Dominant Karnataka canters to 8-wicket win
Bangalore: Karnataka underlined their growing supremacy in domestic cricket, signing off their Ranji Trophy league engagements in style with a thumping eight-wicket victory over Delhi while ensuring daylight between them and the rest in Group ‘A’ to top the show with 38 points and a fifth victory on the trot.
With the hosts slipping to 132 for six the previous evening, the writing on the wall for Delhi and all that they could do was delay the inevitable, playing out a good part of the first session and lasting 28.5 overs before being bowled out for 201 on the final morning.
Needing 115 for a win, Mayank Agarwal’s unbeaten 68 off 96 deliveries with six boundaries and three sixes powered Karnataka to 116 for 2 in 28.1 overs and into the quarterfinals in dominant fashion.
As things transpire, Karnataka will meet the second-placed team from Group ‘B’ Uttar Pradesh at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium from Jan 8-11.
Delhi, who needed a win and other results to go their way in order to make it to the quarterfinals were never in the hunt after crashing to 202 in the first innings.
Having said that, Karnataka’s crop of young bowlers, have showed a tremendous leap of faith and instilled a huge sense of fear in their opponents.
Young lad Sharath got into the act straightaway on the final morning at the Feroz Shah Kotla removing Varun Sood for nought in the second over and though the other overnight batsman Milind Kumar and Sumit Narwal stuck in there for a while, it was but a matter of time.
Some 40 runs and 17.4 overs later Abrar Kazi breached Narwal’s defences and then the boy who’s fast developing a golden arm, Shreyas Gopal, bagged the final two to set up a comfortable target for Vinay Kumar’s men. While Karun Nair couldn’t replicate his first innings heroics, Agarwal seized the opportunity and got some runs behind his belt to boost his confidence level.
Having performed brilliantly thus far, Vinay’s men have a golden chance of scaling the summit with three matches to go. All they need to do is play with the same passion and belief that has characterised their season so far and not turn complacent.
Scoreboard:
Delhi (1st innings): 202
Karnataka (1st innings): 289
Delhi (2nd innings, o/n 132/6): Milind Kumar (not out) 31, Varun Sood b Sharath 0, Sumit Narwal b Kazi 21, Ashish Nehra st Gautam b Gopal 14, Manoj Chauhan c Pandey b Gopal 5. Extras (b5, lb4, w1, nb2) 12
Total (all outl 77.4 overs) 201
FoW: 6-124, 7-136, 8-176, 9-195
R Vinay Kumar 15-3-36-0, HS Sharath 16-4-35-3, Ronit More 16-3-39-3, Stuart Binny 3-0-14-0, Shreyas Gopal 7.4-0-23-3, Abrar Kazi 16-7-18-1, R Samarth 4-0-17-0
Karnataka (2nd innings): Mayank Agarwal (not out) 68, Karun Nair lbw Narwal 8, R Samarth b Manan 20, Manish Pandey (not out) 11.
Extras (b4, lb2, nb3) 9
Total (for 2 wkts; 28.1 overs) 116
FoW: 1-16, 2-104
Bowling: Ashish Nehra 5-1-8-0, Sumit Narwal 9-2-24-1, Varun Sood 3.3-0-7-0, Manan Sharma 5.3-026-1, Manoj Chauhan 5.1-0-45-0
Karnataka: 6 points. Delhi: 0
ASC breeze past Synergy
ASC boys claimed an impressive 4-2 win over Synergy Sports Club in the KSHA ‘A’ Division hockey league championship on Thursday.
Anand Nag, Maheshwar Nag, Sanjay Toppo and Guria Bhengra scored a goal apiece for ASC, while Sridhar and Shashank struck once each for the vanquished.
Results: ASC Boys 4 (Anand Nag 15; Maheshwar Nag 24; Sanjay Toppo 53; Guria Bhengra 58) bt Synergy S C 2 (Sridhar 41; Shashank 46); ITI 5 (Chingappa 22; Kalappa 26; Somaiah 29; Prathik 59; Sandeep 60) drew with MEG Boys 5 (Jitender 2, 39; Ajay S 17, 31; Shashi Dung Dung 24)
6-Red snooker tourney
The Karnataka State Billiards Association in association with Codava Events will conduct the ‘Palace Toyota battle of cues’ a 6-Red singles and doubles snooker tournament. The Rs. 2 lakh prize money event will be held from January 21-25 at the Kodava Samaj, Ammathi, Coorg.
The top eight state players will be given direct entry into the league and will be joined by eight qualifiers in the singles event. The doubles event will be played on knock out basis.
For entries contact: Sharath 9900555699/ Kishore 9986138958.