Karnataka thump listless Odisha

Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair hit delightful tons while J Suchith bagged a five-for as Karnataka remained on pole position in Group A following a commanding win over Odisha in the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Tuesday.

Agarwal, in supreme form this domestic season, hammered an easy-on-the-eye 102 (94b, 11x4, 2x6), while his opening partner Karun Nair, looking scratchy at the start but fluid as the innings progressed, slammed 100 (111b, 12x4) as Karnataka amassed 353/6 on a batting paradise at the Alur ground.

Odisha openers Rajesh Dhuper (53) and Anurag Sarangi (58) then raised hopes of an unlikely win with quick fire half-centuries but once they fell to the guile of off-spinner K Gowtham the rest collapsed like a pack of cards. Left-arm spinner Suchith, coming on as the last option, was the wrecker-in-chief (5/35) as Karnataka galloped to a 133-run victory. The hosts, with 14 points from five games, remain on top of the group, followed by Baroda and Punjab two points behind.

Odisha skipper Subhransu Senapati won the toss and surprisingly chose to field on a track that offered little help for the bowlers. Karnataka accepted the invitation with both hands as Agarwal and Nair went about their job at a steady pace but in contrasting styles. While Agarwal kept finding the boundaries at will and looked in no discomfort whatsoever, Nair, promoted to the opening slot from previous game, oozed class one moment but struggled with the balls around the off-stump area every now and then. An inside edge missed the stumps by fraction once and he almost nicked at least on three occasions while fishing outside.

Nair batted through that testing phase and then started to display his repertoire of strokes. At the other end Agarwal just kept chugging along smoothly before changing gears as he neared a hundred. Agarwal clobbered a hat-trick of boundaries - a six and two fours - to race into the 90s and he then raised his seventh century of the season with a punching pull-shot boundary. Overjoyed by the ensuing celebrations, Agarwal lost concentration the very next ball to be bowled by Suryakant Pradhan.

Nair then took centre-stage, bringing up his century seven overs later before perishing off the very next ball with a mistimed shot. The foundation had been set though and Pavan Deshpande (54, 37b, 5x4, 2x6) and K Gowtham (47, 20b, 5x4, 3x6) laid siege to the Odisha bowling in the last 10 overs, unleashing some lusty blows that saw the ball disappear twice.

Dhuper and Sarangi started the tough chase in right earnest, going for the jugular from the onset. They first took apart opening pacers T Pradeep and Prasidh Krishna before sinking into spinners Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal to bring a century partnership in quick time without any damage. Karnataka started feeling the heat but Gowtham calmed the nerves by first trapping Sarangi with a ball that skidded on before castling Dhupar. Suchith then took charge, picking wickets in a heap as Odisha lost the plot thereafter.