Bengaluru, Jan 23: Ravichandran Smaran’s patient fifty and pacers’ outstanding effort overshadowed Shubman Gill’s modest outing, an 8-ball 4, as Karnataka seized total control of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match against Punjab here on Thursday.
Skipper Gill’s poor effort had a cascading effect on Punjab’s innings as they crumbled for a paltry 55 in their first essay.
Smaran, who used all his technical nous, then made an unbeaten 83 (100b, 12x4s, 1×6) as Karnataka reached 199 for 4 when stumps were drawn on Day 1.
The home side now lead by 144 runs, and that cushion was the result of the remarkable spells by the pace troika of Vasuki Koushik (11-4-16-4), Abhilash Shetty (9-4-19-3) and Prasidh Krishna (8-3-11-2).
There was not a moment of respite for the Punjab batters on a lively pitch that offered appreciable pace and carry.
But Karnataka batters, particularly Smaran, negotiated the conditions far better than their opponents to drive their side to command.
Suraj’s six-for wrecks Haryana
Skipper Ankit Kumar made 57 but rest of the Haryana batters succumbed to pacer Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (6/46) as Bengal gained significant upper hand in their match on day one.
Bengal reached 10 for 1 at close and need 148 runs to gain the important first innings lead.
Ayush’s ton powers Bihar
Middle-order batter Ayush Loharuka made a gritty 101 (227b, 13x4s, 1×6) as Bihar reached a competitive 248 all out against Uttar Pradesh at the of Day 1.
He had good support from Sharman Nigrodh (44) and Sachin Kumar (38). For UP, pacer Shivam Mavi was the lead bowler taking four wickets. In their first innings, UP made 4 for no loss in one over.
Kerala in command
Pacer MD Nidheesh’s 5/44 helped Kerala bundle out Madhya Pradesh for 160 and then reached 54 for no loss to gain massive strides in the match at Thiruvananthapuram.
For MP, skipper Shubham Sharma top-scored with a 134-ball 54. (PTI)
Brief scores:
At Bengaluru: Punjab: 55 all out in 29 overs (V Koushik 4/16, Abhilash Shetty 3/19, Prasidh Krishna 2/11) vs Karnataka: 199/4 in 50 overs (R Smaran 83 not out, KV Aneesh 33; Mayank Markande 1/6).
At Kalyani: Haryana: 157 all out in 44.5 overs (Ankit Kumar 57; Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 6/46, Mukesh Kumar 2/52) vs Bengal: 10/1 in 5 overs.
At Patna: Bihar: 248 all out in 86 overs (Ayush Loharuka 101, Sharman Nigrodh 44; Shivam Mavi 4/61) vs UP: 4/0 in 1 over.
At Thiruvananthapuram: Madhya Pradesh: 160 all out in 60.2 overs (Shubham Sharma 54, Venkatesh Iyer 42; MD Nidheesh 5/44) vs Kerala: 54 for no loss in 18 overs (Akshay Chandran 22 batting, Rohan Kunnummal 25 batting).
