Prateek Jain's five-for puts Karnataka on victory trail

BENGALURU: Hosts Karnataka have put themselves firmly on track for an outright victory after

Prateek Jain

and

Sharan Gowda

rattled

Tripura

batsmen on the second day of the four-day Group B U-23 Col CK Nayudu encounter at the Alur grounds on Tuesday.

After posting a mammoth first innings score of 431, Karnataka pace duo of Jain (5-14) and Gowda (4-40) ran riot to bowl Tripura out for 101 in 26.3 overs and enforce a follow on. Having built a formidable lead of 330 runs, the host contined their onslaught as Tripura closed their second essay at a lowly 65/6 with Jagadeesha Suchith (3-27) and Jain (2-20) sharing wickets.

With two more days to go, Karnataka will aim to complete the formalities on Wednesday to grab the bonus points. Medium-pacer, Jain, who had an impressive start to the season, including a five-for against Himachal Pradesh last week, continued his fine form in home conditions.

Jain, who turned 22 earlier this month, ripped apart the top-order removing the first three wickets in the first five overs with just eight runs on the board. Thereafter, Gowda accounted for four middle-order batsmen, leaving Tripura reeling at 34/7 in 11 overs. Jain then grabbed two wickets in an over to complete his five-for.

The 66-run last wicket stand between top-scorer RB Murasingh (40) and tail-ender JB Battacharjee (24 not out) was a saving grace as Tripura got past 100 runs. Earlier, Naveen MG, who resumed batting on six, completed a half-century (57) as Karnataka added 100 runs to their overnight score of 331/5.

Brief scores: Karnataka 431 all out in 118.4 overs (Milind Ramesh 132, Bharath KN 36, Samarth Ooty 107, J Suchith 46, Naveen MG 57; Saurabh Das 2-95, Dwaipayan Bhattacharjee 6-79) vs Tripura 101 all out in 26.3 overs (RB Murasingh 40; Prateek Jain 5-14, Sharan Gowda 4-40) & 65/6 in 24.3 overs (Prateek Jain 2-20, J Suchith 3-27).