Karnataka drove home the advantage on day two of its Ranji Trophy encounter against Punjab, racking up a 309-run first-innings lead at the KSCA Rajnagar Stadium in Hubballi on Saturday.
From an overnight 142 for three, Devdutt Padikkal and Manish Pandey all but batted the visitors out of the game, with their nascent 32-run association at Stumps on day one swelling to a mammoth 234.
Of those, 152 runs came on the second morning at nearly five an over. Padikkal, starting on 80, coasted along merrily, bringing up his third First-Class hundred (193, 216b, 24x4, 4x6) with a beautiful driven boundary past speedster Baltej Singh.
READ | Ranji Trophy 2023-24: Andhra loses late wickets on Day 2 after Bengal scores 409
After reaching the three-figure mark, the 23-year-old Padikkal, who had until then played text-book cricket, turned expansive. Offie Naman Dhir was dispatched down the ground before part-time tweaker Abhishek Sharma was smashed for back-to-back maximums over long-on and deep square-leg.
At the other end, Manish was let off on 22 when a mix-up between wicket-keeper Gitansh Khera and the first-slip fielder cost Baltej a wicket. The former Karnataka skipper capitalised by notching up his 24th First-Class ton (118, 165b, 13x4, 3x6).
Initially, Manish was not at his usual free-stroking best, taking 89 balls to reach his fifty. The century, however, took just 53 more deliveries. Left-arm spinner Prerit Dutta and leggie Mayank Markande suffered the worst, being hit for a combined 64 runs from 62 balls. The six over Dutta’s head to get to 99 was Manish’s stand-out shot.
Padikkal and Manish fell in the post-lunch session, with the former caught at deep mid-wicket off Dutta after his career-best knock and the latter at second slip off Arshdeep Singh. But Sharath Srinivas (55 batting, 158b, 5x4) and Shubhang Hegde (27, 77b, 2x4) — aided by some abysmal fielding — ensured that Punjab wouldn’t even have a foot in the door.
Comments
SHARE