Ranji Trophy final: Ganesh Satish, Lokesh Rahul shine as Karnataka take control

Hyderabad: Ganesh Satish slammed an unbeaten 117 and shared 216 runs with opener Lokesh Rahul (94 batting) as Karnataka took control of their Ranji Trophy summit clash against Maharashtra on the second day, here today.

After bundling out Maharashtra for 305, an addition of just 33 runs to their overnight 272 for five, in the first hour of the morning session today, Karnataka ended the second day on 230 for no loss in 68 overs. Karnataka are now only 75 runs behind their opponents with all their wickets intact. Everything, including luck, went in favour of Karnataka except that their opener Robin Uthappa retired hurt on 10 on team`s score of 14 in the fifth over after being hit on the left elbow by a delivery from Samad Fallah. But the other opener Rahul and one-down batsman Satish played some fine strokes and also capitalised on poor bowling and fielding by their opponents to place Karnataka in a strong position in the final match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Maharashtra bowlers toiled hard for two and half sessions on a pitch from which they did not get much purchase except in the first session during which they got some movement of the ball. They erred in line and length often and Rahul and Satish capitalised on them. Maharashtra`s woes were compounded by their poor fielding, as both Rahul and Satish were dropped twice each. Satish was dropped when on six and 89, while Rahul got lives when he was yet to open his account and on 74. Despite the initial hiccups, which saw Uthappa walking off the field, and themselves getting lives from butterfingered Maharashtra fielders, Satish and Rahul were never shy of playing strokes. Satish has hit 16 fours from the 207 balls he has faced so far, while Rahul has struck nine fours and a six from 189 balls. Maharashtra bowlers began promisingly as they got some movement of the ball as there was some moisture left on the pitch even after the first hour in the morning session. In the third over, Rahul was dropped off the bowling of Fallah in the eighth delivery he faced, though it was a tough chance. Harshad Khadiwale could get a hand on to the ball at gully but failed to get hold of it. Two overs later, Uthappa walked off the field after being hit on his left elbow by a Fallah delivery and in the ninth over Maharashtra wicketkeeper grassed an edge from Satish, who was then on six, the unfortunate being Fallah again. Karnataka score was 28 for no loss then. Maharashtra had to pay for their fielding mistakes, even as Satish and Rahul grew in confidence in the second session and denied the opposition bowlers any success in the second and final sessions of the day. Satish and Rahul scored 83 (in 26 overs) and 104 runs (28 overs) in the last two sessions on what turned out to be a grinding day for the Maharashtra bowlers. Satish was again dropped on 89 just before drinks break in the final session but shrugged it off to reach his hundred five overs later with a four off off-spinner Sangram Atitkar. Rahul carried his bat through the day and he is on the cusp of his third century this season. Earlier, after resuming on 272 for 5, Maharashtra sustained for just 14.1 overs. Ankit Bawne could not add a single run to his overnight score of 89 as he was bowled by Abhimanyu Mithun in the first ball he faced. The fullish delivery around off-stump cut back sharply to fox Bawne and rock his middle stump. Atitkar, who began on 29 today, was out for 50 in the 102nd over in team score of 301 and the remaining Maharashtra batsmen were out in quick succession. Vinay Kumar and Sreenath Aravind grabbed two wickets each today for innings figures of 3/81 and 3/65, respectively, while Mithun got one wicket to finish with 3/49.