Bengaluru: Young K.L. Rahul stood like a rock at one end and though skipper C.M. Gautam pieced together a face-saving 97-run partnership for the fourth wicket, Karnataka’s familiar tale of batting woes returned to haunt them as they collapsed in spectacular fashion to Haryana’s Harshal Patel at the Bansi Lal stadium at Rohtak on Saturday.
From a seemingly impregnable position Karnataka crumbled like a house of bricks in a torrential storm, losing six wickets for just 29 runs as honours were shared and bowlers kept their dominance going on Day Two of the Group ‘ A’ Ranji Trophy encounter.
Rahul, 21, who showed immense temperament and put many of his seniors to shame with his diligent approach, batted for close to six hours but was distinctly unlucky to miss out on a deserving hundred by a mere two runs.
Rahul (98, 239b, 9x4) and his two crucial partnerships – 96 for the opening wicket with Mayank Agarwal (42) and later for the fourth with Gautam (54, 109b, 6x4) was the lifeline for the visitors as their nemesis Patel shattered their confidence once again.
Having bowled out the hosts for 247, the visitors, resuming at 18 without loss, appeared to be cruising for a big total as well as the lead with Rahul and Gautam guiding them before the latter’s dismissal off Sachin Rana triggered off a stunning collapse. At close, Karnataka had stuttered and stumbled to 253 for nine, a meagre lead of six with Patel scalping 555, his fourth five-for.
Following Agarwal’s departure in the post-lunch session, Karnataka quickly lost Kunal Kapoor and Manish Pandey before the fourth wicket pair steadied the innings. Rahul showed his potential as he batted without any pressure. Just nine boundaries in his marathon knock may not reflect the youngster’s aptitude but the way he defied the Haryana attack in the company of Gautam was impressive.
But with Gautam falling after completing his fifty, the Karnataka innings went into a tail-spin as Patel and Rana blew away the lower order. From 217
for 3, Karnataka crashed to 246 for 9 leaving the promoted Abrar Kazi (10 batting) and last man HS Sharath on two at the crease.
Scoreboard Haryana (1st innings): 247 Karnataka (1st innings, o/n 18/0: Mayank Agarwal c Yadav b Hooda 42, KL Rahul b Patel 98, Kunal Kapoor b Patel 8, Manish Pandey c Sunny b Hooda 4, CM Gautam b Rana 54, Stuart Binny lbw Patel 7, Ganesh Satish lbw Patel 1, Abrar Kazi (batting) 10, Abhimanyu Mithun b Patel 2, Ronit More c Barot b Rana 3, HS Sharath (batting) 2.
Extras (b5, lb8, w5, nb4) 22 Total (for 9 wkts; 92 overs) 253 FoW: 1-96, 2-115, 3-120, 4-217, 5224, 6-233, 7-234, 8-236, 9-246 Bowling: Harshal Patel 28-10-55-5, Sanjay Budhwar 15-4-44-0, Ashish Hooda 17-2-51-2, Sachin Rana 21-350-2, Jayant Yadav 5-0-20-0, Rahul Tewatia 6-1-20-0.
