Karnataka extended its lead to a mammoth 663 runs on day three of the Col. C. K. Nayudu (U-23) Trophy final against Uttar Pradesh at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday.
Having batted through the day, Karnataka reached 444 for five at stumps, and chose not to declare despite reaching a total that UP will find nigh impossible to chase with just three sessions left.
The star was one-drop K.V. Aneesh (171 batting, 221b, 18x4, 3x6), whose excellent innings included strokes all around the ground, with the brilliant upper-cut for a six over third-man off medium-pacer Aaqib Khan when on 96 the stand-out shot.
Earlier, from an overnight 91 for no loss, Karnataka was chugging along merrily until Prakar Chaturvedi (86, 143b, 9x4, 3x6) was dismissed by left-arm spinner Shubham Mishra with the score on 144.
The next big partnership was between Aneesh and skipper R. Smaran (40, 66b, 3x4), who put on 120 runs for the third wicket. The partnership ended when the faster bowlers started operating in tandem after long spells of spin. Aaqib was the beneficiary as Smaran played on to his stumps.
Aneeshwar Gautam was run out after a misunderstanding with Aneesh before first-innings centurion Yashovardhan Parantap was caught and bowled by Kunal Tyagi. Kruthik Krishna (34 batting, 53b, 5x4) then added 69 unbeaten runs with Aneesh to flatten the visitors.
The scores: Karnataka 358 & 444 for five in 121 overs in 121 overs (MacNeil H. Noronha 79, Prakar Chaturvedi 86, K.V. Aneesh 171 batting, R. Smaran 40) vs. Uttar Pradesh 139.
