Bengaluru, Mar 20: Karnataka put up a much improved batting effort in their second innings to lead Rest of India (ROI) by 321 runs on day three of Irani Cup at Bengaluru on Thursday.
Ravikumar Samarth (81), Karun Nair (80) and Manish Pandey (73 not out) guided the Ranji Trophy champions to 341 for six after resuming the day at 39 for no loss at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Pandey’s unbeaten 52-run partnership with captain Vinay Kumar (28 not out) towards the close of play further frustrated Rest of India. Both Pandey and Vinay had luck on their side as they were dropped on 50 and six respectively.
Samarth, who opened in place of Uthappa, played a fine innings comprising 10 fours. Change in position did not work for Uthappa as he chopped one on to his stumps off pacer Varun Aaron. He had made 10 in the first innings at the top of the order.
Nair and Pandey stitched an important 106-run stand for the fifth-wicket. The in-form Nair score his second fifty of the game, collecting 12 fours in his 123 ball knock.
Wickets of Nair and Shreyas Gopal in the final session would have made Rest of India feel a bit better after toiling through the day.
Brief scores:
Karnataka 244 (Mayank Agarwal 68; Varun Aaron 6 for 63) and and 341 for 6 in 93 overs (Ravikumar Samarth 81, Karun Nair 80, Manish Pandey 73*; Varun Aaron 2 for 85, Pragyan Ojha 2 for 93) lead Rest of India 264 (Kedar Jadhav 78; Abhimanyu Mithun 3 for 46) by 321 runs.
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