Crucial: Ankit’s fourth First Class hundred came at the right time for Haryana.
| Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR

Karnataka’s hopes of entering the knockout stage of the Ranji Trophy vanished in the face of a stubborn Haryana here on Friday. 

Needing a bonus-point win (innings or 10-wicket victory) to enter the quarterfinal, Karnataka had to dominate the opposition in this last Elite-C match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

It was not to be, as Haryana – riding on a century from captain Ankit Kumar and a disciplined bowling show – held firm. 

After dismissing Karnataka for 304, Haryana moved to a comfortable 232 for five to secure a spot in the last-eight, alongside Kerala.

Ankit (118, 154b, 19×4) recorded his fourth First Class hundred, taking his side to calm waters. Ankit was exceptional on the off-side, stroking clean drives through the cover region.  

The four-pronged Karnataka pace attack, looking to keep Haryana under 154 and enforce the follow-on, stood no chance against Ankit. Only Yashovardhan Parantap challenged the batters with his sharp pace, resulting in two wickets. 

Resuming on 267 for five, Karnataka would have wanted to push hard to get to 450. Overnight batters K.L. Shrijith and Parantap had to go big, but only seven overs into the day, Parantap edged Ajit Chahal to slip. Next man Hardik Raj lasted two deliveries, throwing his bat at a wide loosener from fast bowler Anuj Thakral. 

At 290 for seven, there was no way back. Shrijith, now batting with the tail and looking for quick runs, skied a pull to deep square-leg. 

Karnataka’s total was never going to be enough, allowing Haryana to make it to the knockout round for the first time since the 2016-17 season.  

The scores:

Karnataka – 1st innings: K.V. Aneesh b Kamboj 17, Mayank Agarwal c Kamboj b Thakral 91, K.L. Rahul c Rohit b Kamboj 26, Devdutt Padikkal lbw b Thakral 43, R. Smaran lbw b Sindhu 35, K.L. Shrijith c Kamboj b Thakral 37, Yashovardhan Parantap c Ankit b Chahal 35, Hardik Raj c Rohit b Thakral 1, Prasidh Krishna b Kamboj 1, V. Koushik (not out) 1, Vidwath Kaverappa b Kamboj 2; Extras (b-4, lb-5, nb-2, w-4): 15; Total (in 101 overs): 304.

Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-99, 3-161, 4-220, 5-222, 6-286, 7-290, 8-301, 9-301.

Haryana bowling: Kamboj 22-6-32-4, Chahal 22-5-64-1, Thakral 20-2-88-4, Sindhu 19-3-45-1, Jayant 18-2-66-0.

Haryana – 1st innings: Lakshya Dalal c Rahul b Parantap 22, Ankit Kumar c (sub) Sateri b Hardik 118, Yuvraj Singh c Padikkal b Parantap 33, Himanshu Rana lbw b Koushik 5, Nishant Sindhu (batting) 35, Dheeru Singh b Prasidh 8, Rohit Sharma (batting) 9; Extras (lb-1, b-1): 2; Total (for five wkts. in 66 overs): 232.

Fall of wickets: 1-74, 2-152, 3-165, 4-198, 5-209. 

Karnataka bowling: Koushik 18-4-48-1, Kaverappa 16-4-53-0, Prasidh 13-1-54-1, Parantap 11-2-42-2, Hardik 8-1-33-1.