Karnataka batsmen falter against Odisha

Karnataka batsmen faltered against Odisha on the green top of Palam Ground before carving out an opening through their bowlers on the first day of their Ranji Trophy Group B contest on Monday.

Under challenging conditions, the Karnataka batsmen found the going tough. The experienced pace-battery of Odisha, led by Basant Mohanty (3-46) and Biplab Samantray (2-20) never allowed the strong Karnataka batting to settle down.

Edges flew thick and fast to hasten the slide of the eight-time champions to their lowest first innings total of the season in 179 in 66.2 overs.  But for the doughty effort of wicket-keeper CM Gautam (54, 84b, 8x4) the southern side could have fared worse.

Karnataka, who had included an extra pacer in Ronit More in the playing XI, wrestled back some initiative after reducing Odisha to 42/2 in the remaining 18 overs of the day. Captain Govinda Poddar (16) and nightwatchman Dhiraj Singh (0) were holding Odisha’s reins when stumps were drawn.

Put in, Karnataka flagged off their campaign in a bizarre fashion. Both the openers, Mayank Agarwal and R Samarth, were back in the dressing room after being run-out.
Agarwal’s unflattering stretch this season has continued. Samarth, following a leg glance, ran on Agarwal’s call but wicket-keeper Saurabh Rawat was quick to pick the ball from short-fine leg. A direct throw ended Agarwal’s stay in the sixth over of the innings.

Robin Uthappa joined Samarth to ease the early jitters. The two had raised 52 runs for the second wicket when Samarth ran after driving the ball to the cover. Uthappa, though, wasn’t looking at him.  By the time he realised the danger, it was too late. Karnataka had lost both their openers for 58 runs.

Uthappa had looked good during his 52-ball stay but perished when his cut darted to Abhishek Yadav in third slip.  Karnataka took lunch at 72/3, with Stuart Binny and Kaunain Abbas at the crease.

Karnataka then lost five wickets for 94 runs in the second session. Binny departed shortly after the start of play when a beauty from Mohanty left him with no option but to offer his bat. Rawat pouched an easy catch. In the next five overs, Abbas was trapped leg before by Mohanty; so was Shreyas Gopal while trying to sweep Samantray, leaving Karnataka ill at ease at 95/6.

Gautam played a compact innings. With strong afternoon sun easing out the conditions for batting, he put up a solitary fight with his quick half-century. He played the ball on its merit, stroking fluently on both sides of the wicket.

He, though, didn’t get much support from his team-mates. Gautam kept up the fight till the last and with his dismissal, when he failed to clear sweeper cover off left-arm spinner Dhiraj, Karnataka’s batting in the first innings also ended. They would now be restless to seek redemption in the morning session on Tuesday.