Karnataka storm into Ranji Trophy quarterfinals

BENGALURU: In the end, it was a walk in the park for Karnataka's batsmen after their bowlers took charge in the morning. They chased down a relatively small but tricky target with more than a day to spare to defeat Baroda by eight wickets in the final Group B league encounter for their fourth win of the season, in the process sealing a berth in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals.
There were several positive takeaways for Karnataka going into the knockout stage of the competition. The biggest probably is the return of Prasidh Krishna, who fired away in his first competitive match since returning from a close to four-month injury layoff. Krishna had four second innings wickets and finished the match with a haul of six.
There was also the reassurance of old in skipper Karun Nair, who secured the win with an unbeaten 71 (126b, 7x4) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday. Coming into bat at one-down, a promotion over his customary No. 4 position, Nair's calm and composed show steadied the nerves and ensured Karnataka overhauled the target of 149 in 44.4 overs, 40 minutes into the final session.
With 31 points, Karnataka are likely to finish third across Group A and B and could face Jammu and Kashmir from Group C in the last eight. The quarterfinal line-up will be firmed up on Saturday.
It was an action-packed morning as Karnataka wobbled on the field again, putting down a catch and snaring a wicket off a non-ball, but, luckily for them, it didn't cost them too much. The visitors, resuming at their overnight score of 208/5, added 88 runs before folding up.
Abhimanyu Rajput (52, 72b, 8x4) and Parth Kohli (42, 88b, 3x4, 1x6) boosted's Baroda's score while Pathan, who pulled a hamstring while bowling and Viraj Bhosale, laid low by a viral fever, showed a lot of spirit to come out to bat. They did not take the field thereafter.
Baroda needed wickets in a heap and hopes soared when they snared openers Devdutt Padikkal, who mistimed a slog-sweep and R Samarth (25 58b, 3x4), in relatively quick succession. That was the only success they managed.
With KV Siddharth (29 n.o), who cut his finger while fielding, briefly indisposed, Nair had to promote himself. Under the pump for an inconsistent show with the bat, he was understandably cautious. What seemed to work in his favour was the lack of time pressure. He took his time to understand on a pitch which had slowed considerably. There was also the frustrating negative line of left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt which he had to endure.
Nair scored just four runs off the first 23 balls he faced. He steered Soyeb Sopariya, who went wicketless, through third man for his first boundary, but did not attempt anything out-of-the-box thereafter. The focus was on keeping wickets intact and playing the ball on merit.
The unbroken 92-run, third-wicket stand with Siddharth was unhurried. Karnataka went into tea on 99/2, and within sniffing distance of victory. The final session yielded 51 runs in 9.4 overs as Karun and Siddharth upped the run rate with some delightful strokes. It didn't help Baroda's cause that they were a bowler short with Babasafikhan Pathan injured.
Karun showcased timing, footwork and some delightful cover drives. Siddharth too showed a touch of aggression, dancing down the track to smash Bhatt over long on for a six and fittingly sealed the quarterfinals berth with a boundary through mid-on.
Scoreboard
Baroda (I innings): 85
Karnataka (I innings): 233.
Baroda (II innings o/n 208/5): Rajput b More 52, Kohli lbw 42, Bhatt lbw Gowtham 6, Sopariya c Samarth b Prasidh 4, B Pathan lbw Prasidh 0, Bhosale (not out) 16. Extras (NB-7, B-4, LB-3) 14. Total (all out; 89.5overs) 208.
Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-48, 3-142, 4-159, 5-188, 6-240, 7-249, 8-280, 9-280.
Bowling: Mithun 12-2-43-1, Prasidh 17.5-4-45-4, Gowtham 31-6-99-2, More 16-3-68-3, Deshpande 2-0-6-0, Shreyas 11-1-28-0.
Karnataka (II innings): Samarth b Bhatt 25, Padikkal c Kumar b Bhatt 6, Nair (not out) 71, Siddharth (not out) 29. Extras (NB-3, W-7, B-1, LB-8) 19. Total (for 2 wkts; 44.4 overs) 150.
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-58.
Bowling: Sopariya 15-5-41-0, Rajput 9-3-22-0, Bhatt 19-5-62-2, Kohli 1.4-0-16-0.