Agarwal’s unbeaten century, Karnataka’s 229 for five against Saurashtra

Skipper Mayank Agarwal struck an unbeaten century as Karnataka recovered from a poor start against Saurashtra to post 229 for five in their first innings on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy semi-final here on Wednesday. Batting after losing the toss, Karnataka lost five wickets for 112 runs in 40.3 overs. Opener Agarwal (110 not out) and wicket-keeper batsman Srinivas Sharath (58 not out) stitched an unbroken 117-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

Agarwal hit 11 fours and a six in his 246-ball innings while Sharath hit four fours in his 143-ball innings. For Saurashtra, right-arm pacer Kushang Patel took two wickets while Chetan Sakaria and Prerak Mankad took one wicket each. A batsman was run out. Karnataka did not start well and the team lost the wicket of opener Ravikumar Samarth (03) in the sixth over itself, who caught Vishvaraj Jadeja off the bowling of Patel.

Devdutt Padikkal (09), who landed at number three, was also caught by Sheldon Jackson in the ninth over off Sakaria’s bowling. Aggarwal and Nikin Jose (18) added 47 runs for the third wicket. Patel broke the partnership by getting Jos caught by wicketkeeper Harvik Desai. Manish Pandey also fell to Mankad after scoring seven runs while Shreyas Gopal (15) was run out as Karnataka were reduced to 112 for five. Agarwal and Sharath then batted with composure and kept the Saurashtra bowlers from success for the rest of the day’s play.