Bengaluru: The green carpet at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium was prepared to aid Karnataka’s formidable pace attack, but stumping the predictions and conditions, Uttar Pradesh’s left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza (6/64) rocked the Karnataka batting line-up on the third day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal clash on Friday. Fortunately, the home team found an able saviour in young K.L. Rahul (92, 188b, 13x4).
With an injured R.P. Singh unable to come out to bat, Uttar Pradesh declared at the overnight score of 221/9. An injury-ridden Karnataka, who came out to bat with a 128-run lead were undone by Murtaza to be bowled out for 204.
At close, the visitors, chasing a victory target of 333, were 55 for 1, setting up an exciting fourth and penultimate day’s action.
In the morning, it seemed like the sporting paradise rolled out for the benefit of the hosts’ was turning into a graveyard for the young team’s Trophy dreams.
First innings centurion Robin Uthappa was sent back for nought, trapped in front by Ankit Rajpoot in the first over. With one-down batsman R. Samarth nursing a broken finger, the hosts re-jigged the batting order and promoted their pinch hitters with R. Vinay Kumar coming early. The dew coupled with the occasional ball skidding saw Vinay and Rahul trying to save their wickets, which resulted in runs trickling in at a snail pace.
Uttar Pradesh too sprang a surprise and introduced Murtaza in the 10th over itself. He struck terror in the home side as he worked in tandem with the pacers to check the run-rate while striking repeatedly. The 24-year-old Allahabad lad first got rid of Vinay and then lured Abrar Kazi into a drive only for the edge to land in wicketkeeper Eklavya Dwivedi’s gloves.
Manish Pandey who announced his arrival with a straight drive six, was sent back by Amit Mishra caught at covers by Murtaza, while attempting a poor shot outside the off stump. With the pressure mounting, the scene turned ugly with Dwivedi and Pandey even indulging in a verbal duel, which was brokered by Mohammed Kaif.
Even as wickets kept falling at the other end, the youngster never let his concentration waver as he rotated the strike smartly while ensuring the loose balls were punished.
SCORECARD
Karnataka (1st innings): 349
Uttar Pradesh (1st innings): 221/9decl.
Karnataka (2nd innings): R. Uthappa lbw b Rajpoot 0, K.L. Rahul (not out) 92, R. Vinay Kumar lbw b Murtaza 9, A. Kazi c Dwivedi b Murtaza 0, M. Pandey c Murtaza b Amit Mishra 6, K. Nair c Dagar b Rajpoot 25, CM Gautam (run out) 36, S. Gopal c Dagar b Murtaza 9, R. Samarth lbw b Murtaza 6, A. Mithun b Murtaza 19, H.S. Sharath lbw b Murtaza 0. Extras (b1, lb1) 2. Total (in 66.5 overs) 204. FoW: 1-0, 2-11, 3-15, 4-33, 5-73, 6-136, 7-160, 8-178, 9-204.
Bowling: Rajpoot 17-9-30-2, Amit Mishra 16-4-55-1, Murtaza 16.5-2-64-6, Chawla 17-4-53-0.
Uttar Pradesh (2nd innings): T. Srivastava (batting) 23, M. Dagar c Uthappa b Gopal 23, A. Murtaza (batting) 2. Extras (b4, lb3) 7. Total (for one wicket in 18 overs) 55 FoW: 1-53
Bowling: Vinay Kumar 8-3-18-0, Mithun 7-1-25-0, Uthappa 1-0-2-0, Gopal 1-0-3-1, Kazi 1-1-0-0.
