Agarwal leads K’taka’s revival

Bengaluru: Testing conditions, four debutants and a crucial toss lost. Karnataka didn’t have much going for them when they took the field against Tripura in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C fixture in Agartala on Friday. The early jolts only added to their woes before three contrasting half-centuries ensured Karnataka posted a respectable 241/8 when bad light stopped play. The match, scheduled to start at 8.45 pm, was delayed by 45 minutes and when Tripura invited Karnataka to bat, the ball kept low.Karnataka batsmen decided to grind it out during the first hour till the sun came out but lost three quick wickets. While skipper Mayank Agarwal (51; 100b; 10x4) came up with a captain’s knock, Kishan Bedare made his maiden senior team appearance count with a patient 62 (121b; 9x4) and medium pacer Vyshak Vijaykumar came up with a gritty unbeaten 50 (61b; 7x4).Samarth was the first go, edging to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. The in-form Aneesh KV (1) lasted 11 deliveries before being castled by Rana Datta and Nikin Jose followed in a similar fashion. Agarwal, held up one end, building crucial partnerships with Kishan (87) and S Sharath (25) before BD Debnath struck. Bedare showed no signs of nerves and put a price on his wicket. With the lower order’s contribution pivotal, Vyshak went about his job sans pressure. For Tripura Rana Datta claimed 3 for 32. Struggling with team balance, Karnataka made six changes — inadvertent in some cases — which included handing senior team caps to four players. KV Aneesh and Bedare replaced injured Manish Pandey and D Nischal. Spin duo Hardik Raj and Shashikumar debuted at the expense of Shubhang Hegde and Rohit Kumar. Samarth, who missed the previous match against Goa due to illness, returned, as did Vidwath Kaverappa, who was released from the India ‘A’ squad. M Venkatesh made way for the pacer.SCOREBOARDKarnataka (I innings): Samarth c Saha b Datta 1, Mayank lbw Debnath 51, KV Aneesh b Datta 1, Nikin Jose b Mura Singh 1, Kishan Bedare c Sen b Sarkar 62, S Sharath c Chaterjee b Sarkar 25, Hardik Raj lbw Datta 9, Vyshak (batting) 50, Shashi Kumar lbw Mura Singh 19, Vidwath (batting) 4. Extras (B-2; LB-13). Total (8 wkts; 78 overs) 241Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-11, 3-16, 4-103, 5-153, 6-164, 7-164.Bowling: Mura Singh 19-3-35-2, Rana Datta 15-7-32-3, AK Sarkar 14-3-55-2, BB Debnath 13-3-50-1, Parvez Sultan 17-3-54-0.GROUP C Brief scores: At Coimbatore: Chandigarh: 111 (Kunal Mahajan 28; Sandeep Warrier 3-28) vs Tamil Nadu: 221/1 (Narayan Jagadeesan 108, Pradosh Ranjan Paul 87).At Valsad: Railways: 313 (Mohammad Saif 51, Sahab Yuvraj Singh 83, Ashutosh Sharma 123; Chintan Gaja 3-62) vs Gujarat. At Porvorim: Goa: 104 (Mayank Markande 4-12) vs Punjab 95/4 (Anmolpreet Singh (batting) 39; Deepraj Gaonkar 2-9).