Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 19 (PTI) India Test discard Mayank Agarwal’s unbeaten double century helped Karnataka secure the all-important first innings lead against Kerala on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Group C match here on Thursday.
Resuming at the overnight score of 137 for 2, Karnataka captain Agarwal (208 off 360 balls, 17x4s, 5x6s) moved to his ton from 87 in quick time and took control of the proceedings, scoring the bulk of the runs.
In the company of S J Nikin Jose (54), the stylish Agarwal kept the scoreboard ticking. The two put on 151 runs to keep the team in the hunt.
Jose fell to left-arm spinner Akshay Chandran (1/32) and Manish Pandey (0), one of the team’s star batters, was dismissed for a first ball duck to off-spinner Jalaj Saxena (2/124) as Karnataka appeared to stutter.
Agarwal, however, found an able partner in Shreyas Gopal (48 off 125 balls, 4x4s), and their fifth-wicket stand of 93 from 165 balls, put Karnataka back in the hunt. Gopal fell at 336 with the visiting team six runs short of Kerala’s score.
Wicket-keeper-batter B R Sharath (47 batting), who joined Agarwal in the middle, put on 42 runs for the sixth wicket to make sure Karnataka got past their opponent’s score. Off-spinner Vaishakh Chandran (2/87) struck a big blow for Kerala by removing Agarwal, who was looking in ominous form and appeared set for a mammoth score. Sharath and Shubhang Hegde (8 batting) ensured that there was no further damage as Karnataka ended the day at 410 for 6, a lead of 68 runs.
Brief scores: At Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala 342 all out in 130.1 overs (Sachin Baby 141, Jalaj Saxena 57, Vathsal Govind 46; V Koushik 6/54) vs Karnataka 410 for 6 in 137 overs (Mayank Agarwal 208, S J Nikin Jose 54, Shreyas Gopal 48, B R Sharath 47 batting).
At Puducherry: Pondicherry 231 all out in 91.4 overs (K B Arun Karthick 68, Paras K Dogra 68, Aravind K 31; Ashish Kumar 3/34, Anukul Roy 3/78) and 89 for 5 in 38 overs (Anukul Roy 3/39) vs Jharkhand 412 all out in 133.2 overs (Virat Singh 124, Saurabh Tiwary 116, Kumar Suraj 45; Sagar P Udeshi 8/118).
At New Delhi: Services 175 all out in 59.2 overs (Pulkit Nagar 52, L S Kumar 32; Vijesh Prabhudesai 3/39) and 139 for 2 in 40 overs (Ravi Chauhan 68 batting, S G Rohila 52) vs Goa 483 for 9 declared in 155.2 overs (KD Eknath 156 not out, Manthan Khutkar 82, Darshan Misal 59, Mohit Redkar 56; Pulkit Narang 4/161, M S Rathee 3/94).
At Jodhpur: Rajasthan 360 all out in 93 overs (Samarpit Joshi 123) and 268 for 3 declared in 48 overs (Mahipal Lomror 130, Aditya Garhwal 73) vs Chhattisgarh 199 all out in 77.3 overs (Ajay Mandal 48, Vasudev Bareth 42; Aniket Choudhary 4/25, MJ Suthar 4/46) and 111 for 4 in 32 overs (AG Tiwary 51; MJ Suthar 3/43).
Source: PTI News
