Seamers put Karnataka on top by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Ground:	Gangothri Glades Cricket Ground, Mysore
Scorecard:	Karnataka v Mumbai
Player:	R Vinay Kumar, A Mithun, VR Samant
Event:	Ranji Trophy 2009/10

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DateLine: 11th January 2010

 

New ball bowlers for Karnataka R Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun wrecked Mumbai with seven scalps between them as Karnataka held the edge after the opening day exchange in the Ranji Trophy final.

 

Vinay Kumar (4/61) and Abhimanyu Mithun (3/56) led the rout as Mumbai folded up for 233 in their first innings. In reply, Karnataka were 15 for one at stumps, having lost skipper Robin Uthappa (9, 11 balls, 1x4) to Dhawal Kulkarni in the fourth over of their innings. KB Pawan (2, 19 balls) and night watchman Vinay Kumar (2, 14 balls) were at the crease at close of play.

 

Jaffer won the toss and the Mumbai skipper misread the wicket as he elected to bat first. Earlier, Vinay Kumar, the leading wicket-taker of this season, struck three blows to leave Mumbai reeling. Kumar removed Sahil Kukreja (0, 3 balls), skipper Jaffer (3, 8 balls) and Ajinkya Rahane (14, 15 balls, 3x4) in quick succession as Mumbai was gasping for breath.

 

Mumbai then recovered through a 64-run partnership between Khanvilkar (25, 60 balls, 4x4) and Nayyar (37, 75 balls, 5x4) before pace sensation Abhimanyu Mithun disrupted the recovery process. Two express deliveries Mithun located the stumps twice to send back Khanvilkar and Nayyar as Mumbai got reduced to 100 for 5.

 

Once Agarkar (6, 8 balls, 1x4) departed Mumbai hardly looked like crossing the 150 run mark. But keeper Vinayak Samant made a gutsy 67 coupled with useful contributions from Ramesh Powar (23, 70 balls, 2x4), Iqbal Abdulla (30, 23 balls, 5x4) and Dhawal Kulkarni (20, 55 balls, 3x4) to take the final score to 233. Samant batted with admirable gumption to reconstruct a shattered Mumbai innings. He mixed aggression with caution to raise 127 invaluable runs in the company of the lower order batsmen.