CHENNAI: Over the past two seasons, one of the talking points of the Karnataka team has been the form of Karun Nair. The 30-year-old’s last century in the competition before Thursday came against Saurashtra in the semifinals in December 2017. On a warm day at the Chemplast cricket ground here, Karun announced his return to form with an unbeaten 267-ball 152 (21x4; 1x6) to pull Karnataka out of the rut.
Karun, fondly called ‘kulla’ (the short one), stood tall among the ruins, as Karnataka, who opted to bat first against Jammu and Kashmir on a flat track and lightning outfield, made a hash of the opportunity to finish the first day on 268/8. The other batsman to redeem himself was R Samarth (45).
Karun was far from rusty despite having missed the opening fixture after he tested positive for Covid-19. It was, in fact, the Karun of the old times, batting with intent and flair.
Opener Devdutt Padikkal (8) was the first to go with Abdul Samad latching on to a low single-handed catch at slips off Mujtaba Yousuf. This brought Karun to the crease in the third over and for the next 87 overs, he batted with controlled aggression, middling the ball and timing his shots well.
Karun made his intent clear when he opened the account with a cut to the boundary. He scored freely against all bowlers, barring spinner Parvez Rasool (2/51), finding boundaries at will as he carved out a 98-run (166-ball) association with Samarth.
Karun punched the air and let out a sigh of relief as he brought up his century in 172 balls. With wickets tumbling at the other end, he switched gears, controlled the pace of his innings and focussed on rotating strike.
J&K, who toiled in humid conditions, pegged back the opposition batters who were found wanting in application and patience. Samarth, who was dropped by wicketkeeper Fazil Rashid off Rasool on 33, was caught by skipper Ian Chauhan off Abdul Samad.
Siddharth (16) proved an able ally to Karun during their 56-run stand but his dismissal triggered a collapse. A short-pitched delivery from Umran Malik (2/35), caught Manish Pandey (1) off guard and was taken by Shubham Pundir at second slip. BR Sharath, who replaced Sharath Srinivas in the line-up, followed his skipper while Shreyas Gopal (7) and K Gowtham (2) fell to Rasool’s spin in his successive overs.
At 209/7, Karun and Ronit More (23) rebuilt the innings with their 59-run partnership for the eighth wicket. Left-arm pacer Yousuf (2/44) was reintroduced into the attack with the new ball and he had More plumb off the last ball of the day.
Karnataka will aim to get past the 300-mark on Thursday and then hope for their bowlers to take over. An innings lead, if not a victory, is crucial for them to stay in contention for a knockout berth.
SCOREBOARD
Karnataka (Ist innings): R Samarth c Chauhan b Samad 45, Devdutt Padikkal c Samad b Yousuf 8, Karun Nair (batting) 152, KV Siddharth c Chauhan b Malik 16, Manish Pandey c Pundir b Malik 1, BR Sharath lbw Nabi 11, Shreyas Gopal st Rashid b Rasool 7, K Gowtham c Samad b Rasool 2, Ronit More lbw Yousuf 23. Extras (LB-1; W-2) 3. Total (for 8 wkts; 90 overs) 268.
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-108, 3-164, 4-166, 6-190, 6-205, 7-209, 8-268.
Bowling: Auqib Navi 18-4-52-1, Mujtaba Yousuf 15-2-44-2, Umran Malik 12-1-35-2, Abid Mushtaq 14-5-53-0, Parvez Rasool 25-9-51-2, Abdul Samad 6-0-32-1.
