Binny ton saving grace for hosts

Bengaluru: With a sweetly timed single between point and cover, Stuart Binny ushered in his seventh first class century . The ton was a visual delight, coming in 88 balls and peppered with five sixes all around the M.

Chinnaswamy stadium.

 

For a brief while, the 29year-old's quick footwork and powerful shots, made one forget that the century had come an innings too late.

 

The Ranji Trophy Group A contest between Karnataka and Gujarat ended in a draw here on Sunday, with the visitors going home with three points by virtue of their first innings lead, while the hosts had to stay content with a single point.

 

Gujarat, who started their day at 373 for 6, were bowled out for 411, finishing with a lead of 105 runs. With overcast skies and light showers signaling early tea and no result coming off the contest, Karnataka ended up with 245 in 59 overs.

 

In the morning, the hosts, who could not do much to stop the Gujarat batsmen's assault on Day 3, managed to mop up the tail, conceding just 38 runs in the process. Abhimanyu Mithun first sent back overnight batsman Rakesh Dhruv (42) who failed to add to his previous day's score, caught by wicketkeeper CM Gautam.

 

Part-time bowler Mayank Agarwal then snapped up two wickets. Mehul Patel was trapped lbw and centurion Bhargav Merai ended his innings at 142, adding 21 to his overnight tally of 121, after being bowled by Agarwal.

 

Mithun picked up a fourwicket haul when No. 11 Jasprit Bumrah holed out to substitute R. Samarath.

 

Coming into to bat again, a result was the last thing on Karnataka batsmen's mind, but they did allow Gujarat a sniff of victory, losing two quick wickets with just 23 on the board.

 

With Agarwal (11) and Kunal Kapoor (2) back in the hut, Binny, who comes in at No.6 was sent up the order in place of an injured Manish Pandey .

 

In the company of K.L.Rahul (47), Binny got down to business finding the gaps and going after spinners Dhruv and Akshar Patel.

 

Binny and Rahul added a 115-ball 100 for the third wicket before Dhruv castled Rahul. Gautam then came in to stitch together an 89-run stand with Binny, rotating strike with ease and giving themselves some good batting practice.

 

Attempting to go for a big one, a constant throughout his stay at the crease, Binny fell short as Kushang Patel latched on to the catch off Akshar. Gautam and Ganesh Satish then saw the hosts through the day .

 

For a team which boasts of batting depth and lethal pace, Karnataka will look to pull their act together and will embark on their away journey to Nagpur, where they take on Vidarbha from Thursday .

 

They will go onto the contest with the return of Robin Uthappa and injury concern for Pandey.

 

Gautam will replace R. Vinay Kumar as the skipper, with the latter turning out for India in the ODI series against West Indies.

 

SCOREBOARD Karnataka (I Innings): 306 all out Gujarat (I Innings, O/n: 373/6): Bhargav Merai b Agarwal 142, Rakesh Dhruv c Gautam b Mithun 42, Mehul Patel lbw Mayank 6, Krushang Patel (not out) 2, Jasprit Bumrah c sub b Mithun 3. Extras (B13, LB-5, W-1, NB-3) 22. Total (all out, 139.2 overs) 411.

 

FoW: 7-375, 8-393, 9-402, 10-411 Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 17-6-47-1, Abhimanyu Mithun 32.2-7-94-4, Sreenath Arvind 25-70-53-0, Stuart Binny 19-7-59-1, KP Appanna 33-5101-2, Ganesh Satish 2-0-7-0, Mayank Agarwal 8-3-18-2, Kunal Kapoor 3-1-14-0.

Karnataka (II Innings): KL Rahul b Dhruv 47, Mayank Agarwal c Smit b Mehul 11, Kunal Kapoor b Akshar 2, Stuart Binny c Krushang b Akshar 114, CM Gautam (n.o) 51, Ganesh Satish (n.o) 11. Extras (B-5, LB-2, NB-2) 9.

 

Total (for 4 wkts, 59 overs) 245. Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-23, 3-123, 4-212.

Bowling: Mehul Patel 14-3-40-1, Jasprit Bumrah 7-1-29-0, Akshar Patel 18-3-55-2, Krushang Patel 6-037-0, Rakesh Dhruv 14-2-77-1. Gujarat grab three points; K'taka settle for 1

 

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