Great escape turns into massive win

cricket ranji trophy

There was an air of inevitability about the result of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal between Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir here on Monday.

Karnataka ensured their great escape on the penultimate day didn’t go waste by posting 316 all out in their second essay. With the slender 14-run first innings lead added to the total, the visitors set J&K an improbable 331-run target in 58 overs here at the Gandhi Memorial Science College ground.

The minnows expectedly went all out and crumbled in just one session. K Gowtham bagged 7/54 -- his second five-wicket haul of the season – to bundle out J&K for 163. Karnataka’s 167-run win, which came in just three days, took them to their third straight semifinal.

The eight-time champions face Bengal in Kolkata from February 29.

KV Siddharth, for his twin half-centuries, was rightly adjudged the man-of-the-match. In his team’s underwhelming batting effort in the first innings, Siddharth was the lone bright spot, slamming 76 to take Karnataka to a respectable 206. The right-hander, despite Karnataka being in the driver’s seat, showed no dip in determination to make 98 (177b, 10x4, 2x6) in the second innings.

A century was in the taking but the 27-year-old threw it away by dancing the down the track to Abid Mushtaq and playing a needless rash shot which went straight into the hands of short mid-wicket fielder Umar Nazir. Shocked and dejected at his short selection, Siddharth put his head down and stayed motionless for a few seconds. As he began to make the walk back to pavilion, even J&K’s players applauded his effort.

As curtains fell on their fairytale run, J&K rued failing to take the innings lead. “We had done well to restrict Karnataka to a low total and get close to that. But we were an inexperienced side and that’s why we fell short. Had we got the lead, maybe we would have dominated the game,” said skipper Parvez Rasool.

Karnataka had survived another close game and as skipper Karun Nair put it, the team was in a ‘tricky situation’. “When you bat limited time on the first day, the bowling side is on top. But we chose to bat first because the wicket was dry and batting last would have been tough.

“But our mindset was always positive. It was important for us to not to give them a big lead,” Nair told reporters.

The skipper lauded his team’s fighting spirit. “They were 88/2 after the third day. To come back from there and win the game was great. Everyone chipped in. Someone like Siddharth, who was out due to an injury, is continuing his good form of last season. He is converting his starts into big scores.

“It was also a tough call to leave out the experienced Shreyas (Gopal) for Suchith. We felt on this wicket, which was little dry, Suchith would be a better option. We thought he could exploit the rough and it was good to see him make a mark," Nair explained.

SCORE BOARD

KARNATAKA (I INNINGS): 206

JAMMU & KASHMIR (I INNINGS): 192

KARNATAKA (II INNINGS; O/N: 245/4): R Samarth c Rashid b Mujtaba 74 (133b, 7x4) Devdutt Padikkal c Pundir b Rasool 34 (33b, 8x4), Karun Nair b Mushtaq 15 (33b, 2x4), KV Siddharth c Nazir b Mushtaq 98 (177b, 10x4, 2x6), Manish Pandey c Henan b Rasool 35 (35, 5x4, 1x6), Sharath Srinivas lbw Mushtaq 34 (134b), K Gowtham st Rashid b Mushtaq 4 (12b, 1x4), J Suchith c Raina b Rasool 4 (39b), A Mithun c Rashid b Mushtaq 10 (38b, 1x4), Ronit More (not out) 1 (5b), Prasidh Krishna b Mushtaq 0 (3b). Extras (NB-1, B-4, LB-2) 7. Total (all out, 106.5 overs) 316.

Fall of wickets: 1-53 (Padikkal), 2-79 (Nair), 3-177 (Samarth), 4-223 (Pandey), 5-275 (Siddharth), 6-283 (Gowtham), 7-295 (Suchith), 8-313 (Sharath), 9-316 (Mithun).

Bowling: Aquib Nabi 11-3-25-0, Mujtaba Yousaf 12-1-44-1, Umar Nazir 10-0-52-0, Parvez Rasool 34-5-88-3, Abid Mushtaq 34.5-10-83-6, Abdul Samad 3-0-17-0, Henan Nazir 2-1-1-0.

JAMMU & KASHMIR (II INNINGS): Shubham Khajuria c Sharath Srinivas b Gowtham 30 (34b, 5x4), Suryansh Raina b Prasidh 12 (15b), Henan Malik lbw Gowtham 7 (18b), Abdul Samad c Suchith b Gowtham 2 (3b), Parvez Rasool b More 2 (6b), Shubham Pundir c Nair b Gowtham 31 (59b, 5x4), Fazil Rashid c Nair b Suchith 11 (18b, 1x4), Abid Mushtaq c Mithun b Gowtham 5 (6b, 1x4), Aquib Nabi lbw Gowtham 26 (4x4, 1x6), Mujtaba Yousuf (not out) 11 (47b), Umar Nazir c Sharath b Gowtham 24 (19b, 2x4, 2x6). Extras (B-1, LB-1) 2. Total (all out, 44.4 overs) 163.

Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Raina), 2-46 (Khajuria), 3-48 (Samad), 4-53 (Nazir), 5-53 (Rasool), 6-93 (Rashid), 7-98 (Mushtaq), 8-106 (Pundir), 9-131 (Nabi).

Bowling: Abhimanyu Mithun 4-0-18-0, Prasidh Krishna 5-0-21-1, K Gowtham 18.4-6-54-7, Ronit More 5-1-30-1, J Suchith 12-1-38-1.

Result: Karnataka won by 167 runs.

Semifinal: Karnataka vs Bengal, February 29.