The depth in the Karnataka batting line-up was made to look shallow as Gujarat bowlers pushed the hosts.
Picture for representational purpose only.
Bengaluru: The depth in the Karnataka batting line-up was made to look shallow as Gujarat bowlers pushed the hosts onto the backfoot on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group 'A' contest here on Thursday .
On a green top wicket which had a lot to offer for the seamers, the home side finished the day at 226 for 7 in 90 overs after being put in to bat. The visitors had made two changes, bringing in pacers Mehul Patel and Krushang Patel and the move paid off well.
Openers Mayank Agarwal (42), K.L. Rahul (34) and Kunal Kapoor (57) were the only batsmen to put up a decent show as Karnataka lost wickets at regular intervals.
Agarwal and Rahul gave the hosts a good start, putting up 80 runs for the first wicket. With the Gujarat bowlers sticking to the plan of bowling off the stump, the opening duo took time to settle down. Agarwal, a natural stroke maker, did well early on to keep his wicket.
The youngsters played patiently , waiting for the odd loose balls to put them away through the gaps. All was going well for the hosts until spinner Rakesh Dhruv was introduced into the attack.
He promptly claimed Agarwal, who made the mistake of going for a big one only to be snapped up by Akshar Patel at mid-on.
Karnataka went into lunch at a sumptuous 91 for 1, but the second session turned disastrous. In the fourth over, Rahul returned, caught at forward short leg by Bhargav Merai off Akshar.
In walked Manish Pandey and he got down to business, bringing in Karnataka's 100 with a straight driven six, but he fell to a tidy caught and bowled effort by Mehul Patel after making just 8.
Soon, C.M. Gautam and Stuart Binny too returned to the hut adding just 12 runs to the tally.
The home team’s charge was dealt a huge blow when Kapoor, who showed admirable patience to keep the scoreboard ticking, was caught by skipper Parthiv Patel to give Mehul his second wicket. This brought Vinay Kumar to the crease, who added 44 runs for the seventh wicket with Satish. After a 45-ball 22, Vinay fell to Jasprit Bumrah towards the end of the day, leaving Satish and Abhimanyu Mithun as the overnight batsmen.
For Gujarat, Mehul (2-27), Bumrah (2-53) and Rakesh (2-51) delivered at crucial junctures.
On the second day morning, Karnataka will hope for Satish to come good and ensure decent numbers are put up on the board, before their pacers take the attack to the opponents' camp.
SCOREBOARD Karnataka I innings: Mayank Agarwal c A. Patel b Dhruv 42, KL Rahul C Merai b A Patel 34, Kunal Kapoor c P.
Patel b M. Patel 57, Manish Pandey c &b M. Patel 8, CM Gautam lbw b Dhruv 8, Stuart Binny b Bumrah 5, Ganesh Satish (batting) 36 R. Vinay Kumar c Parthiv, b Bumrah 22, Abhimanyu Mithun (batting) 3, Extras 12 (2 nb, 5b, 2 lb) total ( 7 wkts, 90 overs) 226 FoW: 1-80, 2-83, 3-108, 4-141, 5-146, 6-177, 7-221.
Bowling: Mehul Patel 20-10-27-2; Jasprit Bumrah 23-7-53-2; Kushang Patel 16-2-49-0; Rakesh Dhruv 18-251-2; Akshar Patel 13-3-36-1.
( Source : dc )
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