Timely breakthroughs allowed Uttar Pradesh to restrict Karnataka to 213 for seven on the first day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal outing at Alur grounds here on Monday.
Karnataka was let down by its batters, who failed to capitalise on good starts. Opener R. Samarth (57, 81b, 10x4) was the pick of the lot, showing positive intent in a free-flowing knock. Karun Nair (29), K.V. Siddharth (37) and captain Manish Pandey (27) got settled in, but did not stick around for the long haul.
Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar (four for 64) and pacer Shivam Mavi (three for 40) were outstanding for Uttar Pradesh.
A wet outfield, caused by overnight rain, delayed the start of play by around two hours. Karnataka chose to leave young batter Devdutt Padikkal out of the eleven.
FOLLOW:
Opener Mayank Agarwal was sent back in the 13th over, when umpire Yeshwant Barde upheld Mavi’s caught-behind appeal. A shocked Mayankbelieved that the bat was nowhere close to the ball.
Samarth looked in great touch, until he cut a delivery from Saurabh to point. Karun raised hopes with a couple of classical on-drives. A lazy waft outside off, however, gave Mavi his second scalp.
Pandey gained a reprieve on zero, when Ankit Rajpoot put down a regulation catch at mid-on. Pandey and Siddharth then shut shop, taking Karnataka to 119 for three at Tea.
Saurabh took the big wicket of Manish with a magical sharp turner, which squared the batter up and found the edge. Wicketkeeper Sharath Srinivas was taken out by Saurabh for a golden duck. Siddharth lost his stumps to an indipper from Mavi.
K. Gowtham got the pulse racing with a brutal straight six off Mavi. In the next over, Gowtham attempted to slog Saurabh out of the park, but only found Rinku Singh at mid-on.
Shreyas Gopal held fort with an unbeaten 26.
Saurabh, with his nagging line just outside off, was the best bowler on view. In his long spell, Saurabh barely bowled a loose ball, and often surprised the batter with extra bounce. An edge to the wicketkeeper, slip or even backward point was always on the cards when the spinner was in operation.
Mavi presented a threat with pace and movement.
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