Karnataka rides on Karun's ton

Mohali: A thick blanket of fog blotted out much of the picturesque Shivalik hills, the youngest East-West mountain chain, which overlooks the PCA stadium in Mohali. The fog seemed symbolic of Punjab’s hopes of reaching the Ranji Trophy final — shadowed in doubt after another steely performance by Karnataka’s young and fiery unit.

On a drama-filled third day of the Ranji semifinals, the visitors snatched a decisive 81-run lead as they coasted to 351 for five at draw of stumps. Undoubtedly, a sublime, unconquered century by Karun Nair (107, 311m, 191b, 9x4) and a composed unbeaten half-century by Amit Verma (65 n.o.) has given Karnataka the upper hand in the course of their 110-run sixth wicket stand, but with two more days of play remaining, the visitors will need a little more cushion before they can seal the final door shut.

Caution and sensibility marked the visitors’ batting for the better part of the day, but they also benefited, at least thrice, from on-field umpire Subrata Das’ largesse. Manish Pandey (65) and Verma — were trapped plumb in front while Robin Uthappa (47) survived a sure-fire bat-pad catch against Harbhajan.

Karun batted with maturity and more importantly exhibited the talent he has in plenty. He used his footwork to good measure especially against the spinners and opened the face of the bat well against pace, all the while ensuring his wicket was safe.

SCORECARD

Punjab (1st innings): 270

Karnataka (1st innings): R. Uthappa lbw b Harbhajan 47, K.L. Rahul c Khera b Gony 4, M. Agarwal c Khera b Jaskaran 0, M. Pandey c Khera b Sandeep 65, K. Nair (batting) 107, C.M. Gautam c Jiwanjot b Harbhajan 48, Amit Verma (batting) 65. Extras: (lb7,nb8) 15. Total(for five wickets in 110 overs)351.

FoW: 1-6, 2-23, 3-94, 4-158, 5-241. Bowling: Sandeep 23-5-58-1, Gony 25-2-85-1, Jaskaran 19-3-68-1, Harbhajan 24-2-79-2, Yuvraj 4-0-14-0, T. Kohli 6-0-26-0, Gurkeerat 9-1-14-0