BENGALURU: Seventeen wickets falling on the first day of a
Ranji Trophy match suggests either the curator got it wrong or the batsmen were far from judicious with their shot selection.
The pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium held no demons. It appeared to have something in it for everyone. While Baroda's batsmen simply did not appear to have the skill to tackle Karnataka's bowlers, the home side's top order did not have the patience which the pitch demanded.
As it turned out, the first day of the Ranji Trophy Group B clash provided constant entertainment although it was the bowlers who had the last laugh. One of them was Prasidh Krishna. Bowling in his first competitive match in more than three months, the lanky Karnataka pacer was spot-on with his fiery deliveries. In only his second over, the 23-year-old Prasidh foxed Baroda's Kedar Devdhar with a ball that climbed up from a good length, the opener edging to R Samarth at third slip. That opened the floodgates. Soon,
Abhimanyu Mithun (3/26) and K Gowtham (3/25) capitalised on it as Karnataka skittled the visitors for a paltry 85 in 33.5 overs.
Karnataka's performance with the bat was more assured, but then they too lost wickets in a heap. Skipper Karun Nair (47, 75b, 5x4) and KV Siddharth (29, 72b, 2x4, 1x6) injected some stability with a 61-run third-wicket stand and while the first innings lead was never in doubt, a now familiar middle-order collapse meant Karnataka simply did not grind out the opposition. The hosts finished the day on 165/7 in 52 overs. The focus now would be on extending their 80-run lead and securing an outright win.
After opener Ahmadnoor Pathan (45, 83b, 8x4) and
Deepak Hooda (20, 39b, 3x4), the best score in Baroda's card was a measly six apiece from Soyeb Sopariya and Babasafikhan Pathan - the Nos. 10 and No 11. As many as five batsmen were out for a duck. It perhaps indicates how right Nair was with his decision to insert the opposition after winning the toss.
It was the bounce, which Prasidh in particular extracted, that seemed disconcerting. He scalped Vishnu Solanki in almost repeat of Devdhar's wicket for his second scalp of the day. Prasidh's first spell read an impressive 6-1-7-2.
At the other end, Mithun seemed to have brought a machine gun to a knife fight. He left Baroda in a shambles when, in the 20th over of the day, he picked three wickets in four balls. Bowling from wide off the crease, he lured batsmen into unwise shots. Off-spinner Gowtham then ran through the lower-order with some help from Shreyas Gopal, who besides being involved in the run out of Bhargav Bhatt, also knocked back Sopariya's off stump to bring a swift end to Baroda's innings.
KARNATAKA STRUGGLEKarnataka were off to a slow start with openers R Samarth (11) and
Devdutt Padikkal
(6) satisfied with defending and leaving the ball. Their resistance was broken by Rajput when Padikkal was found ill-prepared to tackle a ball which came in sharply and crashed into his off stump. Samarth needlessly went after an away ball which took a thick edge and was pouched by wicketkeeper Viraj Bhosale.
Karun began well with a boundary through midwicket off Bhargav Bhatt (2/67). He played with confidence and composure and looked set for a big one before he took the wrong line off Bhatt delivery on the pad which struck the middle stump. The skipper's wicket triggered a collapse, with the hosts losing three wickets with the addition of two runs. Precariously placed at 110/6, Karnataka's go-to man K Gowtham (27, 16b, 3x4, 2x6) lit up the proceedings with some delightful hits including a maximum which was smacked down the ground off Sopariya (3/40). A bowler short, with Pathan pulling a hamstring in the seventh over, Baroda kept up the pressure and Gowtham was sent back by Sopariya.
SCOREBOARDBaroda (I Innings): Kedar Devdhar c Samarth b Prasidh 3, Ahmadnoor Pathan c Deshpande b Gowtham 45, Vishnu Solanki c Samarth b Prasidh 0, Deepak Hooda c Deshpande b Mithun 20, Krunal Pandya c Dubey b Mithun 0, Abhimanyu Rajput c Sharath b Mithun 0, Parth Kohli c More b Gowtham 0, Viraj Bhosale b Gowtham 3, Bhargav Bhatt (run out) 0, Soyeb Sopariya b Shreyas 6, Babasafikhan Pathan (not out) 6. Extras (NB-1, LB-1) 2.Total (all out; 33.5 overs) 85.Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-11, 3-38, 4-38, 5-38, 6-43, 7-51, 8-56, 9-73.Bowling: Abhimanyu Mithun 11-2-26-3, Prasidh Krishna 6-1-7-2, Ronit More 7-1-22-0, K Gowtham 9-3-25-3, Shreyas Gopal 0.5-0-41-1.Karnataka (I Innings): R Samarth c Bhosale b Rajput 11, Devdutt Padikkal b Rajput 6, KV Siddharth c Kohli b Bhatt 29, Karun Nair b Bhatt 47, Pavan Deshpande c Bhosale b Sopariya 15, Sharath Srinivas (batting) 19, Shreyas Gopal c Bhosale b Sopariya 0, K Gowtham c Kohli b Sopariya 27, Abhimanyu Mithun (batting) 9. Extras (NB-1, W-1) 2.Total (for 7 wkts; 52 overs) 165.Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-27, 3-88, 4-102, 5-110, 6-110, 7-142.Bowling: B Pathan 3.5-1-10-0, S Sopariya 14-4-40-3, A Rajput 7.1-3-17-2, B Bhatt 18-2-67-2, V Solanki 8-0-3-0, K Pandya 1-0-1-0.