 23 years old but already an established member of the team, smashed a career-best 193 off 216 balls while former captain Manish Pandey, one of three surviving members of the all-conquering 2013-15 side, hammered a typically punchy century (118, 165b) as Karnataka took stumps on the second day at 461/6 — a huge lead of 309 runs at the KSCA Stadium.

Pacer V Koushik, speaking to the media on Friday after slaying Punjab with a superb 7/41 show, said the plan for Karnataka is to amass a huge first innings and then try bowl out the visitors. Padikkal and Pandey, both determined to prove a point, executed the first part of the plan to the hilt in ferocious fashion with a 234-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Firstly, Padikkal. The gifted southpaw, who lost out on considerable gametime over the last two seasons owing to injury and an intestinal illness that had him in and out of hospital, had indicated in various interactions over the last few months that he’s fired-up to make this season count as he’s fully fit and feeling very confident about his game. His showed the hunger on Friday itself when he smashed a run-a-ball 80 and, on Saturday, just carried on from he left off.

Having figured out the pitch didn’t possess much venom and the Punjab attack, despite comprising India players Arshdeep Singh and Siddarth Kaul, lacked the bite, Padikkal unleashed a new avatar to his batting. Normally a batter who starts very cautiously before mixing that with a little bit of controlled aggression as the innings progresses, Padikkal batted in top gear right from the moment he took strike.

Even on Saturday morning, despite being close to a third first-class century, Padikkal didn’t buckle down from playing the big shots. He attacked whenever the opportunity presented and, in fact, got to his century with a gorgeous drive down the ground. He immediately leapt in the air, took out his helmet and heaved a sigh of relief — letting go of all the pain the injury and illness caused him.

Padikkal didn’t lose focus even after the ton, continuing to constantly attack the Punjab bowlers who just couldn’t find a plan to contain him apart from constant appeals. Undistracted, Padikkal went about his job in brisk speed before falling seven runs short of a double century, getting caught in the deep while attempting a six.

The 34-year-old Pandey played an ideal foil to Padikkal at the other end. Aware how much the match hinged on their partnership, the normally ultra-aggressive Pandey showed maturity in picking the right balls to attack. He didn’t go full tilt but still batted at high speed as runs came at 4.60 an over in the first session. Together, they out-batted Punjab that has left Karnataka in a great position to push for a victory over the next two days.

SCORE BOARD 

PUNJAB (I Innings): 152.   

KARNATAKA (I Innings, O/n: 142/3): R Samarth b Dutta 38 (62b, 5x4), Mayank Agarwal c Dhir b Arshdeep 0, Devdutt Padikkal c Baltej b Dutta 193 (216b, 24x4, 4x6), SJ Nikin Jose lbw 8 (26b), Manish Pandey c Abhishek b Arshdeep 118 (165b, 13x3, 3x6), S Sharath (batting) 55 (158b, 5x4), Shubhang Hegde c Mandeep b Dhir 27 (77b, 2x4), Vyshak V (batting) 15 (27b, 3x4). Extras (LB-6, NB-1) 7. TOTAL (for 6 wkts, 123 overs) 461.  

Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Agarwal), 2-92 (Samarth), 3-110 (Jose), 4-344 (Padikkal), 5-382 (Pandey), 6-441 (Hegde).

Bowling: Baltej Singh 21-3-56-0, Arshdeep Singh 21-1-71-2, Siddarth Kaul 18-0-79-0, Prerit Dutta 22-1-84-2, Naman Dhir 12-1-46-2, Mayank Markande 20-1-73-0, Abhishek Sharma 9-0-46-0.