Karnataka hurried to a third straight win in the Ranji Trophy, crushing Vidarbha by 189 runs at the Moti Bagh grounds here on Monday. A total of 17 wickets fell on the third day of this Ranji Trophy fixture, the game heading to its conclusion at breakneck speed.
First, Karnataka endured a bit of a collapse in the morning, finishing on 209 to set the opponent a rather distant target of 301. Vidarbha then folded in embarrassing fashion, sinking to 111 all out in under three hours.
R. Vinay Kumar was at the heart of things in the second innings, top-scoring with 56 before shredding the opposition with his five for 28. The victory swelled Karnataka's tally at the top of Group B to 23 points, one short of its aggregate for the whole of last season.
On a pitch still amenable to seam bowling, with the ball occasionally shooting off the surface, there was little resistance expected from Vidarbha during the run chase. And there was none. Sanjay Ramaswamy fell with seven runs on the board, out leg before to Vinay. Faiz Fazal, the captain, departed four balls later, neatly steering S. Arvind into the hands of Mayank Agarwal at third slip.
Vinay removed Ravi Jangid and Aditya Shanware off successive deliveries, both batsmen edging into the cordon behind. In his effort to catch Jangid, Manish Pandey split a webbing, and had to leave the field. The injury required stitches in hospital, but the batsman is likely to be ready for Karnataka's next match, against Rajasthan in Vizianagaram.
Vidarbha went into tea six down for 79 after Vinay and Arvind had struck again. The final session lasted less than an hour.
Earlier, resuming on 108 for three in the second innings, Karnataka lost Stuart Binny in the day's third over. R. Samarth and C.M. Gautam were dismissed not long after, at which stage the overnight total had grown only by two runs. Karnataka perhaps had enough but Vinay's attacking half-century, and his 41-run stand with K. Gowtham, tipped the lead beyond 300 and put the outcome beyond doubt.
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