Karnataka piles it on in its second essay

Karnataka brightened its chances of dominating the Irani Cup match after seizing a 321-run lead over Rest of India at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday.

In a second innings, that found its sparkle through R. Samarth, Karun Nair and Manish Pandey, the champion had posted 341 for six and imposed pressure on the visitor.

Samarth’s knock was a largely confident vigil, Nair’s stint was about prime form finding expression and Pandey’s tenure was all about chutzpah.

The trio’s effort blended well to strengthen the host while the Rest bowlers’ visibly tired as the third day wore on. Pragyan Ojha was often on his haunches, appealing vociferously while Varun Aaron let out a few rants against the batsmen.

Resuming at 39 for no loss, Karnataka leant on Samarth (81, 159b, 10x4) after Mayank Agarwal miscued a pull off Aaron. Next-man Abhishek Reddy, just like Mayank, got a start but before taking wing, succumbed to Ojha. Amidst the cameos, Samarth’s focus was the one constant source of comfort for the host.

The opener square-drove Aaron but the speedster found his mark, forcing Robin Uthappa to inner-edge onto his stumps. Karnataka warded off further alarms as Samarth remained steady and Nair’s (80, 123b, 12x4) drives displayed power and panache. The duo helped Karnataka breathe easy with a lunch score of 148 for three.

In the afternoon, Samarth tried to increase the tempo, essayed a few drives but while trying to force one towards the on-side, played all over a Shardul Thakur delivery.

Nair meanwhile wasn’t averse to dance down the track and scatter Ojha over the in-field and with Pandey (73 batting, 124b, 8x4), added 106 runs for the fifth wicket.

Pandey, who survived a confident appeal for a catch off Ojha’s bowling, suffered a blow on his left elbow when Aaron banged it short. He retorted through two upper-cuts off the angry fast bowler, later in the day.

Like his predecessors in the batting order, Nair too pressed the exit button when more run-scoring avenues were open for him. An attempt to sweep Ojha proved costly as the ball thudded into his pads.

And with Rishi Dhawan eliciting an edge from Shreyas Gopal, Rest marginally swung back into contention as Vinay Kumar’s men were placed at 289 for six.

However, like in the Ranji Trophy, Karnataka’s lower-order resisted and with Vinay being an able ally, Pandey coasted along to nurture his team’s dreams of retaining the Irani Cup.

With two days to go, the contest still has some distance to traverse.

The scores:

Karnataka — 1st innings: 244 in 77.1 overs.

Rest of India — 1st innings: 264 in 75.4 overs.

Karnataka — 2nd innings: R. Samarth b Thakur 81, Mayank Agarwal c Jadhav b Aaron 28, Abhishek Reddy lbw b Ojha 31, Robin Uthappa b Aaron 6, Karun Nair lbw b Ojha 80, Manish Pandey (batting) 73, Shreyas Gopal c Naman b Dhawan 0, Vinay Kumar (batting) 28; Extras (b-5, lb-2, w-7): 14; Total (for six wkts. in 93 overs): 341.

Fall of wickets: 1-54, 2-105, 3-121, 4-182, 5-288, 6-289.

Rest of India bowling: Rishi Dhawan 21-1-74-1, Varun Aaron 20-2-85-2, Shardul Thakur 21-4-60-1, Pragyan Ojha 26-3-93-2, Jayant Yadav 4-0-16-0, Manoj Tiwary 1-0-6-0.