Bowlers rule the roost in day two of Karnataka-UP match

Meerut: On a day dominated by the bowlers, Abhmanyu Mithun`s five-wicket haul put Karnataka on the driver`s seat against Uttar Pradesh at the end of the second day of the Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match here today.

Mithun (5/63) ran through the UP line-up to reduce the hosts to at 214 for eight at stumps on day two after Karnataka had added 33 runs to their overnight score to be all out for 405.

Manish Pandey (194) too could not add to his overnight score and missed his maiden double century by six runs.

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (4/109) and Shalabh Srivastava (4/76) were in great form, dismissing the last five Karnataka batsmen for just 33 runs.

Uttar Pradesh, however, lost wickets at regular intervals with Mithun doing the bulk of the damage, ably supported by R Vinay Kumar (2/51) and off-spinner Udit Patel (1/31).

For UP, opener Tanmay Srivastava (30), Ravikant Shukla (27) and Parvinder Singh (32) did show some sparks in the top-order but failed to capitalise on their starts.

Wicket-keeper Mohammad Amir Khan (50 not out) and Praveen Gupta (21 not out) came to UP`s rescue, sharing a valuable unbeaten 57-run stand for the ninth wicket to ensure the hosts crossed the 200-run mark.

Earlier, yesterday`s hero Pandey failed to add to his overnight score as Shalabh Srivastava dismissed the right-hander with the fourth ball of the day.

Balachandra Akhil too was a disappointment as he added just one run to his overnight score before nicking a Kumar delivery to Khan.

From there on, Karnataka lost wickets in a hurry as UP bowlers` ruled the roost to eventually bundle out the visitors 405 in 103. overs.

Brief Scores:

Karnataka: (Overnight 372) 405 all out in 103 overs (Manish Pandey 194, Rahul Dravid 97; Bhuvaneshwar Kumar 4/109, Shalabh Srivastava 4/76).

Uttar Pradesh: 214 for five in 75 overs (Amir Khan 50 not out, Parvinder Singh 32, Tanmay Srivastava 30; A Mithun 5/63, R Vinay Kumar 2/51).

Bureau Report