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Saturday, Jan 07, 2006

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Karnataka scores another win

Principal Correspondent

Host defeats Delhi by 167 runs, inches closer to second spot

Bangalore: Karnataka inched closer to the second spot in Group A after defeating Delhi by 167 runs in a Ranji Trophy Elite Division match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday. Karnataka gained four points and has a tally of 12 from six matches, while Delhi stays with six from six matches.

With just one more round to go in the league phase, Karnataka is in contention for a semifinal berth along with current group topper Mumbai, while Delhi has slumped to the bottom-half of the draw and has to contend with the relegation bogey. Tamil Nadu and Bengal, with nine points each, also have a chance to jostle for the crucial second spot and secure a semifinal berth, but it depends on the two teams scoring emphatic victories in their respective final round matches.

Karnataka raced to its second successive victory in the current league after it declared its second innings at 280 for eight and set a target of 306 in 69 overs for Delhi. The fourth and final day's play proved to be a one-sided story as Delhi was bowled out for 138.

Good beginning

Opener Shikhar Dhawan was snapped up by a diving Kumble at gully off seamer Vinay Kumar. Dhawan hinted that the ball flew off his pad but his dismissal in the very second delivery of the Delhi second innings, charged up the Karnataka fielders.

Delhi skipper Virender Sehwag walked in at number three, indulged in a few booming drives and while attempting another expansive lofted drive, inner-edged Akhil onto his stumps.

Sehwag's exit left Delhi struggling with a lunch score of 40 for two while opener Akash Chopra (37) tried hard to keep the innings afloat.

Post-lunch, it was time for Kumble and Sunil Joshi to strike and they did that at regular intervals to leave the visitors stranded. Kumble ripped one through Mithun Manhas's attempted on-drive to rattle the stumps.

Smashing start

A touch of drama soon unfolded as Rajat Bhatia, walking in on a pair, slammed his first delivery bowled by Kumble into the western stands for a massive six. Kumble, however, had his revenge soon as his flipper knocked back the stumps while Bhatia played on the back-foot.

Joshi then stepped in and scalped Chopra, though the edge actually scraped the turf before nestling in Shinde's palms at silly point. An upset Chopra stormed away but the damage was done and the rest succumbed to some across-the-line hoicks. The final nails were driven in by N.C. Aiyappa's reverse-swinging deliveries that castled C. Nanda and Kunal Lal to usher in Karnataka's triumph.

In their next round matches commencing on January 10, Karnataka will clash with Gujarat, while Delhi will meet Tamil Nadu.

The scores:

Karnataka — 1st innings: 283.

Delhi — 1st innings: 258.

Karnataka — 2nd innings: R. Uthappa c Shikhar b Nanda 20, B. Chipli lbw C. Nanda 36, Barrington b Nanda 0, S. Shinde b Sehwag 16, S. Somasundar c & b Sehwag 54, Thilak c Varun Kumar b A. Sharma 58, B. Akhil b Amit Bhandari 47, S. Joshi c A. Chopra b Kunal Lal 25, A. Kumble (not out) 9. Extras (b-1, lb-3, nb-11) 15. Total: (for eight decl. in 93.4 overs) 280.

Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-43, 3-63, 4-94, 5-165, 6-224, 7-265, 8-280.

Delhi bowling: A. Bhandari 10-1-45-1, Kunal 5.4-1-18-1, C. Nanda 26-4-76-3, Sehwag 24-6-63-2, Manhas 1-0-3-0, Abhishek Sharma 23-3-67-1, R. Bhatia 4-1-4-0.

Delhi — 2nd innings: S. Dhawan c Kumble b Vinay 0, Akash Chopra c Shinde b Joshi 37, V. Sehwag b Akhil 18, M. Manhas b Kumble 31, R. Bhatia b Kumble 8, M. Tehlan c Robin b Kumble 7, V. Kumar c Uthappa b Joshi 15, A. Sharma c Akhil b Joshi 2, C. Nanda b N.C. Aiyappa 11, Kunal Lal b N.C. Aiyappa 3, A. Bhandari (not out) 1. Extras (b-1, lb-1, nb-3) 5. Total: (all out in 60.4 overs) 138.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-28, 3-77, 4-85, 5-102, 6-106, 7-122, 8-124, 9-137.

Karnataka bowling: Vinay Kumar 4-1-13-1, N.C. Aiyappa 5.4-0-20-2, B. Akhil 3-2-8-1, S. Joshi 24-9-24-3, A. Kumble 23-8-63-3, Shinde 1-0-8-0.

Other scores: Elite group: At Ahmedabad: Gujarat 200 and 220 in 83.4 overs (Niraj Patel 72, Ramesh Powar six for 65) lost to Mumbai 207 and 214 for two (Sushant Marathe 64, Vinit Indulkar 72 not out, Amol Muzumdar 43 not out). Mumbai 4, Gujarat 0.

At New Delhi: Maharashtra 237 and 230 for nine decl. in 94 overs (Abhijit Kale 111 not out, Madan Yadav four for 105) drew with Railways 140 and 110 for five in 56 overs (Vineet Saxena 43). Mah 2, Railways 0.

Baroda 449 for four decl. and 35 for no loss drew with Services 388 in 132.1 overs (M.P. Reddy 51, Jasvir Singh 67, Sarabjit Singh 46). Baroda 2, Services 0.

At Kolkata: Tamil Nadu 218 and 423 for 7 decl. beat Bengal 145 and 274 in 68.1overs (Sourav Ganguly 88, Deep Dasgupta 47, R. Jesuraj six for 76). Points: TN 4, Bengal 0.

At Visakhapatnam: Punjab 316 and 185 for seven decl. in 48 overs (Reetinder Sodhi 45) drew with Andhra 273 and 166 for six in 77 overs (M.S.K. Prasad 46). Punjab 2, Andhra 0.

At Lucknow: Hyderabad 142 and 227 lost to Uttar Pradesh 340 and 32 for no loss in 9.4 overs. UP 4, Hyderabad 0.

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