Porvorim (Goa), Dec 27 (PTI) Opener R Samarth’s fine knock of 140 and his century partnerships with skipper Mayank Agarwal and Vishal Onat powered Karnataka to 294/3 against Goa in their Ranji Trophy Group C match here on Tuesday.
Agarwal won the toss, opted to bat and provided a strong start for the team by adding 116 runs with Samarth. The two looked untroubled against the Goa attack and completed a century stand after a cautious start.
Agarwal appeared set for a big score before he fell LBW to Lakshay Garg for 50, which included five boundaries and two sixes.
Samarth and Onat (73 batting, 172 balls, 9 fours) built on the platform provided by the opening partnership and piled on the Goa bowlers’ misery.
The home team attack comprising Arjun Tendulkar, Garg, Darshan Misal and Mohit Radkar was taken to the task by Samarth and Onat.
Samarth raced to a ton and was batting on 120 at tea. He added 20 more runs to his score before being dismissed by Tendulkar (1 for 30). It was a third straight first-class century for Samarth, after having done so against Services and Puducherry in previous games.
The promising S J Nikin Jose (9) fell to left-arm spinner Darshan Misal (1 for 73) in the 86th over. Onat and the experienced Manish Pandey (8 batting) ensured that no further wickets fell before stumps were drawn on day one.
At Thumba, Kerala ended the day at 100 for 2 after having dismissed Chhattisgarh for 149 in under 50 overs with the experienced spinner Jalaj Saxena picking up five wickets.
Brief scores: Karnataka 294 for 3 in 90 overs (R Samarth 140 (238 balls, 14 fours), Vishal Onat 73 batting, Mayank Agarwal 50) vs Goa.
At Thumba: Chhattisgarh 149 all out in 49.5 overs (Harpreet Singh Bhatia 40, Mayank Yadav 29 not out, Jalaj Saxena 5/48) vs Kerala 100 for 2 in 38 overs (Rohan S Kunnumal 32, Rohan Prem 29 batting).
At Puducherry: Rajasthan 333 for 9 in 82 overs (Manav Suthar 95 batting (87 balls, 8X4, 5X6), Deepak Hooda 94 (128 balls, 8X4, 4X6)) vs Pondicherry.
At Jamshedpur: Services 326 for 6 in 90 overs (Rajat Paliwal 76, M S Rathee 60 batting, Rahul Singh Gahlaut 60, Sufiyan Alam 58, Anukul Roy 3/60) vs Jharkhand.
Source: PTI News
