The mood in the Mumbai camp was that of somber. There were questions whether the 39-time Ranji champions could repeat the magic the way they did against Rajasthan. A similar stage is set. Karnataka have piled up a huge first innings total — 635/9 declared — on flat track with good bounce. Their attack is matured and dangerous. On top of it, their bowlers are in form. Will Mumbai be able to grab those three points?
Overnight batsman Manish Pandey’s unbeaten 200 and southpaw Amit Verma’s clever 173 saw the visitors reach the big total. Blame it on the track or lack of wicket-taking abilities, Mumbai, one wicket down at 37, have a huge task in their hands. One of their most reliable batsmen and skipper Wasim Jaffer is back in the pavilion. The onus lies on the young brigade — Ajinkya Rahane, Abhishek Nayar and Rohit Sharma. Rahane and Sharma can do well to justify their inclusion in the Test squad.
Earlier in the day, Karnataka batsmen made a mockery of an experienced Mumbai bowling. Pandey, who had to retire due to cramps on Day One, came and hammered a double century. Verma, too, put a up commendable show scoring a brilliant 173. Coming down the order, Abhimanyu Mithun milked a mediocre attack. He hit a quickfire 45 that included four sixes. Such was Mumbai’s misery that three bowlers conceded over 100 runs.
Scorecard
Karnataka 1st innings (O/N: 316/5) MK Pandey not out 200, Amit Verma st Gurav b Powar 173, C Gautam lbw b Iqbal Abdulla 11, S Binny lbw b Iqbal Abdulla 2, R Vinay Kumar b Powar 57, A Mithun c Jaffer b Chavan 45, S Aravind c Rahane b Chavan 0, KP Appanna not out 0
Extras: (LB5, W2, NB8) 15
Total: (9 wickets decl; 165.2 overs) 635
FoW: 6-387, 7-544, 8-613 9-615
Bowling: A Agarkar 25-9-87-0, D Kulkarni 25-4-78-1 (W1), I Abdulla 34-3-130-2, A Nayar 17-3-41-1 (W1), R Powar 32-3-150-2 (NB8), A Chavan 27.2-2-115-3, S Yadav 3-0-19-0, R Sharma 2-0-10-0
Mumbai 1st innings
A Rahane batting 23, W Jaffer lbw b Vinay Kumar 0, A Nayar batting 14
Extras: 0
Total: (1 wicket; 12 overs) 37
FoW: 1-3
Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 5-2-16-1, A Mithun 4-0-14-0, KP Appanna 2-1-1-0, S Aravind 1-0-6-0
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