Nair, tail help Vid pile 460

 

 

 

 

 

 

VIDARBHA’S India batter Karun Nair welcomed his former Karnataka colleague seamer Vidwath Kaverappa, coming for a fresh spell, with a superb straight driven four that took him to 90. The bowler bounced back with a beauty that squared up the batsman and disturbed his off and middle stumps on the very next ball. That’s cricket for you! The game of glorious uncertainties. Nair was last of the recognised batters and the scoreboard read 7-389. But Vidarbha tail wagged and, frustrating Karnataka bowlers, piled up 460 before getting out six minutes into the extended second session. By end of Day Two of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final under way at VCA’s Civil Lines ground, Karnataka were 98-2 still trailing by 362 runs. Opener Ravikumar Samarth (43*; 68b, 5x4) and vice-captain Nikin Jose (20*; 26b, 4x4) were the not out batters. Chasing a huge total, Karnataka were off to a poor start. Skipper Mayank Agarwal was out for two-ball nought in the second over. On his second ball, lanky seamer Aditya Thakare induced a big edge and skipper-stumper accepted the gift gleefully. Samarth and KV Aneesh (34; 48b, 6x4) settled down quickly.

 

While the former used Umesh Yadav’s pace to guide one to thirdman boundary for his first runs, Aneesh first four was an audacious cut off Thakare that raced to the fence like an arrow. The pair looked comfortable and scored at four runs per over taking the team to 63. Wadkar introduced his third seamer Yash Thakur in the 17th over and the bowler delivered immediately. It was an identical dismissal to the first one. Edged and gone! Wadkar pouched another one as Thakur forced Aneesh to commit mistake. Jose made his intentions clear welcoming Harsh Dubey with an on-driven four. The batter hit two back to back boundaries off Thakur one each on both sides of the track. A crisp drive to long on fence was followed by a fierce square cut. Yadav replaced Thakur but Jose still found a boundary with yet another square cut. Earlier, Nair (90; 178b, 16x4, 1x6) and Wadkar (16; 40b, 3x4) resumed Vidarbha’s innings. Both the batters were tentative at the start. Soon Nair got into the groove but Wadkar struggled before pushing Kaverappa for Samarth to complete a regulation catch at first slip. Mohit Kale (16; 37b, 2x4) looked promising hitting two fine cover drives before falling prey to slow left-arm orthodox spin of Hardik Raj.

 

In-form Aditya Sarvate (26; 51b, 4x4) and Nair, who blasted Raj out of the ground and the ball had to be changed, took the team to lunch without further harm (372-5). In third after the break, Sarvate poked at a Kaverappa delivery to be snapped by wicketkeeper Srinivas Sharath. Fifteen runs later, when he was looking good for his third hundred for Vidarbha, Nair was castled. Harsh Dubey (20; 39b, 1x4, 1x6) signalled his arrival with a big six off Rai but did not last long. Yash Thakur was hit thrice on his thighs by seamers and required medical attention twice but played bravely to score 31 form 55 balls sending five of those to the ropes. Yadav (21*; 19b, 1x4, 2x6) entertained the partisan crowd, who welcomed him huge applause, with a couple of hits over the ropes. A mix up on a misfield cost Thakare his wicket as Agarwal’s direct hit caught him short of his ground.