KAR 270/8 I Live Cricket Score Rajasthan vs Karnataka, Ranji Trophy 2015-16 Group A match, Day 1 at Jaipur; Stumps

Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s coverage of the Group A match between defending champions of Ranji Trophy 2015-16, Karnataka, and Rajasthan. The match will be played at the scenic Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur and it will be a home ground for the Rajasthan team. Both the teams have won the Ranji Trophy in recent years. Karnataka have won two in a row in 2013-14 and 2014-15, whereas Rajasthan had won consecutive trophies in 2010-11 and 2011-12. But, if their performances this season are anything to go by, then both the teams cannot be ranked very high. Both Rajasthan and Karnataka would look to bring their A game forward in an expectedly high-intensity clash.

In the Ranji Trophy 2015-16 points table, with four drawn games on a trot, the defending champions are struggling at the fifth spot in Group A. Karnataka have only eight points from four matches, and they will have to pull up their socks in order to get their campaign back on track.

The situation of the Rajasthan team is even worse. They are languishing at the second last spot in the points table of Ranji Trophy 2015-16 with only five points in four matches so far in the season. They were slammed by Assam by a massive margin of an innings and 152 runs at Guwahati.

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Karnataka’s case has been surprising because they weren’t expected to make such a meek start to their defense campaign. They haven’t really been able to force themselves against opposition, and teams such as Assam, who cannot be termed threatening, managed to put pressure on Karnataka.

Live cricket scores: Karnataka 270/8 | Overs 90| Batting: Shreyas Gopal 40(86), David Mathias 16(45): Karnataka have managed to reach to a total of 270 runs. Much was expected from its famed batting line-up, which though was without the services of Karun Nair and KL Rahul, but still was good enough to be a serious threat. However, the defending champions could manage only 270, with only Mayank Agarwal and Samarth R crossing the fifty run mark. For Rajasthan, AV Choudhary lead the bowling with three wickets. Deepak Chahar and AB Singh took two wickets each.

Live cricket scores: Karnataka 260/8 | Overs 84| Batting: Shreyas Gopal 35(72), David Mathias 13(28): Karnataka tail has wagged to take it past 260. Shreyas Gopal is still playing at 35, while David Mathias is battling it out with him on 13 not out. Gopal shared a 53 run partnership with skipper Vinay Kumar before he got out for 29. Suchith was out first ball duck and the team looked in all sorts of trouble. Since then, the duo has put on 28 runs. For Rajasthan, AV Choudhary has taken three wickets so far.

OUT! Suchith J lbw A V Choudhary 0(1)

OUT! Vinay Kumar R ct T M Ul Haq b A V Choudhary 29(57)

Live cricket scores: Karnataka 188/6 | Overs 60| Batting: Shreyas Gopal 0(4), Vinay Kumar R 9(6): Karnataka went from 3 for 177 to 6 for 179 in no time. Stuart Binny once again failed to prove his critics wrong and got out for just 14. His wicket triggered the collapse as set batsman Samarth got out for 65 and thus missed out on a golden chance to shine in the absence of regulars. His wicket was followed by wicket-keeper batsman CM Gautam’s wicket, who could manage only a single run. Skipper Vinay Kumar is at the wicket now along with Shreyas Gopal.

OUT! CM Gautam ct D H Yagnik b A B Singh 1(14)

OUT! Samarth R b D L Chahar 65(132)

OUT! Stuart Binny ct P R Yadav b A B Singh 14(33)

Live cricket scores: Karnataka 156/3 | Overs 48| Batting: Samarth R 53(106), Stuart Binny 6(9): Karnataka have lost Mayank Agarwal after the lunch session. Agarwal scored a stroke-filled 66, which had 11 boundaries, before falling to AV Choudhary. His partner Samarth too has reached to his personal milestone and is playing on 53 at the moment. Agarwal has been replaced by Stuart Binny, who has just returned from national duties. In the absence of KL Rahul and Karun Nair, Binny has a larger role to play being a senior member of the side. He will also have a point to prove to his critics.

OUT! Mayank Agarwal b A V Choudhary 66(133)

Live cricket scores: Karnataka 93/2 | Overs 34| Batting: Mayank Agarwal 42(98), Samarth R 26(65):  Karnataka go at lunch with 93 runs on the board. They have lost two wickets in the process. The first to go was international player Robin Uthappa, who managed 11 runs before being dismissed by Rajasthan pacer Deepak Chahar. The next to go was Abhishek Reddy, who scored nine runs before T M Ul Haq trapped him in front of the wickets. Since then, belligerent opener Mayank Agarwal and middle-order bat Samarth R have denied any further success to the Rajasthan team. Agarwal has played against his nature so far, below a strike rate of 50. The match is poised for an interesting start post-lunch session.

Live cricket scores: Karnataka 83/2 | Overs 32| Batting: Mayank Agarwal 41(97), Samarth R 18(53):  Both Agarwal and Samarth are playing sensible cricket at the moment. Agarwal, who is known for his flashy strokeplay and attacking brand of cricket, has played against his reputation so far. He’s batting quite maturely and has firmly held up one end. Young Samart too has shown good temperament so far and along with his partner has denied any further success to Rajasthan.

Live cricket scores: Karnataka 62/2 | Overs 21| Batting: Mayank Agarwal 33(68), Samarth R 6(15): Ranji champions Karnataka were invited to bat first in this crucial tie where they are without the services of two of their finest players KL Rahul and Karun Nair, who are serving the Board President’s XI against the touring South Africans. At the moment, Karnataka are 2 down for 62, having lost Robin Uthappa and Abhishek Reddy quite early in the innings. Mayank Agarwal, who’s been in a terrific form of late, is playing at the moment along with Samarth R.

OUT! Abhishek Reddy lbw T M Ul Haq 9(19)

OUT! Robin Uthappa ct Vineet Saxena b D L Chahar 11(26)

Rajasthan won the toss and invited Karnataka to bat first.