Ranji Trophy: Ton-up Mankad puts Saurashtra on top; Karnataka concede lead

BENGALURU: Karnataka’s poor run continued as they conceded the first innings lead for the second time in a row as Saurashtra rode on Prerak Mankad’s unbeaten century (100 no.) to take control of the proceedings on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group ‘B’ encounter clash in Patiala on Wednesday.Coming into the contest after conceding the innings lead against Odisha, Karnataka were yet again at the receiving end against a spirited Saurashtra, who weathered a batting crisis of their own before taking a handy lead of 97 runs.When stumps were drawn, bottom-placed Saurashtra, replying to Karnataka’s first innings total of 200, were 297 for six with Mankad and Kamlesh Rasikbhai Makvana (30) at the crease. For Karnataka, skipper Vinay Kumar snared four wickets while left-arm spinner Abrar Kazi took two for 66.Karnataka seemed to have gained some early advantage when Saurashtra resumed on 19 for two. Vinay removed overnight batsman Sheldon Jackson (19) to have them reeling at 34 for three. However, that dismissal barely made an impact as opener Snell Patel stood firm to bail the team out of trouble with a stubborn 87.Patel forged an 82-run partnership with Jaydev Shah (39) to steady the innings. Patel then added 57 with Mankad to take Saurashtra within five runs of achieving the lead, before Abrar Kazi ended the blossoming stand by removing the former.Thereafter, Mankad and Kamlesh Makwana further bolstered Saurashtra innings with an unconquered partnership of 101 runs for the seventh-wicket. While Mankad played with aggression, his partner played a calculated innings, facing 119 balls for his unbeaten 30.SCOREBOARDKarnataka: (I Innings): 200 all out in 64.1 oversSaurashtra (I Innings; o/n: 19/2): Parmar c Abbas b Vinay 0, Snell Patel c Abbas b Kazi 87, Samarth Vyas c Uthappa b Vinay 0, Jackson c CM Gautam b Vinay 19, Jaydev Shah c Shreyas b Vinay 39, Vasavada b Kazi 13, Mankad (batting) 100, Makwana (batting) 30. Extras (B-5, LB-4) 9. Total (for 6 wkts; 94 overs) 297. Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-4, 3-34, 4-116, 5-139, 6-196. Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 19-5-43-4, Stuart Binny 13-4-30-0, Shreyas Gopal 14-1-71-0, K Gowtham 19-2-68-0, Abrar Kazi 28-4-66-2, Mayank Agarwal 1-0-10-0.