Vyshak, Sharath slam tons, Karnataka in control

Hubballi: Karnataka sealed their spot in the knockout round of the Ranji Trophy by batting Chandigarh out of the contest in their final league fixture here. But the question which weighed heavily was whether the home side would push for an outright win on the final day on Monday. A win would mean Karnataka would top Group C and get to play their quarterfinal contest at home against the second-placed team from Group ‘A’.
For that to transpire, Karnataka’s bowlers would have to join a party which their batters began in Hubballi.For the first time this season on Sunday, Karnataka breached the 500-run mark with Vyshak Vijaykumar (103 n.o; 141b; 10x4; 2x6) and Sharath Srinivas (100 n.o; 160b; 11x4) striking maiden centuries and Hardik Raj (82) hitting his second straight half-century.
If Tamil Nadu, who have an upper hand over Punjab in Group C, finish on top, then Karnataka will play either Vidarbha or Saurashtra in an away game. Starting the day at 268/3, Karnataka declared at 563 for 5, with a lead of 296. But Chandigarh’s openers allowed doubts to persist on whether Karnataka had declared too late in the day, as they wiped off 61 runs of the deficit in 66 deliveries. In the first session, in an anti-climax to what was turning out to be a fine run, 17-year-old Hardik fell short of his maiden century by 18 runs when he went for a half-hearted cut against spinner Karan Kaila (3/143) and the inside edge was taken by wicketkeeper Mayank Sidhu. The wicket brought the curtains down on a crucial 239-run partnership between Hardik and Manish Pandey (148; 181b; 17x3; 3x6). Kaila sent back Pandey when he looked to paddle the delivery away for a single but did not anticipate the speed and was plumb in front.
Vyshak, who was promoted up the other after KV Aneesh took ill, got down to business. The 27-year-old, who has shown remarkable application of his batting abilities this season, dispatched Kaila to the long-on boundary off the fourth ball he faced. While Vyshak played an attacking brand of cricket, Sharath was his usual guarded self. The wicketkeeper-bat, who received a reprieve on six when Manan Vohra grassed him at square leg off Gurinder Singh, made the most of the lifeline.
Vyshak reached his half-century (62 balls) off a boundary and tore into Kaila, slamming him for three boundaries and two maximums. Karnataka were 497/5 at tea with a 230-run lead. It was safe to assume that they would declare and go for a win. Instead, with Vyshak on 78 and Sharath on 59, Karnataka opted to wait for the duo to complete their landmark figures. They got to the three-figure mark at a brisk pace, with Vyshak getting there first and soon, Sharath leapt in the air to signal his 100. The duo added 198 runs for the sixth wicket.
SCOREBOARD
Chandigarh (1st innings): 267.Karnataka (I Innings, o/n: 268/3): Hardik Raj c Sidhu b Kaila 82, Manish Pandey lbw b Kaila 148, Sharath Srinivas (not out) 100, Vyshak Vijaykumar (not out) 103. Extras (B-16, LB-8, W-3, penalty-5) 32. Total (for 5 wkts decl. in 136.5 overs) 563. Fall of wickets: 3-115, 4-354, 5-365. Bowling: Jagjit Sandhu 20-3-63-1, Rohit Dhanda 24-2-93-0, Gurinder Singh 29-1-121-0, Hartejassvi Kapoor 16-3-84-1, Karan Kaila 40.5-4-143-3, Kunal Mahajan 1-0-12-0, Shivam Bhambri 4-0-14-0, Kaushik 2-0-4-0.Chandigarh (II Innings): Shivam Bhambri 33 (batting), Arslan Khan 27 (batting). Extras (LB-1) 1. Total (for no loss; 11 overs) 61. Bowling: V Koushik 4-0-20-0, M Venkatesh 4-0-18-0, Hardik Raj 2-0-17-0, Shashikumar K 1-0-5-0. Other Group C scores: At Salem: Tamil Nadu: 435 vs Punjab: 274 all out and 180/4 (Nehal Wadhera 103 batting; S Ajith Ram 3-42). At Agartala: Tripura: 149 & 333 all out vs Railways: 105 and 270/4 (Pratham Singh 113 batting, Mohammad Saif 106; M Murasingh 2-41). At Porvorim: Goa: 317 & 143 lost to Gujarat 346 & 117/3 (Aditya Patel 38 n.o, Het Patel 46 n.o).