GUWAHATI, Oct 3 - Assam facing daunting task against defending champions Karnataka in their Group A Ranji Trophy match.
On the penultimate day of the four-day encounter at the Barsapara stadium here today, requiring 388 for an outright victory in the second innings, Assam were 30 for one.
Resuming their second innings at the overnight total of 77 for no loss, after conceding a thin 7-run first innings lead, the visitors amassed 394 for the loss of eight wickets before declaring the innings.
At stumps Assam were 30 for one with opener Sib Sankar Roy back to the pavilion after being trapped leg before by left-arm spinner Jagadeesha Suchith for 8.
The Karnata batsmen continued their yesterday's devastating form and started hammering the Assam bowlers from the morning session itself. Opener Ravikumar Samarth was in tremendous form who smacked 131 off 199 deliveries with 12 hits to the fence. His 319-minute knock proved to be the backbone of the Karnataka innings. His opening partner Mayank Agarwal (47) provided him able support and the pair added 99 runs off 26. 1 overs. Almost all the Karnataka batsmen were among runs while going for quick rotation of the scoreboard.
On the otherhand the Assam bowlers, J Syed Mohammad in particular, were not in right form today as they were in the first innings.
Now Assam has to bat for whole day tomorrow and the batsmen have to appear in an acid test against the seasoned Karnataka spinners. It may not be an easy task as the visiting captain will definitely adopt attacking tactics from the morning session onwards. All the Assam batsmen have to show their character and apply their techniques for countering the opponent spinners in particular.
SCORECARD
Karnataka 1st innings: 187
Assam 1st innings: 194.
Karnataka 2nd innings (overnight 77/0) R Samarth c Tarjinder Singh b Sarupam Purkayastha 131 (199 12), MA Agarwal c sub AS Sinha b Syed Mohammad 47, Robin Uthappa c Pallav Das b Sarupam Purkayastha 18, SA Bhavane lbw b Sarupam Purkayastha 40, KK Nair c Tarjinder Singh b Amit Verma 34, CM Gautam c sub BS Chetri b Syed Mohammad 44, S Gopal run out 41, R Vinay Kumar b Arup Das 1, J Suchith not out 24, A Mithun not out 2. Extras: (b 7, lb 5) 12. Total: (8 wickets dec; 94 overs) 394. Fall of wickets: 1-99, 2-145, 3-226, 4-277, 5-290, 6-358, 7-363, 8-369. Bowling: Arup Das 10-0-48-1, Krishna Das 12-2-64-0, J Syed Mohammad 29-4-91-2, Abu Nechim Ahmed 10-0-39-0, Amit Verma 12-0-54-1, Sarupam Purkayastha 17-1-78-3, Gokul Sharma 4-0-8-0.
Assam 2nd innings (target: 388 runs) Pallav Das batting 21, Sib Sankar Roy lbw b Suchith 8. Extras: (lb 1) 1; Total: (1 wicket; 11.1 overs) 30. Fall of wickets: 1-30. Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 4-2-6-0, A Mithun 2-0-9-0, J Suchith 1.1-0-3-1, KK Nair 2-0-7-0, HS Sharath 2-1-4-0.
