Hubli: On a sun-drenched Saturday morning at the KSCA stadium here, it initially looked like the Punjab batsmen would ensure a long and tiring day for Karnataka on the opening day of their Group A Ranji Trophy encounter.
But disciplined bowling and effective fielding coupled with loose shots from the Punjab batsmen saw the visitors collapse, losing nine wickets for a mere 68 runs and crumble from 106 for 1 to 174 all out in the 55th over.
In reply, Karnataka were also shaken up a little to be placed at 59 for 2 in 26 overs, losing opener Mayank Agarwal (17) and Ganesh Satish (5), who was promoted back to onedown, in quick succession.
Both the batsmen fell to Manpreet Gony.
For the hosts, Stuart Binny (3-62) and K.P. Appanna (3-29), drafted in place of the injured Abrar Kazi who pulled a hamstring during warm-up, were the most successful bowlers in terms of wickets, but due credit to the other three seamers — R. Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun and H.S Sharath — who collected a wicket apiece.
With the in-form Jiwanjot Singh (5) back in the pavilion after a combined effort from K.L Rahul and wicketkeeper CM Gautam saw him short of the crease, the 93-run second wicket partnership between Manan Vohra (69) and Uday Kaul (29) made it seem like Vinay’s decision to bowl could prove costly.
The right-left combination accelerated the run rate, bringing up Punjab’s 50 in the 16th over. Against the pacers, who elicited decent bounce off the pitch, the duo did well to put away the loose balls.
The partnership was broken by Binny, who had Vohra caught at first slip by Rahul. Kaul followed in the next over handing a catch to Agarwal off Vinay.
Going into lunch at 117 for 3, the visiting batsmen did precious little to keep their wickets. The Karnataka bowlers peppered them with short balls and baffled the Punjab middle order, which showed no signs of any resistance.
Patience wasn’t their virtue as Taruwar Kohli gloved a Mithun delivery to Agarwal at gully to be the first post-lunch casualty.
Binny, who went for some runs in the first session alternated his pace as did Sharath. The usually aggressive Gurkeerat Singh, kept under a tight leash, attempted to break free, but landed up being a Sharath victim, lapped up in the slips by debutant Karun Nair.
From then on, erratic shots saws Punjab crash, as five wickets fell for just 23 runs, Binny and Appanna wiped out the tail, with the latter claiming the last wicket of Vinay Choudhary to complete 100 first class sticks.
Skipper Mandeep Singh, unbeaten at 32, was the only batsmen apart from Vohra and Kaul to manage double digits.
With eight wickets in hand and 115 runs to catch up on, the first hour will be a test for overnight batsmen Rahul (22) and Manish Pandey (13). If they get through the hour, a big partnership isn’t a big ask on a wicket which has considerably dried up.
P Pu un nj ja ab b, , I I i in nn ni in ng gs s: : Manan Vohra c KL Rahul b S. Binny 69, Jiwanjot Singh (run out) 5, Uday Kaul c M. Agarwal b Vinay Kumar 29, Mandeep Singh (not out) 32, Taruwar Kohli c M. Agarwal b A. Mithun 6, Gurkeerat Singh c K. Nair b Sharath 5, Gitansh Khera c Rahil b Appanna 3, Sandeep Sharma b Binny 6, Manpreet Gony c Rahul b Appanna 5, VRV Singh st. Gautam b Appanna 7, Vinay Choudhary c K. Nair b Appanna 0.
E Ex xt tr ra as s7 7 ( (l lb b3 3, , n nb b2 2, , w w2 2) ) T To ot ta al l ( (a al ll l o ou ut t; ; 5 54 4. .5 5 o ov ve er rs s) ) 1 17 74 4 F Fo oW W: : 1-13, 2-106, 3-106, 4-119, 5141, 6-151, 7-157, 8-166, 9-174 B Bo ow wl li in ng g: : R. Vinay Kumar 11-4-20-1; Abhimanyu Mithun 10-1-30-1; Stuart Binny 14-3-62-3; HS Sharath 11-330-1; KP Appanna 8.5-1-29-3.
K Ka ar rn na at ta ak ka a I I i in nn ni in ng gs s: : Mayank Agarwal c G. Khera b M. Gony 17, KL Rahul (batting) 22, Ganesh Satish lbw M Gony 5, Manish Pandey (batting) 13, E Ex xt tr ra as s 2 2 ( (n nb b2 2) ) T To ot ta al l ( (f fo or r 2 2 w wk kt ts s; ; 2 26 6 o ov ve er rs s) ) F Fo oW W: : 1 1-3 34 4, , 2 2-4 46 6 B Bo ow wl li in ng g: : Sandeep Sharma 10-2-210; VRV Singh 6-1-12-0; Taruwar Kohli 4-2-6-0; Manpreet Gony 7-220-2.
