Sport - Cricket

Karnataka meets Maharashtra

Bangalore: Cementing a quarterfinal berth remains Karnataka’s top priority as the host gears up for the Ranji Trophy super league Group ‘B’ match against Maharashtra at the RSI Ground here from Thursday.

“We want to win this match but we would also be happy if we get the lead as that is the minimum we need to qualify,” said Vijay Bharadwaj, Karnataka’s coach. With 14 points and occupying the third slot, Karnataka is well placed to qualify for the quarterfinals with only Railways (11 points), currently placed fourth, posing a distant challenge.

However Bharadwaj insisted that a victory would be perfect. “If we win this game then we will finish second in the tough Group B, which would add to our confidence,” he said. Karnataka in its last match failed to defend a first innings total of 511 against Uttar Pradesh but Bharadwaj supported the bowlers for toiling away on a flat track at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. “On that kind of pitch, our batsmen needed to do more,” he said.

Bharadwaj had a point as the team’s batsmen have failed to click collectively with skipper Robin Uthappa’s two hundreds and B. Akhil’s fighting ton against U.P. being the exceptions while the bowlers have performed though the last match proved to be a nightmare.

The host will be bolstered by K.B. Pawan’s presence after the opener missed the last game due to injury.

Meanwhile, for Maharashtra, a fighting performance against a stronger Karnataka team would lend belief to its players. “Ours is a young team and there are no stars in it. We are building the side and the results have been up and down,” said Maharashtra’s coach Shaun William.

Maharashtra, with seven points from five matches, is placed in the bottom half of Group ‘B’.

The team can however take heart from the consistent performances of batsman K. Jadhav and seamer Samad Fallah and it would need all the others including skipper Nikhil Paradkar to chip in.