Odisha let Karnataka off the hook in Ranji tie

Impressive second-innings knocks by wicket-keeper Chidhambaram Gautam and Shreyas Gopal helped former champions Karnataka escape defeat against Odisha in their four-day Ranji Trophy Group-B match, which ended in a draw at Palam Ground in New Delhi today.

Odisha, however, gained three points by virtue of taking a first-innings lead of 163 runs, while star-studded Karnataka contended themselves with one point. But Karnataka retained their place at the top of the group table with 30 points from six matches, while Odisha remained at the fifth position with 15 points also from six outings. Odisha will next meet Maharashtra at Kochi (Kerala) from November 29 to December 2.

Odisha had excellent chance to achieve an outright win over Karnataka as they needed the last four second-innings wickets on the final day. They, of course, got what they wanted, but it was too late. On the other hand, Karnataka fought back with impressive batting in the second innings to deny victory to Odisha.

Resuming their second-innings at the overnight score of 244 for six, Karnataka were all out for 393 and set up an impossible target of 231 for Odisha to win the game. Odisha were 63 for no loss when the match came to an end. Gautam and Gopal rescued Karnataka from the jaws of defeat, compiling 69 crucial runs for the seventh-wicket stand. After Gautam fell for 95, Gopal added 86 runs for the eighth-wicket partnership with K Gowtham. Left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh was most successful Odisha bowler in the second innings, taking five wickets for 98 runs. Odisha wicket-keeper Saurabh Rawat was adjudged the player of the match.

Earlier, Odisha took a first-innings lead of 163 runs by making a healthy total of 342, in reply to 179 by table-toppers Karnataka. Even Odisha had the opportunity to wrap up the match in three days as they reduced Karnataka to 133 for five in the second innings. But Gautam and captain R Vinay Kumar steadied the innings with a partnership of 98 runs for the sixth wicket.

Odisha posted the sizeable first-innings total, thanks to a half-century each by in-form Biplab Samantray and wicket-keeper Saurabh Rawat. Especially, the bottom half of the Odisha batting line-up put up splendid performance as they guided the team from troubled water to a position of strength. At one stage, Odisha were in dire straight, losing five wickets for 79 runs. But two sizeable partnership turned tide in favour of Odisha.

Abhishek Yadav (33) and Biplab Samantray first steadied the innings, stitching together 61 runs for the sixth wicket. The latter then added 106 runs for the seventh-wicket stand with Rawat to enable the team gain the crucial first-innings lead. Samantray hit a 190-ball 58 with the help of six boundaries, while Rawat struck 12 fours and one six in his 124-ball career-best knock of 85. This was the 10th first-class fifty for Samantray and second for Rawat who bettered his previous highest of 55.

Besides Rawat, Samantray and Yadav, captain Govind Poddar and Suryakant Pradhan made notable contributions with the bat. Leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal was the most successful bowler for Karnataka, bagging five wickets for 73 runs. Put into bat earlier on the opening day, table-toppers Karnataka struggled from the start against the four-pronged Odisha pace attack and lost wickets in regular intervals. They could muster a modest first-innings total thanks to a half-century by wicket-keeper C Gautam.

SCOREBOARD:
KARNATAKA (1st innings): Samarth R (run out) 26, Mayank Agarwal (run out) 4, Robin Uthappa c Yadav b Mangaraj 23, Kaunain Abbas lbw Mohanty 6, Stuart Binny c Rawat b Mohanty 7, C Gautam c Mohanty b D Singh 54, Shreyas Gopal lbw Samantaray 4, Vinay Kumar R c Rawat b Samantaray 16, Gowtham K c Rawat b Pradhan 21, Ronit More b Mohanty 4, Arvind Sreenath (not out) 0; Extras (nb-8, b-5, lb-1) 14
Total (All out; 66.2 overs) 179
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (M Agarwal, 5.1 ov), 2-58 (Samarth, 23.5 ov), 3-58 (Uthappa, 24.1 ov), 4-78 (S Binny, 37.2 ov), 5-82 (K Abbas, 39.4 ov), 6-95 (S Gopal, 42.1 ov), 7-121 (V Kumar R, 48.1 ov), 8-149 (Gowtham, 54.3 ov), 9-179 (R More, 65.5 ov), 10-179 (Gautam, 66.2 ov)
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 19-6-46-3, Suryakant Pradhan 15-4-46-1, Alok Mangaraj 11-3-22-1, Biplab Samantaray 10-2-20-2, Govinda Poddar 3-1-8-0, Dhiraj Singh 8.2-1-31-1

ODISHA (1st innings): Sandeep Pattanaik c Samarth b Sreenath 18, Ranjit Singh (run out) 6, Govinda Poddar st Gautam b Gopal 44, Dhiraj Singh c Samarth b Gopal 8, Subhransu Senapati b Gowtham 1, Abhishek Yadav c Gautam b Vinay Kumar 33, Biplab Samantaray c Sreenath b Gopal 58, Saurabh Rawat c Gautam b Gopal 85, Suryakant Pradhan lbw Gopal 23, Basant Mohanty b More 40, Alok Mangaraj (not out) 10; Extras (b-11, lb-5) 16
Total (All out; 117.1 overs) 342
Fall of wickets: 1-23 (S Pattanaik, 11.6 ov), 2-37 (R Singh, 15.4 ov), 3-76 (G Poddar, 30.5 ov), 4-79 (D Singh, 32.6 ov), 5-79 (S Senapati, 33.3 ov), 6-140 (A Yadav, 59.5 ov), 7-246 (B Samantaray, 94.3 ov), 8-281 (S Pradhan, 98.5 ov), 9-292 (S Rawat, 102.4 ov), 10-342 (Mohanty, 117.1 ov)
Bowling: Vinay Kumar 20-3-79-1, Arvind Sreenath 22-5-41-1, Stuart Binny 16-3-48-0, Ronit More 14.1-2-53-1, Shreyas Gopal 27-4-75-5, Gowtham K 18-6-30-1

KARNATANA (2nd innings): Samarth R c Poddar b D Singh 49, Mayank Agarwal c R Singh b Mohanty 7, Robin Uthappa lbw D Singh 32, Kaunain Abbas c M Nayak (Sub) b D Singh 0, Stuart Binny c Pattanaik b Poddar 32, C Gautam c Rawat b Pradhan 95, Vinay Kumar c Pattanaik b Samantaray 41, Shreyas Gopal b D Singh 77, K Gowtham b D Singh 46, Ronit More st Rawat b Poddar 2, Arvind Sreenath (not out) 0; Extras (nb-5, lb-7) 12
Total (All out; 121.2 overs) 393
Fall of wickets: 1-16 (M Agarwal, 5.3 ov), 2-74 (R Uthappa, 16.1 ov), 3-80 (K Abbas, 18.2 ov), 4-108 (Samarth, 26.2 ov), 5-133 (Binny, 36.4 ov), 6-231 (Vinay Kumar, 76.2 ov), 7-300 (Gautam, 100.6 ov), 8-386 (Gopal, 119.4 ov), 9-391 (More, 120.3 ov), 10-393 (Gowtham, 121.2 ov)
Bowling: Suryakant Pradhan 20-2-82-1, Basant Mohanty 23-6-56-1, Alok Mangaraj 13-2-43-0, Biplab Samantaray 15-1-47-1, Dhiraj Singh 29.2-1-98-5, Govinda Poddar 21-1-60-2

ODISHA (2nd innings): Sandeep Pattanaik (not out) 27, Ranjit Singh (not out) 35; Extras (nb-1) 1
Total (0 wicket; 32 overs) 63
Bowling: Gowtham K 8-6-6-0, Vinay Kumar 3-1-4-0, Shreyas Gopal 10-2-18-0, Arvind Sreenath 5-1-19-0, Ronit More 5-1-11-0, Samarth R 1-0-5-0