Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Karnataka were inexplicably diffident with the bat but Puducherry’s inexperience, and perhaps incompetence, at this level provided the hosts with an opportunity to post a huge win, potentially with a bonus point.
At stumps on the second day of their Group C Ranji Trophy match, Karnataka had reduced Puducherry to 58/3 with the visitors still in arrears by 76 runs here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.
Two brilliant catches – by Shreyas Gopal at square leg and BR Sharath behind the wickets – saw Karnataka remove both the Puducherry openers, Aravind K and Neyan Kangayan, respectively. Pacers Ronit More and V Vyshak shared the first two scalps while off-spinner K Gowtham trapped Paras Dogra in front to leave the visitors in a mess. Jay Pande (25 n.o.) and C Ashwath (3 n.o.) prevented further damage on another extended day.
Karnataka, overnight 111/1, went on to score 304 all out in 93.2 overs with R Samarth, who was unbeaten on 59 the previous night, completing his second century in as many matches following his unbeaten 119 against Services in the opening fixture.
Armed with a lead of 134 runs, Karnataka will be targeting a quick finish to the match but a more positive approach while batting could have pushed Puducherry into a deeper hole. With no disrespect meant, Karnataka perhaps gave more respect to the visiting attack than it deserved.
While Puducherry did bowl negative lines to stem the run flow, Karnataka’s batsmen could have been more positive to discourage their opponents from persisting with the tactic. While thoughtless aggression wasn’t the need of the hour, as displayed by the inexperienced Vishal Onat who will be certainly wiser by the experience, going into a shell wasn’t going to benefit them either. Having been kept quiet, Onat stepped out to left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma (6/60) only to see the ball beat him and hit the stumps after ricocheting off stumper Arun Karthick’s pads. Sharma operated intelligently, cashing in on the Karnataka batsmen’s reluctance to take him on.
Samarth, who generally steps on the gas once he gets his eyes in, was surprisingly circumspect while Nikin Jose, playing only his second Ranji match, was understandably cautious as the duo raised 63 runs off 119 balls for the fourth wicket before Jose was dismissed while attempting to slash a ball that bounced a little extra, resulting in a thick edge to slip.
Manish Pandey (45 off 78) did play his strokes later but he was uncharacteristically watchful for a long period as he limped to 11 off 51, providing no real impetus to the innings. It wasn’t until Samarth got out, giving almost a catching practice to the slip fielder, that Pandey shed his inhibition. His stay, however, didn’t last long as was Karnataka’s innings, losing their last five wickets for the addition of just 23 runs on a pitch that held no demons.
While Karnataka might have done enough to grab the full complement of points on offer, they would do well to adopt a more positive approach against stronger opponents.
