Karnataka managed to eke out a 29-run victory over Tripura on the final day of its Ranji Trophy Group-C match at the Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium here on Monday.
Chasing 193, the host, starting from its overnight score of 59 for three, was bowled out for 163. The six points thus earned helped Karnataka get its campaign back on track after two below-par outings against Gujarat and Goa (three points combined).
The experienced Sudip Chatterjee, formerly of Bengal, waged a lone battle (82, 144b, 10x4), but did not receive adequate support from the likes of Ganesh Satish (22), Wriddhiman Saha (0) and Bikramjit Debnath (9).
Batting early in the morning has proved difficult all match but Chatterjee and Ganesh gave Tripura more than a glimmer of hope by adding 30 runs from the first 7.2 overs of the day.
Vidwath Kaverappa (four for 44) provided the breakthrough for the visitors, breaching Ganesh’s defence and then having Debnath caught behind by Sharath Srinivas. Sandwiched between these two dismissals was the run out of Wriddhiman Saha as Tripura slumped to 103 for six.
Fellow pacer V. Vyshak then excised Mura Singh and Parvez Sultan to leave Tripura at 133 for eight. When Kaverappa removed Rana Datta, the scoreboard read 138 for nine and there was only one plausible result.
But Tripura did not give up, as Chatterjee and Abhijit Sarkar put on 25 runs to send a few jitters. However, R. Samarth ran out Chatterjee to bring the curtain down.
“We were confident [of the win],” said Karnataka coach P.V. Shashikanth. “We had three good pacers to do the job for us and we succeeded.
“It was a relatively new side, with four debutants, and they gelled well with the seniors. The way Kishan Bedare batted (62 and 42), it seemed like he was a seasoned pro. So overall happy.”
Mayank Agarwal and his wards are now tied with Tamil Nadu on points atop Group-C (15 each), and will next travel to Surat to play Railways from February 2.
The scores:
Karnataka —1st innings: 241.
Tripura —1st innings: 200.
Karnataka —2nd innings: 151.
Tripura —2nd innings: Bishal Ghosh lbw b Koushik 5, Bikram Kumar Das lbw b Kaverappa 2, Sridam Paul c Sharath b Vyshak 21, Sudip Chatterjee (run out) 82, Ganesh Satish b Kaverappa 22, Wriddhiman Saha (run out) 0, Bikramjit Debnath c Sharath b Kaverappa 9, Mura Singh lbw b Vyshak 8, Parvez Sultan c Aneesh b Vyshak 1, Rana Datta b Kaverappa 1, Abhijit Sarkar (not out) 4; Extras (b-4, lb-2, nb-2): 8; Total (in 55.2 overs): 163.
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-14, 3-50, 4-89, 5-90, 6-103, 7-119, 8-133, 9-138.
Karnataka bowling: Kaverappa 22-6-44-4, Koushik 17-3-41-1, Vyshak 14.2-2-62-3, Kishan 1-0-9-0, Shashikumar 1-0-1-0.
