Karnataka begin chase in right earnest

Bangalore, April 13: The last time a side successfully chased a total in excess of 700 in a Ranji Trophy knock-out encounter was a Mohinde...

Bangalore, April 13: The last time a side successfully chased a total in excess of 700 in a Ranji Trophy knock-out encounter was a Mohinder Amarnath-inspired Delhi against Karnataka two decades ago. On Thursday, it looked like the Ranji Trophy champions would require all the tenacity of that Delhi side to emulate the feat.

For Hyderabad, riding on VVS Laxman8217;s mammoth 353, declared their innings closed at 711 for eight within the first hour of play. By the time stumps were drawn on the third day, the top four Karnataka batsmen had shown that they were not going to bow out of this championship without a fight. Karnataka were 269 for two and battling every inch of the way.

On a benign pitch the Hyderabad bowling looked as innocuous as Karnataka8217;s and skipper Mohammed Azharuddin, in desperation, had to take the ball himself in an attempt to squeeze out some sort of an advantage for his side. But it was an effort in vain.

The Karnataka openers, Mithun Beerala, who made an aggressive 74 128 balls, 13 fours and J Arun Kumar, who was at the receiving end of a Jamulla decision, set the right tone for the reply with a punishing 163-run partnership.

During the period, the batsmen were right on top of the bowling. The ball never beat the bat as the duo rightly went about playing the bowling rather than the scoreboard. Hyderabad, after the initial attacking moves, slipped into defensive mode and concentrated on containment. Off-spinner Kanwaljit Singh, who bowled a predominantly middle and leg-stump line, provided the breakthrough when a hasty Beerala, uppishly flicked the tossed up delivery to Azharuddin at short mid-wicket.

But Arun Kumar, in the company of Rowland Barrington, was a picture of concentration and looked in total control. But to his consternation Jamulla declared him caught at forward short leg. Arun Kumar made 71 227m, 158b, 9215;4.

The pencil-thin youngster, Barrington 52 batting; 127m, 121b, 7215;4 and the consistent Vijay Bharadwaj 38 batting; 86m, 69b, 6215;4 batted with tremendous poise and confidence. They stroked the ball at will and literally shooed away the close-in fielders during the course of their unbeaten 79-run third-wicket stand. Both used their feet to drive, cut and pull Venkatpathy Raju. Kanwaljit looked his age whenever the duo chose to drive him straight. But the latter was getting the ball to loop and turn, albeit slowly and will be the man to watch out for.

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Earlier, in the morning, VVS Laxman added just seven runs to his overnight score of 346 before mishitting a pull shot against the third new ball. He lobbed the ball to be caught at short mid-on when still 13 runs short of the Hyderabad individual record 366 by MV Sridhar vs Andhra.

The left-handed Fiaz Ahmed struck a few blows before becoming skipper Venkatesh Prasad8217;s fifth victim. Hyderabad declared their innings closed at his dismissal.

Given the pitch conditions and the quality of Hyderabad8217;s bowling and fielding, the total of 711 does not look impregnable. But for that this Karnataka team must bat out of its skin. Friday8217;s play may well be the clincher.

Scoreboard

Hyderabad 1st innings; overnight 663-6: Daniel Manohar c Thilak b Prasad 39; A Nandakishore c Bharadwaj b Prasad 12; VVS Laxman c sub KN Ramesh b Prasad 353; Md Azharuddin c Bharadwaj b Prasad 123; Vanka Pratap b Joshi 45; Parth Satwalkar c Thilak b Akhil 37; Riaz Sheikh c Arunkumar b Ganesh 15; Fiaz Ahmed c Thilak b Prasad 31; NP Singh not out 14; Extras: b7, lb5, w7, nb24 43. Total for 8 declared in 193 overs 711
Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-91, 3-379, 4-504, 5-590, 6-636, 7-683, 8-711

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Bowling: Prasad 46-11-121-5, Ganesh 40-5-166-1, Mansur 25-4-104-0, Joshi 53-6-205-1, Akhil 14-1-64-1, Bharadwaj 11-1-29-0, A Vijay 4-0-10-0.

Karnataka 1st innings: Arunkumar c Nandakishore b Kanwaljit 71, Mithun Beerala c Azhar b Kanwaljit 74, Rowland Barrington batting 52, Vijay Bharadwaj batting 38; Extras: b2, lb6, nb 26 34 Total for two wickets in 75 overs 269
Fall of wickets: 1-163; 2-190

Bowling: NP Singh 11-1-55-0, Fiaz 6-0-40-0, Raju 27-7-60-0; Parth 9-2-31-0, Kanwaljit 19-2-59-2, Azharuddin 3-0-16-0.