Bharadwaj, Sujith to Karnataka’s rescue

Vijay R Bharadwaj, as has been the feature this season, bailed out the hosts with a brilliant 86. The lack of support at the other end did not help Karnataka to move towards an imposing total. Medium pacer Harvinder Singh Sodhi, with a superb spell in the post-lunch session, was the chief tormentor, as he helped Madhya Pradesh bounce back into the game.

When Sujith and Arun Kumar walked out to open the innings, it seemed they had taken an extra tool along with their gear. And that was confidence. Sujith smashed the first ball of the day straight down the wicket fora boundary. Medium pacers Sodhi and Devendra Bundela lacked the bite, though, occasionally they had the batsmen guessing. Sujith played some handsome drives and was more aggressive than Arun Kumar who preferred to play second fiddle.

The Karnataka wheels were running smoothly until Arun Kumar was out to debatable decision by umpire SK Sharma. The ball seemed to have touched the ground before ricocheting off short leg fielder Nikhil Patwardhan for wicket keeper CP Sahu to complete the catch. A visibly annoyed Arun returned after scoring 34 (110m, 79b, 4×4).

Wicket-keeper batsman Somashekar Shiraguppi (6; 1×4), promoted in the order, failed to make use of the chance. The only thing he could do was to watch Rajesh Chauhan dive to his left and bring off a superb one-handed catch as he edged to gully off Sodhi. This was at the stroke of lunch and provided Sodhi the first of his four victims.

Soon after lunch, Sujith who looked set for a century, fell to another brilliant catch. This time it was Abbas Ali atshort leg who, in a reflex action, grabbed the ball when Sujith tried to whip a rising delivery from Sodhi. Sujith scored a well-made 70 (196m, 11×4, 1×6).

Pandit led shrewdly and applied pressure on the Karnataka batsmen which saw two of them — A Vijay (14; 3×4) and VS Thilak Naidu (12; 1×4) — perish in quick succession. The batsmen walked into the trap set by Pandit even as Vijay Bharadwaj was a mute spectator at the other end.

Soon after the tea break, the Karnataka batsmen went on the offensive. Sunil Joshi slammed three boundaries in the first over bowled by Hirwani which also brought up the hosts’ 200.

Joshi and Bharadwaj added 57 runs for the sixth wicket to bring some respectability to the score. But before they could consolidate, Joshi departed, being run out for 31 (57m, 45b, 4×4).

Bharadwaj crossed the 1200-run mark in Ranji Trophy in the current season when he was on 81. He fell before he could complete his 12th Ranji ton, caught behind off an inside edge. His patient knock of 86 cameafter a 246-minute stint at the crease. He hit five boundaries.

Scoreboard

Karnataka (1st innings): S Somasundar c Abbas Ali b Sodhi 70; J Arun Kumar c Sahu b Chauhan 34; S Shiraguppi c Chauhan b Sodhi 6; V Bharadwaj c Sahu b Chauhan 86; A Vijay c Pandit b Yadav 14; Thilak Naidu c Pandit b Majithia 12; S Joshi (run out) 31; B Akhil lbw Sodhi 6; A Yalvigi c Sahu b Sodhi 4; D Ganesh (batting) 7; Mansoor Ali Khan (batting) 7. Extras (lb4, nb10): 14.

Total (for 9 wickets in 90 overs, 415 mins): 291.

Fall of wickets: 1-94, 2-113, 3-125, 4-154, 5-172, 6-229, 7-258, 8-266, 9-278.

Bowling: Sodhi 25-3-72-4; Bundela 4-0-22-0; Yadav 22-5-51-1; Hirwani 11-0-51-0; Chauhan 15-1-51-2; Majithia 13-3-40-1.