Karnataka boxed Mumbai into a corner on day three of its Elite Group-A Ranji Trophy match at the KSCA Stadium here on Thursday.
From an overnight 99 for two, Mumbai was shot out for 205, with local lad Ronit More leading the way with his second First Class five-wicket-haul (five for 52).
The 195-run first innings lead and the close of play score of 81 for three leaves Karnataka 276 runs in the green and for Mumbai, going into the final day, avoiding defeat and salvaging one point will be the sole aim.
Jittery moments
The home side, after opting not to enforce the follow-on, endured a few jittery moments as it lost its openers with just 18 runs on board. But they were quickly banished by a 56-run third-wicket partnership between Mir Kaunain Abbas (25, 75b, 1x4) and first innings centurion K.V. Siddharth (30 batting, 76b, 3x4).
If the day’s start was any indication, it should have been an entirely different story. Suryakumar Yadav hit More for four boundaries in an over — a fierce cut, a slash through the slip cordon and two neatly clipped off his legs.
But once Prasidh Krishna forced Jay Bista (70, 118b, 11x4) to edge behind and More consumed Suryakumar, who holed out to the third-man, within a span of five balls, the wheels started coming off.
Four overs later, when More had the experienced Aditya Tare caught by wicketkeeper B.R. Sharath, Mumbai had slipped from 117 for two to 119 for five.
Siddhesh Lad stayed put for a while (22, 44b, 4x4) but couldn’t negotiate a ball from Prasidh which stopped on him and was out caught at mid-off.
Leggie Shreyas Gopal and More ensured there would be no rear-guard action, mopping up the last pockets of resistance displayed by Shivam Dubey (16, 72b), Dhawal Kulkarni (10, 39b) and Shams Mulani (34, 60b, 5x4).
The scores:
Karnataka — 1st innings: 400.
Mumbai — 1st innings: Akhil Herwadkar c Siddharth b Mithun 5, Jay Bista c Sharath b Prasidh 70, Ashay Sardesai c Sharath b More 23, Suryakumar Yadav c Nischal b More 17, Siddhesh Lad c Binny b Prasidh 22, Aditya Tare c Sharath b More 1, Shivam Dube b Shreyas 16, Dhawal Kulkarni c Siddharth b Shreyas 10, Shams Mulani c Sharath b More 34, Karsh Kothari (not out) 1, Badre Alam c Suchith b More 0; Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-1): 6; Total (in 85.5 overs): 205
Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-99, 3-117, 4-117, 5-119, 6-151, 7-167, 8-168, 9-205.
Karnataka bowling: Mithun 18-4-49-1, Prasidh 20-10-33-2, More 21.5-6-52-5, Suchith 6-1-17-0, Binny 8-1-18-0, Shreyas 12-2-31-2.
Karnataka — 2nd innings: D. Nischal lbw b Kulkarni 11, Shishir Bhavane c Bista b Kulkarni 5, Mir Kaunain Abbas b Mulani 25, K.V. Siddharth (batting) 30, Stuart Binny (batting) 2; Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-5): 8; Total (for three wkts. in 34 overs): 81.
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-18, 3-74
Mumbai bowling: Kulkarni 6-3-7-2, Alam 7-0-20-0, Dubey 6-1-10-0, Kothari 7-0-18-0, Mulani 8-0-23-1.