On the rain-interrupted second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B clash between Karnataka and Goa, Karun Nair achieved his landmark 25th first-class century with a towering knock to take his team to a strong position.
The Test batsman, who didn't make the cut for the England tour, made a blazing comeback with a 174 not out off 267 balls.
Karnataka completed a total of 371 runs in their first innings, after they resumed the innings from 222 for five overnight.
Karnataka take control as Karun Nair hits big, Goa struggles
Karun who was initially on 86 continued his innings in a very solid manner and eventually made his hundred and Vysakh Vijayakumar (31) made some valuable lower-order contributions as Karnataka went beyond 350 runs. To Goa, the fast bowlers, Arjun Tendulkar and ex-Karnataka player Vasuki Koushik, were each able to claim three wickets. After rain caused a stoppage in play, Goa had scored 28 runs for the loss of one wicket and were still 343 runs behind the hosts, going into the third day.
In another match of the Elite Group B, opener Yash Dubey played a calm innings of 109 not out off 236 balls and helped Madhya Pradesh become stable against Saurashtra at Rajkot as they reached 195 for four. MP's first innings, which had started from 258 for eight, had ended with a collapse of early session for 260, as Aryan Pandey and Kumar Kartikeya took four wickets each.
The opening pair of Dubey and Gawli not only laid a solid foundation but also racked up 87 runs before Gawli was dismissed by the experienced pacer Jaidev Unadkat. Later Himanshu Mantri and Dubey put together 64 runs for the second wicket before Shubham Sharma and Mantri came to bat. Even though Mantri and skipper Shubham Sharma were run out in a hurry, Harpreet Singh got out at the end of the day which gave Saurashtra time to regain their lost ground.
(With PTI inputs)
