Karnataka on top after Tamil Nadu batting collapse
CHENNAI: Saturday belonged to Karnataka as they first put up a challenging score (366) and later had Tamil Nadu reeling on the mat at
129 for 7 in 56 overs on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite 'C' group, sixth round match being played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Karnataka expected Devdutt Padikkal, who had hit 151 on the opening day, to put up a mammoth score, but the star batter was out the second ball of the day, caught and bowled by Pradosh Ranjan Paul at his overnight score itself.
Thereafter, youngsters Hardik Raj (51) and S Sharath played sensibly. Hardik added 41 runs with Sharath for the seventh wicket that helped the visitors cross the 300-run mark.
Later, Sharath, with the tail, managed to take Karnataka past 350.
Chasing 366 on a deteriorating surface is not an easy task. But Tamil Nadu, instead of playing to their strengths, made a false start by changing the successful opening combination.
In the previous round against Goa, Tamil Nadu opted for S Lokeshwar and N Jagadeesan at the top of the order and the pair did well then. But for the home game, they chose Vimal Khumar and N Jagadeesan instead.
Vimal could neither adjust to the surface or the bowling and perished very soon. Jagadeesan followed him soon as he fell to the guile of Shashi Kumar to be trapped in front. In-form Pradosh could not do much either as he lasted just 15 balls for 5 runs.
Tamil Nadu never really recovered after that.
Hardik bowled in tandem with Shashi and picked up a couple of wickets including the prized wicket of R Sai Kishore at a crucial stage.
''I feel there was a little more extra turn and bounce on the wicket, but I feel they also could have applied better,'' said Hardik, on how the wicket behaved on Saturday.
Karnataka captain Mayank Agarwal also did well to shuffle his bowlers and maintain the pressure. His field settings were precise and the bowlers, too, responded to the challenge to give their best.
''Mayank was spot on, he was aware of the conditions and chose the right bowlers at the right time. He had a good intuition and employed the right bowler to a particular batter. The way he brought Kaverappa (Vidwath) and set up Vijay Shankar was brilliant,'' said PV Shashikanth, coach of the Karnataka team.
''Our fielding also put pressure on the opponents and the catch that Manish (Pandey) took to dismiss Pradosh was brilliant. So it was a good team effort that brought us to this good situation,'' he added.
With the experienced B Indrajith batting on 35 and with three wickets in hand, Tamil Nadu will be hopeful of getting as many runs as possible on Sunday and reduce the deficit. ''I don't think there is any particular reason for the collapse (batting). It happens in one game. We have been batting well so far in the tournament, so today (Saturday) was a bad day for us,'' said Ajith Ram, who took four wickets for Tamil Nadu.
''The surface will deteriorate further tomorrow (Sunday). We would like to get as many runs as possible and then bowl with more fire than that we did in the first essay. We will fight till the end,'' added Ajith Ram.
Brief scores: Karnataka 366 (D Padikkal 151, H Raj 51; A Ram 4/75) vs Tamil Nadu 129/7 in 56 ovs (N Jagadeesan 40; S Kumar 3/41).