Bose, Sarkar send Karnataka packing

They sent the opposition packing for 89 runs, and although the hosts went through an equally torrid start to their first innings retort 8212; they were 16 for 3 8212; Paras Mhambrey8217;s boys recovered to a more agreeable 121 for 4 at stumps. Opener Arindam Das 45 is holding forte with Laxmi Ratan Shukla 7, with southpaw Rohan Gavaskar8217;s 63 giving Bengal a slender 32-run lead.

Even as Bose notched up his third 5-wicket haul on the trot and crossed the 150-scalp milestone in Ranji Trophy, the 6-wicket burst could take the spotlight away from Sarkar, who was no less incisive with his sharp, booming inswingers.

An attempt at stemming the rot did come about in the form of a 52-run 7th wicket stand between glovesman Thilak Naidu 33 and Vinay Kumar 23, but it wasn8217;t substantial enough to deny the speedster duo, who steamed in to finish off the job 20 minutes after the lunch break.

Not that Bengal8217;s response to the 5-duck Karnataka innings was rosy. Pacemen Vinay Kumar 2 for 36 and S Dhananjaya 2 for 27 followed in the Bengal pacer8217;s footsteps, sticking to line and length. The hosts obliged, as opener Subhamoy Das 2, the flamboyant No 3 Abhishek Jhunjhunwala 2 and Manoj Tewari 0 paid with their wickets for not seeing the new ball off.

That8217;s when Gavaskar took the zealous Karnataka bowling by the scruff of the neck. He eventually holed out at mid-wicket off Kumar, but not before stitching a crucial 83-run 4th wicket stand with opener Arindam Das.

Brief score: Karnataka 89 in 38.4 overs Thilak Naidu 33, Ranadeb Bose 6/38, Sourav Sarkar 4/24 vs Bengal 121/4 in 43 overs Rohan Gavaskar 63, Arindam Das batting 45, LR Shukla batting 7.