Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Nov 8: Hosts Karnataka ensured a minimum of three points for themselves by taking the first innings lead Sunday against Orissa in their Ranji Trophy Group A encounter being played at the SNRWG Stadium in Mysore. In reply to Orissa’s first innings score of 232, Karnataka ended the day comfortably placed at 255 for the loss of three wickets at stumps. From now onwards, they will target an outright victory while Orissa will have to bat out of their skins if they are to salvage a point from the game.
Unbeaten knocks of 83 (181b, 7×4, 1×6) from Robin Uthappa and 52 (130b, 3×4, 1×6) from Karun Nair and their unbroken 127 runs stand for the fourth wicket put Karnataka in the driver’s seat. The two batted with a lot of circumspect, but were always ready to punish the loose ball whenever, the opportunity arose. The pitch which had looked so difficult to bat on when the visitors had batted Saturday, suddenly turned friendly with the Orissa bowlers, both pacers and spinners, unable to create an impression.
Orissa had started the day well removing in-form opener R Samarth early in the day. He failed to read an incoming delivery from Suryakant Pradhan (1/36) and was caught plumb in front. However, Karnataka recovered as Mayank Agarwal (78, 149b) and AM Reddy (36, 102b, 2×4, 1×6) put on 77 runs for the second wicket.
Basant Mohanty (2/41) brought Orissa back into the match with the wickets of Agarwal and Reddy, but after that Uthappa and Nair held firm and did not offer much of a chance.
Brief scores: Orissa 232; Karnataka 255 for 3 (Robin Uthappa 83 batting, Mayank Agarwal 78, Karun Nair 52 batting, Basant Mohanty 2/41). Match to continue.
Other Group-A matches
(At Delhi): Maharashtra 80 & 176 (SD Atitkar 30; Manan Sharma 4/47); Delhi 230 & 30/1. Delhi won by nine wickets.
(At Kolkata): Bengal 334 (Sudeep Chateerjee 116; SB Wagh 3/53); Vidarbha 141/7 (FY Fazal 63; PP Ojha 5/30). Match to continue.
(At Rohtak): Haryana 168 & 15/3 (AK Das 2/5); Assam 120 (G Sharma 43; AH Hooda 4/27). Match to continue.
