Bengaluru: High on confidence after their first win of the season, Karnataka will look to extend their run as they take on a struggling Haryana in a Ranji Trophy Group 'A''contest from Friday .
On a green-top at the Bansi Lal stadium in the village of Lahli, Karnataka, on paper, go into the match as favourites.
With the strip at Lahli being a pacers' delight, Karnataka will look to the in-form Abhimanyu Mithun who was in lethal form, claiming 11 wickets against Odisha in the previous encounter. The team will miss the services of regular skipper and newly-wed R. Vinay Kumar, who is unavailable for the match.
Given the pitch conditions, Karnataka will go in with a three-pace attack.
While young HS Sharath's spot is confirmed, the team think-tank will decide in the morning whether to bring in Ronit More or stick with the experienced Sreenath Arvind. They also have the option of using Stuart Binny as the fourth seam option. Binny returns to the squad after missing the previous match due to injury in place of opener Robin Uthappa, who has been ruled out for three weeks with an injured right knee.
That would leave scope for a lone spinner, in which case Abrar Kazi could get the nod ahead of K.P.
Appanna.
Karnataka, which has three draws and a victory so far, will take heart from the batting performance of the youngsters with each of the top order batsmen having put up good numbers.
In Uthappa's absence, last match centurion K.L. Rahul will open the innings alongside Mayank Agarwal.
While individual batting may not be a concern, what Karnataka is currently lacking is big partnerships. Although in the middle order CM Gautam and Ganesh Satish have steadied the innings on more than one occasion, they have not been able to make big contributions.
Also, Karnataka will look to check the tendency to hit the panic button during a collapse. Against Odisha, with a win at a comfortable distance, they suffered anxious moments when they lost quick wickets during the modest run chase.
On the hand, the home team's problems have been plenty, their batting in particular. Barring Rahul Dalal, Sunny Singh and Sachin Rana who have done well in patches, the rest of the batsmen have failed.
On the bowling front, Haryana will bank on pacers Harshal Patel and Joginder Singh to check the aggressive Karnataka batsmen. The home side are without Mohit Sharma and Amit Mishra.
Other Ranji matches Group A: At Mumbai: Mumbai vs Jharkhand; At Sambalpur: Odisha vs Delhi; At Mohali: Punjab vs Vidarbha Group B At Delhi: Railways vs Bengal; At Chennai: Tamil Nadu vs Baroda; At Ghaziabad: Uttar Pradesh vs Services; At Gwalior: Madhya Pradesh vs Rajasthan at Gwalior.
