An entertaining unbeaten 102 by Manish Pandey took Karnataka to a comfortable position against Chandigarh on the second day of their Ranji Trophy outing on Saturday.
Pandey’s 25th First-Class century powered Karnataka to 268 for three, one run ahead of Chandigarh’s first-innings total.
With three points in the bag, Karnataka is assured of a spot in the quarterfinal, provided the home team does not fall to a loss.
Pandey came alive in the final session, thrilling the small crowd with brilliant strokes. He punched the length deliveries through extra-cover and mid-off, and pulled long-hops over deep square-leg. The 34-year-old walked down the track to throw the pacers off-kilter. Pandey was unstoppable once he got his eye in, moving from 50 to 100 in just 24 deliveries.
Pandey found an able ally in Hardik Raj (49 batting, 116b, 4x4). Hardik batted with gumption for over three hours, showing all the right qualities to thrive in this long format. It was a day to remember for the 17-year-old, who also scalped four wickets with his left-arm spin in the Chandigarh essay.
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Mayank Agarwal’s good run continued with a 90-ball 57. The skipper looked good for more, but an inside edge to left-arm spinner Karan Kaila cut him short.
Nikin Jose, not in the best form this season, worked hard for his 60-ball 37. An unnecessary jab outside off, however, robbed Jose of a big score.
There was no silver lining for opener R. Samarth, nicked off by pacer Jagjit Sandhu for four.
Chandigarh batted for 27.4 overs in the morning session to end with a respectable total. Hardik (4/56) prised out wickets with a combination of flighted deliveries and arm balls, while fast bowler V. Vyshak (4/77) was typically fiery.
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