Karnataka batsmen begin in right earnest

By Our Sports Reporter

BANGALORE, APRIL 13. Placid track, smiling batsmen, clueless bowlers, a handful of spectators and a relentless sun.....all the stereotypes associated with domestic cricket were at play in the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday. The Ranji Trophy semifinal which swayed to V.V.S. Laxman (353) will now slow-dance to the host's willow wielders.

Karnataka scored 269 for two at the third day's close but Hyderabad's first innings score of 711 for eight declared may become an overwhelming snag. Vijay Bharadwaj (38) and Barrington Rowland (52) have the onerous task of whittling down the deficit but with the pitch unabashedly extending an olive branch, the duo do have an ally.

Earlier, Laxman's bat continued to attract the cameras as a slew of records lingered around. He cantered past 350 with a flick off Ganesh but soon pulled Prasad's shortish delivery straight to a diving K.N. Ramesh (substituting for Barrington Rowland) at mid- on. Laxman's 559-ball essay lasted 758 minutes and included 51 boundaries and two sixers.

The tail-enders, Fiaz Ahmed and N.P. Singh, struck some lusty blows before Prasad got his fifth wicket. Fiaz snicked one to keeper Thilak Naidu and Azhar declared the Hyderabad innings. Prasad was the pick among the Karnataka bowlers and unlike Dodda Ganesh and Mansoor Ali Khan, did not bowl any no- balls.

Karnataka had no opening rumbles. J. Arun Kumar and Mithun Beerala had it easy against N.P. Singh and left-arm seamer Fiaz Ahmed. The seamers failed to settle into a good line and with no- balls drawing extra sweat, runs trickled fast. The alarm bells rang briefly when Mithun played a forcing shot off Singh. Luckily for him the ball ricocheted off Nanda Kishore's hands at forward short-leg.

After lunch, Raju's left-armers and seamer Parth Satwalkar's three-quarter length imposed shackles until the openers decided to free their arms. Mithun used his feet against the spin while Arun drove Satwalkar through covers and ushered in his 3000th Ranji run (he was on 31). Azhar tried to stifle Mithun with a packed on-side field but the diminutive opener was prepared. He rocked back and pulled Singh for four while the short mid-wicket fielder stood rooted to the spot.

Azhar soon smiled as he pouched Mithun (74, 128b, 13 x 4) at short mid-wicket after the opener's flick against veteran off- spinner Kanwaljit Singh proved fatal. Arun (71, 158b, 9 x 4) also returned to the pavilion when Kanwaljit elicited a bat-pad catch.

The third-wicket pair of Rowland and Bharadwaj staved off further alarms with an unbeaten 79-run partnership. They do have to shrug aside personal guilts if Karnataka hopes to offer a semblance of a fight. It may be recalled that Barrington had dropped Laxman on 30 while Bharadwaj grassed a sharp chance when the Hyderabadi was inching towards a double hundred.

The scores:

Hyderabad - 1st innings: Nanda Kishore c Bharadwaj b Prasad 11, Daniel Manohar c Naidu b Prasad 39, V.V.S. Laxman c K.N. Ramesh b Prasad 353, Mohammad Azharuddin c Bharadwaj b Prasad 123, Vanka Pratap b Joshi 45, Parth Satwalkar c Naidu b B. Akhil 37, Riaz Shaik c Arun Kumar b Ganesh 15, Fiaz Ahmed c Naidu b Prasad 31, N.P. Singh (not out) 14. Extras (b-7, lb-5, w-7, nb-24) 43. Total (for eight wkts. declared): 711.

Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-91, 3-379, 4- 504, 5-590, 6-636, 7-683, 8-711.

Karnataka bowling: Venkatesh Prasad 46- 11-121-5, Dodda Ganesh 40-5-166-1, Mansoor Ali Khan 25-4-104-0, Sunil Joshi 53-6-205-1, B. Akhil 14-1-64-1, R. Vijay Bharadwaj 11-1-29-0, A. Vijay 4-0-10-0.

Karnataka - 1st innings: J. Arun Kumar c Nanda Kishore b Kanwaljit 71, Mithun Beerala c Azharuddin b Kanwaljit 74, Barrington Rowland (batting) 52, R. Vijay Bharadwaj (batting) 38. Extras (b-2, lb-6, nb-26) 34. Total: (for two wickets) 269.

Fall of wickets: 1-163, 2-190.

Hyderabad bowling: N.P. Singh 11-1-55-0, Fiaz Ahmed 6-0-40-0, Venkatapathy Raju 27-7-60-0, Parth Satwalkar 9-2-31-0, Kanwaljit Singh 19-2-59-2, Mohammad Azharuddin 3-0-16- 0.

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