Karun Nair plans to get dinner with his old mates in the Karnataka camp in a couple of days. But for now, it is pure business.
Kinship was set aside on Saturday, as Karun’s classy 90 gave Vidarbha the upper hand against his former team on the second day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal outing in Nagpur on Saturday.
Vidarbha posted an imposing 460 before Karnataka moved to 98 for two at the close of play.
Karun, who spent the first decade of his career in the Karnataka side, put on a driving exhibition - anything full or on length was met with crisp forward movement and a flowing bat. With timing and elegance, Karun collected boundaries aplenty in the ‘V’.
The 32-year-old looked on course to score his third hundred of the season, until he received an unplayable delivery from pacer Vidwath Kaverappa which flattened his off stump.
Karun explained that while it ‘felt different’ to bat against his pals, the end goal remained unchanged.
“I play to win. It doesn’t matter who I play against. I’m not very satisfied with this knock. I’m disappointed [that] I could not get a big hundred,” Karun said.
Handy contributions from Aditya Sarwate (26), Harsh Dubey (20), Yash Thakur (31) and Umesh Yadav (21 n.o.) added heft to Vidarbha’s cause.
With spinners Hardik Raj and Dheeraj Gowda rendered ineffective, Karnataka fast bowlers Kaverappa (4/99), V. Vyshak (1/88) and V. Koushik (1/70) did the heavy lifting. The trio showed resolve to bowl 96.1 overs between them, even if results did not come easy.
Wicketkeeper Sharath Srinivas displayed great athleticism when he dived to his left to snap up Sarwate. Srinivas then ran in to collect a poor throw and flicked it underhand back onto the stumps to catch Aditya Thakare short of the crease.
Karnataka desperately needed its batters to grind and inspire hope. In this regard, captain Mayank Agarwal and youngster K.V. Aneesh failed. Facing only his third delivery, Mayank attempted a loose shot outside off and nicked it.
Aneesh (34, 48b, 6x4) looked good in patches, but as stumps approached, he gifted his wicket away by fishing well away from the body.
Opener R. Samarth (43 batting) and Nikin Jose (20 batting) lived to fight another day.
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