Agarwal leads Karnataka’s reply after Kerala post 342 in 1st innings

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 18 (PTI) Skipper Mayank Agarwal hit an unbeaten 87 to lead Karnataka, in reply to Kerala’s 342 in the first innings on day two of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match here on Wednesday.

Resuming at the overnight 224 for 6, the home team added 118 more runs to the total with the experienced Jalaj Saxena scoring a crucial half-century (57).

Sachin Baby, who was batting on 113 at stumps on day 1, moved to 141 before becoming leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal’s second wicket.

Though Baby and Saxena were dismissed before Kerala reached 300, skipper Sijomon Joseph (24) with help from No.11 Nidheesh MD (22, 2x4s, 1×6) made sure the team made 342.

It was a good recovery from Kerala after being reduced to six for three, thanks to Baby’s third ton of the ongoing Ranji season and Saxena’s knock.

India Test discard Agarwal then overcame the early loss of fellow opener R Samarth (0) to forge an 89-run stand for the second wicket with Devdutt Padikkal (29) to lay a good foundation for the visiting team.

Agarwal hit four boundaries and three sixes in his unbeaten 87 as Karnataka finished the day at 137 for 2, still trailing Kerela by 205 runs.

Brief scores:

In Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala 342 all out in 130.1 overs (Sachin Baby 141, Jalaj Saxena 57, Vathsal Govind 46; V Koushik 6/54) vs Karnataka 137 for 2 in 49 overs (Mayank Agarwal 87 batting, Devdutt Padikkal 29).

In Puducherry: Pondicherry 231 all out in 91.4 overs (K B Arun Karthick 68, Paras K Dogra 68, Aravind K 31; Ashish Kumar 3/34, Anukul Roy 3/78) vs Jharkhand 250 for 3 in 84 overs (Virat Singh 79 batting, Saurabh Tiwary 58 batting, Kumar Suraj 45; Sagar P Udeshi 3/93).

In New Delhi: Services 175 all out in 59.2 overs (Pulkit Nagar 52, L S Kumar 32; Vijesh Prabhudesai 3/39) vs Goa 281 for 5 in 18 overs (KD Eknath 85 batting 180, Manthan Khutkar 82, Darshan Misal 58 batting; Pulkit Narang 3/77).

In Jodhpur: Rajasthan 360 all out in 93 overs (Samarpit Joshi 123, Mahipal Lomror 47, MJ Suthar 64 not out, SS Dhiwan 41; Ravi Kiran 4/108, Vasudev Bareth 3/68) vs Chhattisgarh 198 for 9 in 77 overs (Ajay Mandal 48, Vasudev Bareth 42; Aniket Choudhary 4/25, MJ Suthar 3/45).