Shreyas keeps the Karnataka tail wagging

Notwithstanding two half-century partnerships, Rajasthan managed to keep Karnataka down to 270 for eight on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group A encounter at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Friday.
On a damp pitch and against some disciplined bowling and fine fielding, Karnataka overcame the early exits of Robin Uthappa and debutant Abhishek Reddy following an 85-run third-wicket stand. But, the half-centuries from the well-settled duo of Mayank Agarwal and the in-form R. Samarth were soon pushed to the background as Rajasthan struck thrice in the hour before tea after asking the visitors to take first strike.
Fruitful stands
In the final session, Shreyas Gopal was associated in two resurrecting stands — 53 for the seventh wicket with skipper Vinay Kumar and an unbeaten 39-run ninth-wicket partnership with David Mathias — to bring some much-needed relief to his teammates.
Given the green-looking pitch, with encouraging “bounce and carry”, Karnataka will expect its pace bowlers to make the difference on Saturday.
“I think on this pitch, 300 runs should be a good first-innings total,” said Samarth after the day’s play, though regretting missing out on a chance to score his third century of the month. Samarth, whose stroke-selection was superb during his knock of 65, hit 10 boundaries before being done in by a delivery that cut in more than he expected.
“The score of 270 in a day is good one but we lost three wickets too many,” said Samarth, the most stylish batsman on view on this day. With centuries against Assam and Vidarbha this month, Samarth settled down to down to play some delectable strokes on both sides of the pitch.
Choudhary, the pick
It was to the credit of Rajasthan it didn’t let Karnataka get away. Aniket Choudhary, who was on a hat-trick in the post tea-session, was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets. Playing in his first season, left-arm spinner Ajay Singh made his presence felt with two quick wickets late in the second session, while Deepak Chahar got the big wickets of Uthappa and Samarth.
Praising the abilities of the Rajasthan bowlers to consistently “hit the right areas all day”, Mayank said “the lateral moment of the ball made it difficult to bat in the first session.
Mayank, a replacement for K.L. Rahul, read the pitch and the minds of the bowlers well. He drove with authority and found the gaps with ease to hit 11 boundaries. Respecting the line the bowlers stuck to, Mayank was patient — unlike Uthappa and Stuart Binny — while dealing with the challenge.
Uthappa offered a regulation catch to third slip and Binny stepped out to left-arm spinner Ajay Singh but failed to clear Puneet Yadav at mid-on.
THE SCORES:
KARNATAKA — 1ST INNINGS: Robin Uthappa c Saxena b Chahar 11, Mayank Agarwal b Choudhary 66, Abhishek Reddy lbw b Tanveer 9, R. Samarth b Chahar 65, Stuart Binny c Puneet b Ajay 14, C.M. Gautam c Yagnik b Ajay 1, Shreyas Gopal (batting) 40, Vinay Kumar c Tanveer b Choudhary 29, J. Suchith lbw b Choudhary 0, David Mathias (batting) 16; Extras (b-1, lb-6, nb-6, w-6): 19; Total (for eight wkts. in 90 overs): 270.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-28, 2-51, 3-136, 4-177, 5-179, 6-179, 7-232, 8-232.
RAJASTHAN BOWLING: Deepak Chahar 24-7-79-2, Aniket Choudhary 22-4-72-3, Tanveer-ul-Haq 21-7-60-1, Rajat Bhatia 8-3-18-0, Ajay Singh 15-3-34-2.