Arun, Bharadwaj wrest initiative

The duo8217;s effort had taken Karnataka to 209 for two 71 overs at the end of the day despite the negative approach adopted by the visitors after they took the lead. Karnataka now lead by 134 runs and if they can score briskly tomorrow, Madhya Pradesh face serious problems on a turning track.

Arun Kumar 104; 293m, 200b, 7215;4 and Bharadwaj 61; 205m, 158b, 4215;4 were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day.

Earlier, medium pacer D Ganesh took care of the tail, scalping three of the four Madhya Pradesh wickets to fall today. Ganesh8217;s sixth five-wicket haul of the season resulted in MP, 339 for six overnight, being restricted to 379.

Karnataka did not have things their way when they began their second essay. They had lost two wickets before they evened the visitors8217; advantage. Opener Sujith Somasundar was the first to depart after he and Arun had added 46 runs. Skipper Chandrakant Pandit did not waste time in bringing on his trump cards 8212; Rajesh Chauhan and Narendra Hirwani. The tactic worked as Hirwani was induced Sujith to edge behind.

Karnataka, continued the experiment of sending Somashekar Shiraguppi at the No 3 slot, but once again, the batsman failed to prosper. He fell to Chauhan8217;s turn and bounce, edging to short leg.

The afternoon belonged to Arun-Bharadwaj duo. Stroke making was difficult as the MP spinners exploited the helpful wicket. Chauhan and Hirwani bowled to a plan which made run-making a difficult proposition. Pandit shuffled his bowlers, and set different field patterns. But Arun and Bharadwaj stood the test well.

Just after Arun reached his half-century with a single, Bharadwaj from the other end celebrated his partner8217;s feat by pulling Hirwani to the mid wicket fence.

Though the bowlers stuck to the leg-stump line, Arun and Vijay swept them fine for a couple of boundaries which made Pandit to revert to his medium pacers 8212; Harvinder Singh Sodhi and JP Yadav. Both of them were ineffective.

Arun slashed the third ball of the last over of the day, bowled by Yadav, to the third man fence to bring up his hundred.

Incidentally, Arun also completed 900 runs in the current season.

Scoreboard

Karnataka 1st innings: 304

Madhya Pradesh 1st innings, overnight 339-6: CP Sahu c Vijay b Yalvigi 45, JP Yadav c Arun b Mansoor 3, Santosh Sahu c Vijay b Ganesh 130, D Bundela run out 79, Abbas Ali lbw Ganesh 31, C Pandit lbw Ganesh 10, Raja Ali lbw Bharadwaj 7, HS Sodhi c Shiraguppi b Ganesh 6, R Chauhan c Naidu b Ganesh 2, M Majithia not out 14, N Hirwani c Shiraguppi b Joshi 19. Extras b8, nb22, w3: 33.

Total all out in 100 overs, 433 mins 379.

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-110, 3-273, 4-275, 5-289, 6-319, 7-342, 8-344, 9-345.

Bowling: Ganesh 30-2-103-5 nb23, w1, Mansoor 15-3-57-1 w2, Akhil 1-0-8-0, Joshi 34-4-113-1, Yalvigi 13-1-72-1, Bharadwaj 7-1-18-1.

Karnataka 2nd innings: S Somasundar c CP Sahu b Hirwani 25, J Arun Kumar batting 104, S Shiraguppi c Ali b Chauhan 3, Vijay Bharadwaj batting 61. Extras b2, lb11, nb3: 16.

Total for two wickets, 71 overs, 293 mins: 209.

Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-56.

Bowling: Sodhi 8-0-30-0, Yadav 12-5-24-0, Majithia 17-4-39-0, Chauhan 17-1-51-1, Hirwani 17-1-52-1.