A spirited resistance from Railways’ skipper Mahesh Rawat and Arindam Ghosh embellished the intensity of the day’s play in the Group `A’ Ranji Trophy match at the Karnail Singh Stadium here on Sunday.
Presented with the daunting target of 434 runs by Karnataka, the home team found itself in a spot at 84 for four but the 158-run unbeaten partnership between Rawat and Ghosh kept the competitive flavour of the match alive.
Resuming at 355 for six, Karnataka folded up after adding 79 runs this morning with Shreyas Gopal contributing 43 off 65 balls with five fours and a six. For Railways, seamers Karan Thakur and Manish Rao took three wickets apiece before leaving the stage for its batsmen to take over.
Abhimanyu Mithun and off-spinner Gowtham rattled the Railways top order by claiming two wickets each. Karnataka sensed an opening but Railways came up with a resolute stand through Rawat and Ghosh. Both applied themselves well to ensure there were no further alarms.
“The pitch had eased a bit. It was also not the turner that bone had expected it to be but Railways (Rawat and Ghosh) batted beautifully. Maybe we could have bowled and fielded better. I know the boys gave their best but Railways played good cricket and we must respect them,” said Karnataka skipper R. Vinay Kumar.
Rawat, who has thus far batted 97 balls (ten fours and two sixes) and Ghosh 133 balls (ten fours and two sixes), assessed the day’s play well. “The whole season we missed having partnerships and things worked for us today. I and Ghosh complement each other and we simply concentrated on playing the ball on merit. The pitch was not eash to bat on.”
Comments
SHARE