K’taka on the verge of registering innings win

Manjunath Hadimani | NT

Karnataka dominate the proceedings, limiting Puducherry to 62 for four wickets after forcing the follow-on on day three of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match in Chennai.

With rain playing hide and seek, Puducherry’s players could be relieved as they don’t have to face more Karnataka bowlers.

Karnataka bowlers were on target, making life hard for the Pondy batters.

With a match in hand to be saved, skipper Rohith and ex-Karnataka player now representing Pondy, Pavan Deshpande is at the crease with the responsibility to see through the entire day.

Resuming day three on 52 for two, Rohith (100r, 133b, 4*15, 6*2) was a standout performer scoring an unbeaten hundred at the end of the first innings. With no support from the other end Rohith held one end firmly, scoring at a reasonable rate to complete his gutsy second ton in the first-class cricket. Except for Rohit, Pondicher ry’s batters couldn’t get going with the bat as Karnataka bowlers kept posing questions with the wickets to end the innings on 241.

Gowtham (5/86), fondly known as ‘Bhajji’ in the team, bamboozled the Pondy batters with five-for.

A day of play is left and with rain is expected, the match which is looking like a cakewalk for Karnataka might end up playing a spoilsport.

Brief scores: Karnataka: 453 for 8 declared in 132.2 overs vs Pondicherry: 241 all out in 77.4 overs [Pavan Deshpande 29, Rohit D 100* (133 balls, 15 X 4, 2 X 6), Sagar V Trivedi 29, Prasidh M Krishna 2/42, Vidyadhar Patil 2/41, Gowtham K 5/86] and 2nd Innings: 62 for 4 in 23 overs [Pavan Deshpande 3*, Rohit D 10*, Prasidh M Krishna 2/31]