Vinay Kumar grabs 6, rattles 40-time Ranji champions Mumbai

Bengaluru: Domestic powerhouse Karnataka showcased their bowling might yet again as Vinay Kumar’s destructive spell skittled Mumbai for a paltry 44 as 21 wickets fell on an engrossing opening day of the five-day Ranji Trophy semifinal here at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.

The defending champions, spearheaded by the captain Vinay, who scalped 6-20, struck at regular intervals as the 40-time champions crumbled to their second lowest total in first-class cricket after Karnataka had been bowled out for 202 in their first innings.

Vinay grabbed his 16th domestic five-wicket haul while fellow pacer S. Arvind claimed two. Mumbai’s Abhishek Nayar did not bat following an on-field injury. The all-rounder took a hard tumble while fielding and was rushed to Hosmat after he complained of difficulty in breathing.

Later it was ascertained that Nayar, who underwent a CT scan, was recovering but it 's unclear whether he would bat in the second innings.

Mumbai, shot out shockingly came back hard at the hosts to reduce them to 10 for two with R. Samarth and night watchman Abhimanyu Mithun at the crease. At stumps, the hosts’ Karnataka had an overall lead of 168 with eight wickets in hand.

In the morning, Vinay’s decision to bat first on a sporting track backfired as in-form KL Rahul (15, 17b, 3x4), played an audacious pull off Shardul Thakur (4/61) straight to Balwinder Singh Sandhu at fine-leg. With pacer Thakur giving an early breakthrough, Karnataka were reduced to 34 for two owing to Akhil Herwadkar’s brilliant direct hit from covers which had R. Samarth (3) run out.

Scoreboard:

Karnataka 1st Innings: R. Uthappa c Yadav b Mota 68, K.L. Rahul 15, R. Samarth (run out) 3, M. Pandey lbw Thakur 34, K.Nair (not out) 49, K. Kapoor b Thakur 0, C.M. Gautam lbw Nayar 4, S. Gopal c Tare b Sandhu 0, R. Vinay Kumar (run out) 17, A. Mithun c Tare b Thakur 0, S. Arvind c Tare b Mota 2. Extras: (b8, lb1, wd1). Total (all out in 60.2 overs) 202.

FoW: 1-19, 2-34, 3-115, 4-133, 5-133, 6-153, 7-154, 8-178, 9-179, 10-202.
Bowling: S. Thakur 18-6-61-4, B.S. Sandhu 14-0-57-1, W. Mota 14.2-9-18-2, H. Singh 5-0-28-0, A. Nayar 9-029-1.

Mumbai 1st Innings: A. Herwadkar lbw Vinay 0, A. Tare c Gautam b Kumar 9, S. Iyer lbw Mithun 15, S. Yadav c Nair b Arvind 12, S. Lad c Gopal 0, N. Patil c Pandey b Kumar 2, W. Mota 0, S. Thakur c Rahul b Kumar 6, H. Singh lbw Arvind 0, A. Nayar (Injured-DNB).
Total (all out in 15.3 overs) 44.

FoW: 1-0, 2-23, 3-25, 4-25, 5-31, 6-31, 7-37, 8-41, 9-44.
Bowling: Kumar 8-1-20-6, A. Mithun 5-0-23-1, Arvind 2.3-1-1-2.

Karnataka 2nd Innings: R. Uthappa c Mota b Thakur 4, K.L. Rahul c Tare b Sandhu 2, A. Mithun (batting) 4, R. Samarth (batting) 0.
Total (for two wicket in 5 overs) 10.

FoW: 1-6, 2-10
Bowling: S. Thakur 2-0-8-1, B. Sandhu 2-1-2-1, W. Mota 1-1-0-0.