Karnataka pushed Gujarat onto the back foot on the penultimate day of their Ranji Trophy match here on Sunday.
Gujarat sits on a 61-run overall lead with only three wickets in hand, and will need an extraordinary performance to deny Karnataka a victory.
After taking a healthy 110-run first-innings advantage, Karnataka kept the pressure on to reduce Gujarat to 171 for seven. Pacer V. Koushik was once again on the money, keeping a strict wicket-to-wicket line to claim three wickets.
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Left-arm spinner Rohit Kumar entered the mix with two wickets off successive deliveries late in the day. The first came through a brain fade from the settled Manan Hingrajia (56, 135b, 5x4), who tried to sweep a delivery from well outside off stump.
Ripal Patel prodded forward and gave Manish Pandey a catch at slip. Rohit could have had another scalp later in the over when captain Chintan Gaja completely mishit a slog. Cover fielder Nikin Jose, looking over his shoulder as he skipped sideways towards mid-off, put down the skier.
Gaja (8 batting) received another life when Devdutt Padikkal and Jose, at first and second slip respectively, stood frozen as the ball flew between them. It was the last over of the day, bowled by second spinner Shubhang Hegde.
Gujarat fumed at receiving two questionable decisions from the umpires. Het Patel was declared leg-before off Koushik, when the ball had struck him high on the top of the thigh pad.
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Kshitij Patel, who made 95 in the first essay, stared in disbelief at the umpire’s response to a caught-behind appeal. The umpire asked his television counterpart to review if the wicketkeeper had collected the catch cleanly, when Sujay Sateri had taken at a comfortable knee height. Kshitij’s bigger grouse was that he did not get any bat on it to begin with.
A contentious call | Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji
Debutant Sateri was over the moon when he held on to a diving one-handed screamer to oust Priyank Panchal. This was before a moment of poor sportsmanship left a sour taste. Sateri appealed for a bowled, when the ball had clearly ricocheted off his gloves onto the stumps.
The batter Gaja was unconvinced, as was the television umpire. In the morning session, Karnataka could only add 46 runs to its overnight total. Manish Pandey (88, 156b, 8x4, 2x6) perished looking for the big hits when in the company of the tail.
Fast bowler Prasidh Krishna, who suffered an injury on the first day, did not take the field on Sunday.
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