Haryana batter Nishant Sindhu put the Karnataka attack to the sword with a knock of 165.
| Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR
A fine knock from Haryana’s Nishant Sindhu (165, 184b, 15×4, 6×6) put Karnataka on the backfoot in their Ranji Trophy Elite ‘C’ match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday.
With Karnataka standing no chance of qualifying for the knockout rounds, Sindhu preyed on a lacklustre home team. The elegant left-hander scored at a brisk rate, pushing Haryana to a handy 450-run total.
The visitor then struck crucial blows with the ball, including that of K.L. Rahul, to keep Karnataka to 108 for three at close of play. Haryana, with an overall lead of 38 runs, can push for a win if the morning session of the final day yields wickets.
Sindhu reached his sixth First Class hundred with an edge through the slip cordon. The southpaw had earlier received a reprieve on 75, when Mayank Agarwal put down a sitter at mid-off.
Sindhu capitalised, using the ramp shot to good effect. He took a liking to fast bowlers Prasidh Krishna and Yashovardhan Parantap, carting them to all parts. Sindhu enjoyed handy support from the lower-order – Jayant Yadav (32), Anshul Kamboj (25), Anuj Thakral (25) and last man Ajit Chahal (16 not out). Part-time off-spinner Mayank took a rare First Class wicket, when he beat Thakral’s defence with turn.
Karnataka openers K.V. Aneesh and Mayank were dismissed cheaply inside the first 10 overs. Aneesh played all over a straight ball from Anshul Kamboj, while Mayank lost his stumps to a perfect outswinger from Chahal.
The small crowd cheered the arrival of Rahul to the crease. In the company of Devdutt Padikkal, Rahul played a few attractive strokes. His stint, however, came crashing down when he chopped Thakral back onto his stumps.
Padikkal (41 batting) will be crucial to Karnataka’s hopes on Sunday.
The scores:
Karnataka – 1st innings: 304.
Haryana – 1st innings: Lakshya Dalal c Rahul b Parantap 22, Ankit Kumar c (sub) Sateri b Hardik 118, Yuvraj Singh c Padikkal b Parantap 33, Himanshu Rana lbw b Koushik 5, Nishant Sidhu c Smaran b Hardik 165, Dheeru Singh b Prasidh 8, Rohit Sharma c Koushik b Prasidh 10, Jayant Yadav lbw b Prasidh 32, Anshul Kamboj c (sub) Sateri b Hardik 25, Anuj Thakral b Mayank 25, Ajit Chahal (not out) 16; Extras: (w-1, b-2, lb-3): 6; Total (in 115.3 overs): 450.
Fall of wickets: 1-74, 2-152, 3-165, 4-198, 5-209, 6-241, 7-339, 8-374, 9-430.
Karnataka bowling: Koushik 26-4-63-1, Kaverappa 27-5-83-0, Prasidh 23-1-105-3, Parantap 21-2-107-2, Hardik 16.3-2-73-3, Mayank 2-0-14-1.
Karnataka – 2nd innings: K.V. Aneesh b Kamboj 4, Mayank Agarwal b Chahal 6, K.L. Rahul b Thakral 43, Devdutt Padikkal (batting) 41, R. Smaran (batting) 9; Extras (b-4, lb-1): 5; Total (for three wkts. in 32 overs): 108.
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-30, 3-87.
Haryana bowling: Kamboj 7-3-11-1, Chahal 8-0-27-1, Thakral 7-1-36-1, Jayant 7-1-22-0, Sindhu 3-0-7-0.
Published – February 01, 2025 07:16 pm IST
