Rahul`s 158 helps Karnataka get 3 points against Vidarbha in Ranji Trophy

Nagpur: Lokesh Rahul cracked a brilliant 158 as Karnataka overhauled Vidarbha`s first innings total of 542, scoring 549 for nine on the final day in their drawn Group A match of the Ranji Trophy here on Sunday.

After Vidarbha posted 542 yesterday, it turned out to be a battle for the first innings lead as Karnataka today resumed from their overnight score of 252-2 to eventually surpass the hosts` score in the dying moment of the match. Karnataka thus registered three valuable points due to their first innings lead, while Vidarbha had to settle for one point. Resuming at an individual score of 59 on day 4, Rahul kept Karnataka in the hunt as he added 132 runs for the third wicket with Manish Pandey (67). Once Pandey was dismissed by S B Wagh with wicketkeeper A V Ubarhande taking the catch in the 87th over, Rahul continued the fightback adding valuable runs with KR Kapoor (5) and CM Gautam (28). When Rahul was cleaned up by Umesh Yadav in the 123th over, Karnataka were still 68 runs behind with four wickets remaining. Karnataka then lost Ganesh K S Satish (42) and Abhimanyu Mithun (2) in the next successive overs as they were reduced to 477 for eight. Tail-enders Abrar Kazi (25) and KP Apanna (32) then added 72 runs for the ninth wicket to take Karnataka across Vidarbha`s 542, reaching 549 in 148.1 over when the latter lost his wicket to Ruikar. Brief Score: Vidarbha 1st innings: 542 Karnataka 1st innings: 549-9 in 148.1 overs (KL Rahul 158; Umesh Yadav 3/121, Akshay Wakhare 3/113).