Ranji Trophy: Karun Nair slams 25th first-class century

SHIVAMOGGA: From the mundane leap in the air, to a talk-to-my bat gesture, Karun Nair has celebrated landmarks on the field differently. On Sunday, when he scored his 25th First-Class century, the celebrations were muted.At the KSCA Navule Stadium here, Karun, 33, acknowledged the applause from the sizeable crowd and his teammates perfunctorily, with a bat and helmet raised, and then went about his job.By the time Karnataka’s wobbly first innings folded, Karun was the only one still standing, having scored an unbeaten 174 (267b, 14x4; 3x6) over a staggering 435 minutes. That innings helped prop up Karnataka on Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy match against Goa.On the strength of Karun’s marathon innings and a well-crafted 57 from Shreyas Gopal, Karnataka reached 371 before folding in 110.1 overs. In reply, Goa were 28/1 in 13 overs before the skies opened at 2.44pm. Play was eventually called off at 4.40pm with only 54.1 overs being bowled on the day.Asked about his understated celebration, Karun said, “It was a satisfying innings, but it’s still early in the season, so I’ll save celebrations for later. I have a lot to show, we’ll see.”Over the past couple of days, Karun has already shown plenty. He has allied class and character with skill and temperament, hallmarks which he showcased all through last season.Karnataka were in a tailspin at 26/2 on the opening day when Karun walked into bat. He returned on Sunday and resumed from his overnight 86. Gopal (57; 109; 6x4; 1x6), Karun’s overnight partner, completed his half-century before poking a Vijesh Prabhudesai delivery to skipper Snehal Kauthankar at first slip. Their 117-run partnership had the potential of being much bigger.Yashovardhan Parantap looked in good nick, finding the gaps twice, but it didn't take him long to gift his wicket away. He needlessly tried to clear the long-on boundary off Koushik, but only found Prabhudesai at mid-off.Vyshak Vijaykumar (31) built a 60-run stand with Karun before he was trapped in the front by Darshan Misal.Running out of partners, Karun upped the tempo and brought up his 150 with a maximum off Arjun Tendulkar. That over, the 105th of Karnataka’s innings, Karun punished a short-pitched delivery from Arjun, and then slammed a boundary.Abhilash Shetty followed Vyshak and the curtains on Karnataka's innings fell when Vidwath Kaverappa was run out by Abhinav Tejrana, while trying to steal a non-existent run. Karnataka added 149 runs to their overnight score of 222. Goa lost opener Manthan Khutkar early, with the wicketkeeper pouching an edge off Abhilash.SCOREBOARDKarnataka (I innings o/n 222/5): Karun Nair (not out) 174, Shreyas Gopal (c Kauthankar b V Prabhudesai 57, Yashovardhan Parantap c V Prabhudesai b Koushik 14, Vyshak Vijaykumar lbw Misal 31, Abhilash Shetty c Tejrana b Misal 2, Vidwath Kaverappa (run out) 0. Extras: (NB-6; W-2; B-5; LB-9) 22. Total (all out; 110.1 overs) 371.Fall of wickets: 6-245, 7-271, 8-331, 9-342.Bowling: Arjun Tendulkar 29-6-100-3, V Koushik 27.1-11-35-3, Vijesh Prabhudesai 20-3-86-1, Darshan Misal 18-0-74-2, Mohit Redkar 9-0-35-0, Suyash Prabhudessai 4-0-8-0, Lalit Yadav 3-0-19-0.Goa (I innings): Manthan Khutkar c Shrijith b Abhilash 9, Suyash (batting) 11, Abhinav Tejrana (batting) 8. Extras: 0. Total ( 1 wkt; 13 overs) 28.Fall of wicket: 1-9.Bowling: Vidwath 6-1-11-0, Abhilash 5-2-9-1, Yashovardhan 1-0-3-0, Vyshak 1-0-5-0.