Not the numbers, not the scores, it's about the attitude: K Gowtham

"Bowling on a turning wicket is an art as well for a spinner," said Jaydev Unadkat after Karnataka were skittled for 200 in their first innings. It indeed was an artistic display in a match that gave rise to a hue of colours. The batsmen were tested, as were the bowlers; even a chase of 58 appeared to be tricky on a Patiala pitch that saw variant shades of spin. However, a calm Prerak Mankad ensured that Saurashtra avoided relegation with a four-wicket win against Karnataka.

As many as four four-wicket hauls were witnessed in the Group B encounter at the Dhruve Pandove stadium. Vinay Kumar and Abrar Kazi bagged one each in the second innings, although Saurashtra managed to pick up a 159-run lead. K Gowtham also led a remarkable fightback with a four-wicket haul in the final innings of the match that reduced Saurashtra to 36 for 6 at one stage. But Maknad's composed knock ensured that Saurashtra did not suffer any further hiccups.

The four-fer that made most of the difference in the eventual outcome of the game was that of debutant Jay Chauhan, who played a key role in restricting the power-packed Karnataka line-up in both innings. Figures of 3 for 52 in the first innings and 4 for 71 in the third would suggest a steely nerve in a 24-year-old playing his first game. It was, however, a jittery feeling before he stepped on to the field, admitted Chauhan, who added that the confidence the team management had in him helped him come up with a defining performance with the ball.

"Bowl tight and not much flight," was Chauhan's mantra as he went about dismantling the Karnataka batting line-up on what he described as a "slow-turning wicket". "It was my debut, I was a bit nervous but my team management had a lot of faith in me. I had to perform."

In a game that went down to the wire, it was heartening to see the youngsters step up and make their performances count. Although they were out of reckoning for the knockouts, the likes of Snell Patel, Mankad and Chauhan, who had a combined experience of five first-class matches before this game, defied the odds against their formidable opponents to ensure Saurashtra did not finish last on the points table.

Meanwhile, Karnataka slipped down a place from the top and it had to do with a collective failure of the batsmen, despite possessing a long batting order. Karnataka's bowlers also failed to capitalise in the first innings, despite reducing Saurashtra to 139 for 5 at one stage. That they conceded the first-innings lead to Odisha in the previous match and now this loss, doesn't bode well for a side with the business end of the competition nearing.

"Definitely we could have done a lot better with our batting, it was a let-down for us. It's high time the batsman have to perform. They are capable but they have to perform. The positive for us was the last session, the way the spinners bowled. First innings we didn't bowl the right lines. But they bowled well in the second innings, which is a big positive for us," reckoned Karnataka skipper Vinay Kumar.

Gowtham, the highest wicket-taker for Karnataka this season, also admitted that the bowlers did not hit the right areas and let Saurashtra off the hook. "We didn't bowl that great in the first innings, we weren't bowling in the areas where we were supposed to bowl. Second innings we planned quite a bit. We told ourselves that we wouldn't repeat the mistakes that we made in the first innings.

"That's how a champion side is made," remarked Gowtham, when asked about Karnataka's late fightback. "It's not the numbers, it's not the scores. It's about the attitude what we carry. Everyone in the team is a match-winner. In six games, we've got about 45 wickets as a spin unit. It says volumes of our attack. In cricket there are always ups and downs. I guess we had one of those downer games (against Saurashtra)," reasoned Gowtham, who is confident that Karnataka can get back to their dominating ways.

"We're still sitting second on the table. We've tried some new things, with the combinations. If you're talking about momentum, I guess confidence also counts. How we started off in the second innings will tell you how it is, how confident we are. The morale is certainly not down," Gowtham concluded.