The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Karnataka gunning for full points

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Tuesday, Jan 10, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Karnataka gunning for full points

Special Correspondent

Gujarat will be looking to avoid relegation

Ahmedabad: Karnataka, in line for a Ranji Trophy semifinal spot, will pull out all stops to outwit Gujarat and earn full points when the two sides clash here in their Elite Group `A' encounter in the seventh and final round of the championship at the Motera here on Tuesday.

Uncertainty surrounded Karnataka's progress in the championship, with its batting and bowling being far from convincing and consistent. It appeared as though Mumbai and Bengal would make it easily into the semifinals. But last week's sixth round results opened up the group, thanks largely due to the effective combination of veteran spinners, Anil Kumble and Sunil Joshi. Karnataka beat Delhi hollow and jumped to the second position at 12 points behind leader Mumbai. Full points in this match will earn Karnataka a semifinal berth, but if it gets just two points and Tamil Nadu and Bengal win with a bonus point each from their respective matches, then the three teams will be tied at 14 points each.

Lucky

Quite clearly Karnataka was lucky to have the services of India's leading bowler in Test cricket for the crucial match against Delhi for which Virender Sehwag had volunteered in order to spend some meaningful time in the middle.

Anil Kumble got into the act straightaway breaking the back of the opponent. He and Joshi took 15 wickets to garner Karnataka four points. Joshi had struggled for wickets in four previous outings, but operating in tandem with Kumble, he struck it rich with a haul of nine wickets.

They, however, will not be available for Karnataka in its last league match. The home team too, struggling to avoid relegation to the Plate Group, is without Parthiv Patel (selected for the Pakistan tour).

Gujarat is pleased the way things have turned out for Parthiv this season, but is not happy at the prospect of being relegated to the Plate Group. There's also some uncertainty about left hand batsman Niraj Patel taking the field. He split the webbing of his top hand while fielding in the second innings against Mumbai.

Coach Anshuman Gaekwad said, "he's dilly dallying, but I have asked him to prepare himself mentally for the match." Gujarat has recalled opening batsman Akash Christian and Kirat Damani for the do-or-die match.

The teams (from): Karnataka: Sujith Somasunder (captain), Robin Uthappa, B. Rowland, B. Chipli, Thilak Naidu, S. Shinde, B. Akhil, Deepak Chougule, Sunil Joshi, R. Vinaykumar, Dodda Ganesh, C. Raghu, C. Raghavendra, N.C. Aiyappa and Stuart Binny.

Gujarat: Mukund Parmar (captain), Nilesh Modi, Niraj Patel, Hitesh Majmudar, Akash Christian, Kirat Damani, Azharuddin Bilakhia, Siddharth Trivedi, Jayesh Makla, Asraf Makda, B. Solanki, Hem Joshipura, Hemal Watekar, A. Brahmabhatt and Amit Singh. Umpires: Messrs Vijay Chopra and Satish Gupta.

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