Unicaus NEWS
But it was not to be, as a second straight batting collapse at Alur(1) grounds handed Madhya Pradesh a 217-run victory.
The reverse puts Karnataka on shaky ground in the race to grab the two knockout spots from this group. From being the table-topper, Karnataka (21 points) slipped to third position.
Maharashtra (24 points) and Madhya Pradesh (22 points) moved ahead, leaving Karnataka with plenty of work to do in its last fixture against Punjab.
The day began with Madhya Pradesh adding 25 runs to its overnight total, declaring on 229 for eight. This left Karnataka with an improbable target of 362 with nearly a full day’s play left.
The host needed to bat for time, but wickets tumbled at regular intervals. Madhya Pradesh spinners Saransh Jain and Sagar Solanki kept a tight leash, picking up three wickets each.
Karnataka was further troubled by the absence of Karun Nair, who had split his webbing while fielding on Saturday.
Nikin Jose batted in Karun’s place, under the BCCI’s “serious injury replacement substitute” rule which came into effect at the start of this domestic season.
Opener K.V. Aneesh (57, 142b, 7×4) played a lone hand, as he had done in Karnataka’s first essay. The writing was on the wall when Aneesh was the seventh wicket to fall, caught behind off pacer Kuldeep Sen.
Nikin (26, 101b, 2×4) grafted hard, until he was trapped on the pads by Saransh.
Senior batters Mayank Agarwal (7) and Devdutt Padikkal (0) endured another failure. Skipper Mayank nicked fast bowler Aryan Pandey to slip, while Padikkal registered his second duck of the outing when he was bowled in the same over.
Vidyadhar Patil (26 not out) could only delay the inevitable.
The scores: Madhya Pradesh – 1st innings: 323.
Karnataka – 1st innings: 191.
Madhya Pradesh – 2nd innings: Yash Dubey lbw b Shikhar 17, Himanshu Mantri b Shreyas 96, Shubham Sharma b Vidyadhar 32, Rajat Patidar b Vidyadhar 0, Venkatesh Iyer b Shreyas 1, Akshat Raghuwanshi b Shikhar 13, Saransh Jain (retd. hurt) 15, Sagar Solanki lbw b Vidyadhar 13, Aryan Pandey c Mayank b Vidyadhar 18, Kumar Kartikeya (not out) 11; Extras (w-8, b-5): 13; Total (for 8 wkts. decl. in 75.1 overs): 229.
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-96, 3-96, 4-99, 5-123, 6-179, 7-212, 8-229.
Karnataka bowling: Kaverappa 14-4-32-0, Vidyadhar 18-5-54-4, Vyshak 11-1-39-0, Shikhar 11-0-41-2, Shreyas 21.1-3-58-2.
Karnataka – 2nd innings: K.V. Aneesh c Mantri b Kuldeep 57, Mayank Agarwal c Akshat b Aryan 7, Devdutt Padikkal b Aryan 0, Nikin Jose (sub) lbw b Saransh 26, Shreyas Gopal b Solanki 1, Abhinav Manohar lbw b Solanki 6, K.L. Shrijith c&b Solanki 0, Vidyadhar Patil (not out) 26, V. Vyshak c&b Kartikeya 8, Shikhar Shetty b Saransh 1, Vidwath Kaverappa b Saransh 0; Extras: (w-1, nb-2, b-5, lb-4): 12; Total (in 67.5 overs): 144.
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-15, 3-76, 4-77, 5-91, 6-91, 7-114, 8-133, 9-144.
Madhya Pradesh bowling: Aryan 7-4-9-2, Saransh 19.5-4-37-3, Kartikeya 18-6-42-1, Kuldeep 9-1-27-1, Solanki 14-5-20-3.
PoM: Saransh Jain.
