Youngsters slam a ton each on a batting beauty to put Karnataka on top against Tamil Nadu on Day Two
Tamil Nadu wasted all their good efforts of taking four early wickets on Sunday evening by letting Karnataka walk away with a huge first innings lead.
On Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy final at the Wankhede on Monday, defending champions Karnataka placed themselves in a position from where they cannot even think of losing. Replying to TN's 134, the seven-time champions were comfortably placed at 323/5, already up by 189 runs.
Putting them in such a position were two young batsmen, one having made his century in only his second Test while the other took the best opportunity to post his maiden century of the season.
KL Rahul continued his dream run with the willow to stay unbeaten on 131 (214b, 13x4, 1x6) while the more patient Karun Nair was on 130* (295b, 19x4), the two already sharing 239 for the unbroken sixth wicket.
Resuming at 45/4, Karnataka saw off the initial overs before settling down to bat the whole day. Only one wicket, that of nightwatchman Abhimanyu Mithun, fell on the day as the pitch settled into a batting beauty and wickets were tough to come by.
Tamil Nadu lost the momentum in the morning, giving easy runs particularly to Mithun, who is only enhancing his reputation of becoming a reliable nightwatchman.
Mithun, whose career best of 89 came in the same role in the semifinal last week, went on the attack from the start, unsettling TN's strike bowler Lakshmipathi Balaji, picking him for 16 runs in his first over of the day.
Mithun's approach was something that TN batsmen ought to have adopted on Sunday against Vinay Kumar and Co.
Mithun's approach to batting made it easy for the 23-year-old right-handed Nair, who resumed at his overnight 9 to bat the whole day. Tamil Nadu used their bowlers in short spells but bore no fruit. They did not earn a single wicket on the day, and the only one to fall, that of Mithun, was a doubtful one as replays showed that the ball may have gone above the bails.
Nair and Rahul frustrated TN bowlers no end so much so that the two-time champions were left hoping for the batsmen to make mistakes.
And mistakes, they made none. Rahul, who retired hurt on Sunday for pulling his hamstring, batted with pain. He limped for his runs and was visibly in discomfort. The opportunity of scoring his second Ranji final hundred (he scored 131 against Maharashtra in Hyderabad last year) and the beautiful batting conditions made it easy for Rahul.
Though running quick was painful for the 22-year-old Rahul, who batted for two minutes less than six hours, he was at ease playing his strokes, pulling, driving and cutting, not to mention stepping out to deposit off-spinner Malolan Rangarajan into the Sachin Tendulkar Stand for the lone six of the innings.
Nair, who batted for 7 hours and 14 minutes, exhibited patience of the highest order along with Rahul to nearly seal the title in Karnataka's favour.
With three days remaining and Karnataka desirous of batting the whole day on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu will have to come up with something different rather than hope for wickets to fall.
Scoreboard
Tamil Nadu (1st innings): 134
Karnataka (1st innings, o/n: 45/4): K Rahul (batting) 131, K Nair (batting) 130, A Mithun lbw b Rangarajan 39
Extras (2LB, 1NB) 3
Total (for 5 wkts, 99 overs) 323
Fall of wickets: 4-31 (Pandey), 5-84 (Mithun)
Bowling: P Parameswaran 16-4-53-1 (1NB), L Balaji 24-4-68-3, A Crist 17-1-64-0, M Rangarajan 16-1-63-1, V Shankar 13-2-24-0, B Aparajith 9-0-34-0, Baba Indrajith 2-0-8-0, M Vijay 2-0-7-0
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