Abhinav Manohar made a determined unbeaten fifty to rescue Karnataka after a top-order collapse, taking the hosts to 155 for five against Bengal after second day’s play of their Ranji Trophy Group C match in Bengaluru on Thursday. (Streaming | More Cricket News)
Manohar made 50 off 73 balls (6x4, 1x6) and added 58 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket stand with Shreyas Gopal (23 batting) as Karnataka recovered from a wobbly 97 for five.
Karnataka still trail by 146 runs.
Bengal, resuming from overnight 249 for five, could not progress much and got bowled out for 301. Pacer Vasuki Koushik (5/38) and leg-spinner Shreyas (3/87) combined to pluck the remaining five Bengal wickets for 52 runs.
But that joy was short-lived as Bengal bowlers Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (2/53) and R Vivek (2/44) rocked the Karnataka top-order with regular strikes.
In fact, the home side lost their most experienced batters – captain Mayank Agarwal (17) and Manish Pandey (0) – in the space of six balls. Agarwal was cleaned up by Jaiswal while Pandey’s two-ball innings was snapped by Vivek.
However, Karnataka found some fight through Manohar, a white ball specialist, and Shreyas, who returned to the state side after spending last season with Kerala, as they negated 18 overs to keep their side afloat.
Brief scores
In Bengaluru: Bengal 301 all out in 101.5 overs (Anustup Majumdar 101, Sudip Chatterjee 55, Shahbaz Ahmed 55; Vasuki Kaushik 5/38; Shreyas Gopal 3/87) vs Karnataka: 155/5 in 51 overs (Abhinav Manohar 50 batting, Shreyas Gopal 23 batting; Suraj Jaiswal 2/53, R Vivek 2/44). Karnataka trail by 146 runs.
In Thumba: Uttar Pradesh 162 all out vs Kerala: 340/7 in 110 overs (Sachin Baby 83, Salman Nizar 74 batting, Jalaj Saxena 35; Shivam Mavi 2/56, Shivam Sharma 2/77). Kerala lead by 178 runs.
In Patna: Madhya Pradesh: 616 all out in 130.2 overs (Shubham Sharma 240, Venkatesh Iyer 174; Himanshu Singh 5/196, Sachin Kumar Singh 4/211) vs Bihar: 131/4 in 42 overs (Babul Kumar 47, Piyush Kumar Singh 37; Saransh Jain 2/46). Bihar trail by 485 runs.
In Rohtak: Haryana 114 and 243 all out in 53.5 overs (Himanshu Rana 68, Ankit Kumar 38; Mayank Markande 3/52) vs Punjab: 141 all out in 52.1 overs (Anmolpreet Singh 45, Mayank Markande 30; Nishant Sindhu 6/47) and 73/3 in 18 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 23 batting; Nishant Sindhu 2/15). Punjab need 144 runs; Target: 217.
