Press Trust of India
Kolkata, Feb 26: Dinesh Karthik struck a solid 113 (304b, 16×4) as Tamil Nadu put themselves in command against Maharashtra at Eden Gardens on day two of their Ranji Trophy semifinal against Maharashtra here Thursday.
On a deceptive green top, Karthik along with good knocks from Vijay Shankar (91, 194b, 11×4, 1×6), Ramaswamy Prasanna (64 n o, 175b, 10×4) and Baba Indrajith (68, 120, 11×4) ensured Tamil Nadu pile up 426/5 in 177 overs at stumps.
It was a frustrating day for Maharashtra as captain Rohit Motwani used eight bowlers but they toiled hard only to take two wickets as Tamil Nadu opted to play slowly keeping the run rate 2.6 per over.
Continuing his fine form, Indrajith slammed his second successive half century to put 107 runs with Prasanna for the sixth wicket. Karthik’s smashed his 22nd first class century before edging to wicket-keeper Motwani off SS Mundhe.
Karthik, who is eyeing a place in the Indian Test squad ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s retirement, admitted, “I am happy with my form. I just want to keep scoring runs and let my bat do the talking”.
Meanwhile in the other semifinal in Bangalore, Shardul Thakur(4/69) and Balwinder Singh Sandhu’s (3/45) fine bowling injected more drama into the match which seems headed for an exciting finish with Mumbai needing 382 runs in two days to defeat Karnataka. They were 61 without loss at stumps with Aditya Tare (40 batting) and Akhil Herwadkar (21 batting) at the crease.
Mumbai, who are looking for a turnaround after getting all out for 44 in the first innings, bowled out Karnakataka for 286. Abhimanyu Mithun (89, 113b, 14×0) and Ravi Samarth (58, 117b, 6×4, 1×6) did the bulk of scoring as the Karnataka innings folded quickly.
Brief Scores:
(At Bangalore): Karnataka 202 and 286 (Abhimanyu Mithun 89, R Samarth 58, Shardul Thakur 4/69); Mumbai 44 and 61/0 (Aditya Tare 40 n o). Match to continue.
(At Kolkata): Tamil Nadu 426/5 (Dinesh Karthik 113, Vijay Shankar 91) vs Maharashtra. Match to continue.
