Irani Cup: Karnataka reel under Aaron burst

BENGALURU: Right through the season it was the sting in the Karnataka tail that opponents were wary of. But that was not to be on Tuesday. Uncharacteristically, the lower order meekly toppled over for Rest of India to take the honours on the opening day of the Irani Cup tussle at the M Chinaswamy Stadium on Tuesday.
India fast bowler Varun Aaron, relishing the opportunity of bowling on a fresh pitch, came up with incisive spells that brooked no answer from the Karnataka line-up.His haul of six for 63 flattened the home team from a promising score of 220 for four to a below average total of 244. By stumps Rest of India had moved to 20 for the loss of one wicket.
Put in to bat first on a pitch that had some moisture and plenty of help for the pacemen early on, Karnataka rode through the first session reasonably well despite losing opener Robin Uthappa (10) and one-drop R Samarth (20).
Aaron, who was used as a first change bowler to allow swing bowler Rishi Dhawan to have a shot with the new ball, accounted for Uthappa in his very first over. However a few flaws and focus on key areas. Karnataka, perhaps, would have wished that he had not tweaked his bowling to the extent that he looked a notch superior to his teammates.
Put in to bat first on a pitch that had some moisture and plenty of help for the pacemen early on, Karnataka rode wickets for 90 runs. Mayank Agarwal, returning to the team after a long absence, came up with some handsome drives to top score with 68 (174m, 119b, 13x4).
But the post-lunch session was a shocker for Karnataka. They lost two quick wickets and it was only a fortuitous 54 from debutant Abhishek Reddy (who replaced injured Shishir Bhawane) and his 113-run fifth-wicket partnership with the more solid Karun Nair (59; 143m, 99b, 11x4) that saved the day for the home team.
SCOREBOARD
Karnataka (1st innings):
R Uthappa c N Ojha b Aaron 10,
M Agarwal c N Ojha b Aaron 68,
R Samarth c N Ojha b R Dhawan 20,
M Pandey c N Ojha b Aaron 3,
K Nair c Chand b Aaron 59,
A Reddy c N Ojha b Thakur 54,
S Gopal lbw P Ojha 5,
Vinay Kumar lbw Aaron 6,
A Mithun lbw Aaron 11,
S Aravind c N Ojha b P Ojha 2,
H Sharath not out 0
Extras (b-2, lb-1, nb-3): 6
Total (all out in 77.1 overs): 244
FoW: 1-26, 2-66, 3-90, 4-107, 5220, 6-220, 7-226, 8-242, 9-244
Bowling:
S Thakur 22-2-78-1,
R Dhawan 18-5-51-1 (3nb),
Aaron 17.1-8-63-6,
P Ojha 15-3-35-2,
J Yadav 5-2-14-0
Rest of India (1st innings):
U Chand b Vinay Kumar 0,
J Singh batting 16,
P Dogra batting 4
Total (for 1 wkt in 5 overs): 20
Fall of wicket: 1-0
Bowling:
Vinay Kumar 3-0-12-1,
Mithun 2-0-8-0.