Karnataka, who had conceded a 144-run first innings lead to hosts Andhra, fought back in the second innings to reach 176 for four by stumps on the penultimate day of their Ranji Trophy Elite match at the Dr Gokaraju Liala Gangaraju ACA cricket ground in Mulapadu, Vijayawada, on Tuesday.
Karun Nair led the fightback with a gritty unbeaten 81 as Karnataka are 32 runs ahead with six wickets in hand.
Karnataka had another poor start as they lost opener KL Rahul (1) with 18 on the board. The other opener Mayank Agarwal (18) too did not last long as he fell with the score reading 25. Both the wickets were snared by left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar.
Karun to Karnataka’s rescue
The Andhra spinner then had KV Aneesh (6) caught by skipper Ricky Bhui to leave Karnataka poor placed at 43 for three. With the chips down and Karnataka in danger of losing the game, Karun Nair came to the rescue. Along with No.3 bat Manvanth Kumar, Karun set about the repair work. The duo added 94 for the fourth wicket with Karun doing the bulk of the scoring. Karun contributed 67 off 103 balls and Manvanth added 26 off 83 balls before the latter fell to left-arm spinner Lalith Mohan.
R&R show: Debutant Rahul and Revanth script Andhra’s remarkable turnaround on Day 2
Skipper Ravichandran Smaran, who struck a century in the first innings, came to the crease and along with Karun ensured a lead for Karnataka. They have till now added 39 for the unbroken fifth wicket with Karun batting on 81 off 130 balls with eight fours and two sixes, while Smaran was on 21 off 43 balls with a four. Saurabh took three for 41 and Lalith bagged one for 55.
Andhra press on
Earlier, Andhra, resuming at their overnight score of 331 for six with Sreeram Rahul batting on 108 and KV Sasikanth on 6, kept ticking the runs.
However, Rahul fell after adding 11 to his overnight score. He was trapped leg before by Ritesh Bhatkal on 119 which came off 222 balls with 10 fours. Rahul and Sasikanth added 46 runs for the seventh wicket.
Tanay hits Tripura for a six as Hyderabad score an innings and 40-run win to begin season well
Karnataka’s hopes of wiping off the tail, however, did not bear fruit. The Andhra batters kept defying their rivals. Sasikanth and Saurabh Kumar added 31 invaluable runs to the total before Saurabh was caught by wicketkeeper KL Shrijith off Shikhar Shetty for 24 off 25 balls with a four and a six.
Sasikanth fell after the team crossed the 400-run mark as he was trapped leg before by Shetty. His 39 came off 104 balls with 4 boundaries and a six. Lalith Mohan chipped in with an unbeaten 16 (23 balls; 1×4, 1×6) as Andhra were finally dismissed for 418.
Left-arm spinner Shetty was the most successful bowler with a six for 115 haul. Madhav Bajaj took two for 94 and Ritesh Bhatkal got two for 109.
Brief scores: Karnataka 274 in 82.2 overs & 176 for four in 60 overs (Manvanth Kumar 44, Karun Nair 81 batting, Ravichandran Smaran 21 batting; Saurabh Kumar 3/41) vs Andhra 418 in 121.5 overs (Abhishek Reddy 30, Shaik Rasheed 54, Sreeram Rahul 119, Revanth Reddy 97, KV Sasikanth 39, Saurabh Kumar 24, Lalith Mohann 16 not out; Shikhar Shetty 6/115, Madhav Bajaj 2/94 Riesh Bhatkal 2/109).
