Pandey shines as K’taka dominate

NT Correspondent

Karnataka piled up 453 for 8 before declaring their first innings against Pondicherry on the second day of their Ranji Trophy elite group C match on Friday.

Karnataka then reduced Pondicherry to 52 for 2 at stumps with Prasidh Krishna and Vidyadhar Patil picking up a wicket apiece.

Captain Manish Pandey (107 not out, 161 balls) joined Devdutt Padikkal as century-maker as the Karnataka batters got the runs easily. Padikkal, who was batting on 161 at the end of day 1, could add only 17 more runs before Ashith had him caught behind. After the exit of Padikkal, Pandey kept going despite wickets falling around him. He found an able ally in Vidyadhar Patil (25) with whom he added 56 runs for the eighth wicket to swell the total.

When Pondicherry batted, Patil broke through by getting K Aravind for 13 before Krishna dismissed Sagar Udeshi (2).

Pondicherry trail by 401 runs at the end of the second day as Karnataka looked to pile on the pressure.

In the other match of the group, Railways grabbed the advantage against Jammu & Kashmir by taking the first innings lead. Railways ended the day at 297 for 8 in reply to J&K’s score of 259. Pratham Singh, with a knock of 75, led the way for the Railways while there were contributions from Shivam Chaudhary (47) and captain Karn Sharma (36). Left-arm pace bowler Abid Mushtaq picked up 5 for 72 to keep the opposition batters in check.

Brief Scores: Karnataka 453 for 8 declared in 132.2 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 178, Manish Pandey 107 not out, K V Siddharth 85, Ashith Rajiv four for 80) vs Pondicherry 52 for 2 in 18 overs.