Shikhar, Manvanth turn the tide
Left-arm spinner Shikhar Shetty led the turnaround with a five-wicket haul (5/54) as Karnataka bowled out Tripura for 194 with medium pacer Manvanth Kumar returning 3 for 23. Karnataka ended the day at 10/1, with Rohan Patil and Vyshak Vijaykumar at the crease. At the other end, Bikramkumar Das (53) kept the scoreboard moving as Tripura reached 88/2 at lunch.
MYSURU: There was no early morning rush from Karnataka’s bowlers, nor a concerted effort to exploit the movement on offer in the first hour. The decision to go in with three spinners and two pacers against Tripura looked questionable, and every move seemed open to second-guessing. But Karnataka eventually found their rhythm on the opening day of their Group B league fixture at the SDNRW Ground here, helped in no small measure by the visitors’ self-inflicted damage. However, the hosts were left with a familiar problem to contend with in the final over of the day. Opener Mayank Agarwal fell to hard hands, jabbing Abhijith Sarkar to Sridam Paul at second slip. There was little emphasis on bowling at the stumps. Vyshak strayed down the leg side too often, even as he employed three slips and a gully While the plan was to make the batters play. The introduction of spin in the seventh over did little to change the script, with Tripura adopting a defensive approach to negotiate the first hour. Manvanth Kumar, who bowled a good length, provided the breakthrough when Hrituraj Roy miscued a drive to wicketkeeper KL Shrijith. Babul Dey followed, edging a delivery from Manvanth that pitched outside off to Shrijith.
Earlier, after opting to bowl, Karnataka failed to make much headway with the new ball.
Sentu Sarkar (12), Bikram Debnath (33 not out) and Parvez Sultan offered some resistance through a defensive approach. Tripura (I innings): Bikramkumar Das c Karun b Vyshak 51, Hrituraj Roy c Shrijith b Manvanth 13, Babul Dey c Shrijith b Manvanth 23, Sridam Paul c Aneesh b Shreyas 7, Mandeep Singh c Manvanth b Shikhar 20, M Murasingh b Shikhar 25, Sentu Sarkar c Shrijith b Manvanth 12, Bikram Debnath (not out) 33, Parvez Sultan c Manvanth b Shikhar 2, Sandip Sarkar lbw Shikhar 2, Abhijith Sarkar lbw Shikhar 0. Extras (B-1, LB-1, WD-1, NB-3) 6. Total (all out; 82 overs) 194. Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-74, 3-92, 4-96, 5-140, 6-151, 7-167, 8-190, 9-194. Bowling: Manvanth Kumar 13-3-23-3, Vyshak Vijaykumar 15-5-29-1, Ritesh Bhatkal 17-3-50-0, Shikhar Shetty 18-4-54-5, Shreyas Gopal 18-4-34-1, Mayank Agarwal 1-0-2-0. Karnataka (I innings): Rohan Patil (batting) 9, Mayank Agarwal c Paul b Sarkar 1, Vyshak Vijaykumar (batting) 0. Total (6 overs; 1 wkt) 10 Fall of wicket: 1-10. Bowling: M Murasingh 3-1-7-0, Abhijit Sarkar 3-2-3-1.
A well-set Das fell in the first over after the break, chasing a delivery from Vyshak that moved away and edging it to Karun Nair in the slips. That was the opening Karnataka needed, as Tripura’s middle order began to unravel. Shreyas Gopal accounted for Sridam Paul, who went on the back foot against a short ball and offered a catch to KV Aneesh at first slip. Dangerman Mandeep Singh then stepped out against Shikhar, only to find Manvanth at mid-off. Skipper M Murasingh, fresh from a century in the previous match, struck a few boundaries before being undone by a Shikhar yorker that crashed into his stumps. But Manvanth dismissed Sentu before Shikhar removed Sultan, who swept the spinner only to be caught by Manvanth at fine leg. Shikhar then needed little time to clean up the tail and register his third five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.
Explaining the decision to field a spin-heavy attack, which meant leaving out pacers Vidwath Kaverappa and Abhilash Shetty, head coach R Vinay Kumar said: “The wicket is quite dry, so we thought of going with three spinners and two seamers. it’s all about the team While it was tough leaving Vidwath out.
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