Chennai: A double century by Ganesh Satish and a century by Muralidharen Gautam helped Karnataka overhaul Tamil Nadu’s first innings total of 538 and take three crucial points in their Group B Ranji Trophy match here today at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium on Monday.
Karnataka starting the final day with 300 runs to take a first innings lead of started off well with the overnight batsmen Satish on 65 and Amit Verma. Verma however was the first casualty of the day after Laxmipathy Balaji dismissed him for 31. Stuart Binny followed the suit and with five wickets down for 289, the hosts must have smelt blood.
But then both these players combined well to change the visitor’s fortune. They took the match by the scruff of the neck and started scoring at will. Tamil Nadu who had dominated the match before till then felt the heat for the first time.
They manipulated the gaps well and started scoring boundaries making it difficult for Tamil Nadu. Things could have been different for them had their fielders complemented the bowlers efforts, but they dropped too many catches which hurt the team’s cause.
Karnataka had little luck riding on their part as Gautam who retired mid-way through his innings after shoulder dislocation while celebrating his century came back after Sunil Raju’s wicket to put up an unbeaten stand of 62 in 9.2 overs to take three points from the game.
Satish (200 not out, 418b, 18x4, 1x6) and Gautam (130 not out, 171b, 13x4, 1x6) put up an unbeaten 243 runs stand to take the match away from Tamil Nadu.
Malolan Rangarajan was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts with his spell of 3-119.
By Indian Sports News Network