Karnataka survived a Manoj Tiwary and Siddhesh Lad scare before scampering home by six runs in its opening Deodhar Trophy match here on Monday.
Confronted with a target of 297, India-B, cruising at 241 for four, ran out of breath when the seasoned Tiwary, after a brilliant 120 (110b, 10x4, 4x6), was stumped. It allowed the opposition to come back into the game even as Lad (70 off 78 balls, 6x4) made a desperate effort towards the end.
Karnataka, which opted to bat, owed it to R. Samarth’s 117 and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal’s crucial wicket of Tiwary. Samarth, one of the most gifted youngsters in Karnataka, gave a glimpse of his batsmanship with an aesthetic performance.
Innovative batting
The India-B bowlers had to toil to make an impact and had no answer to the innovative approach by Samarth and Mayank Agarwal. The onus was on the bowlers to induce errors from the batsmen, who were unwilling to concede an inch.
Excellent footwork enabled Mayank and Samarth to tackle all the good deliveries that Umesh Yadav and Siddharth Kaul attempted. Kaul was especially impressive even though Umesh erred in length.
Left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, who loves to tease the batsmen with his flight, struggled to command respect and was handled with ease. It was to the credit of Samarth and Mayank that they did not relent and maintained their positive approach until the latter got out playing a cut off an innocuous ball.
Responsible innings
Samarth, 25, shouldered Karnataka with the touch of a professional. His wide range of shots allowed him the freedom to guide the innings and give his partners space to take measure of the situation.
He took charge with some excellent drives in front and then opened up to explore the field as the India-B bowlers found it hard to contain his aggression. Timing was the essence of his 115-ball assault that contained 13 fours and one six.
His third-wicket partnership of 86 with Pavan Deshpande put the Karnataka innings on the right course and eventually set up the stiff target for India-B.
The scores:
Karnataka: Mayank Agarwal c Bharat b Harshal 44, Karun Nair c Bharat b Kaul 10, R. Samarth b Harshal 117, Pavan Deshpande c Vihari b Jayant 46, Stuart Binny c Bharat b Jayant 2, C.M. Gautam c Bharat b Kaul 28, Sreyas Gopal b Umesh 1, K. Gowtham b Kaul 20, A. Mithun (not out) 9, T. Pradeep (not out) 6; Extras (b-5, lb-1, nb-1, w-6) 13; Total (for eight wkts. in 50 overs): 296.
Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-82, 3-3-168, 4-179, 5-233, 6-236, 7-279, 8-281.
India-B bowling: Umesh Yadav 9-0-58-1, Siddharth Kaul 9-0-49-3, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja 10-0-61-0, Harshal Patel 10-0-59-2, Jayant Yadav 10-0-48-2, Manoj Tiwary 2-0-15-0.
India-B: Abhimanyu Easwaran c Pradeep b Prasidh 5, K.S. Bharat c Gautam b Prasidh 13, Hanuma Vihari b Pradeep 4, Shreyas Iyer c Shreyas b Binny 33, Manoj Tiwary st. Gautam b Gopal 120, Siddhesh Lad b Gowtham 70, Jayant Yadav lbw b Gopal 0, Harshal Patel run out 0, Umesh Yadav c Mayank b Gopal 13 , Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (not out) 19, Kaul (not out) 1; Extras (b-1, lb-2, nb-9) 12; Total (for nine wkts. in 50 overs): 290.
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-23, 3-23, 4-108, 5-241, 6-241, 7-247, 8-263, 9-288.
Karnataka bowling: Prasidh Krishna 9-0-45-2, T. Pradeep 10-0-54-1, A. Mithun 9-0-57-0, K. Gowtham 9-0-58-1, Binny 7-0-44-1, Gopal 6-0-29-3.
Toss: Karnataka.