Karun’s unbeaten ton propels K’taka amid mini-collapse

Manjunath Hadimani | NT

Karun Nair, who was going through a lean patch, scored an unbeaten ton (152r, 267b, 4*21, 6*1) and announced his entry in style with his fighting innings which helped Karnataka post 268 for 8 against Jammu & Kashmir on day 1 of the Ranji Trophy match in Chennai on Thursday.

After Karnataka won the toss and elected to bat, they lost Devdutt Padikkal (8) early to Mujtaba Yousuf (2 for 44). Samarth 45 (74b, 4*5) and Karun steadied the innings by adding on a 98-run partnership for the second wicket.

K V Siddharth, who hit a century in the opening match against Railways, helped Nair add 56 runs for the third wicket.

However, the dismissal of Siddharth sparked a mini-collapse as Karnataka slipped from 164 for 2 to 209 for 7 after losing Shreyas Gopal (7) and K Gowtham (2) to the veteran spinner Parvez Rasool (2 for 51). Losing the in-form Manish Pandey for a mere 1(9b) was a big blow for Karnataka.

While the wickets kept crumbling, Karun, who grew in confidence and was on the lookout for runs, held one end.

Ronit More 23 (59b, 4*2) came out as a surprise with the bat, adding a crucial 59-run stand for the 8the wicket. More, who batted resolutely, fell LBW to Yousuf off the last ball of the day.

J&K had a satisfactory outing with the ball as almost every bowler contributed with a wicket or two. The 30-year-old Karun Nair, who missed the first game against Railways as he was down with Covid, holds the key if Karnataka has to reach a total of 300 in the first innings. With just Vidyadhar Patil and Prasidh Krishna left to bat, he should ideally take most of the strike.

Brief scores: Day 1: Karnataka 268/8 in 90 overs (R Samarth 45, Karun Nair 152* (267b, 21x4, 1x6), Mujtaba Yousuf 2/44, Umran Malik 2/35, Parvez Rasool 2/51).