Ranji Trophy 2016-17, Quarter-Finals, Day 1 report and highlights: Aswin Crist’s 6-for dismantles Karnataka for 88

Tamil Nadu bowlers wreaked havoc and dismantled Karnataka for a paltry 88 on Day  One of Ranji Trophy 2016-17 quarter-final against Karnataka at Visakhapatnam on Friday. Tamil Nadu came out hard in the knock-out stage and did extremely well in getting rid of the star-studded Karnataka batting. The likes of KL Rahul and Karun Nair, who played well in the final Test against England, were sent back early. Rahul was undone by Natarajan while Crist got rid of Nair with a  peach-of-a-delivery. In reply, Tamil Nadu were well placed at 111 for 4 at the end of day’s play and have gained a healthy lead of 23.

Earlier, they won the toss and elected to bowl first on a surface, which was conducive for seam bowling. Thangarasu Natarajan and Aswin Crist put Karnataka in all sorts of trouble with the new ball as they chipped wickets on a consistent basis.

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Crist finished with six scalps to his name while Natarajan bagged three key wickets as Karnataka were bowled out for an awful 88. It was some beautiful exhibition of seam bowling by Tamil Nadu bowlers as they exploited the conditions to the fullest and steered their team to a commanding position. Manish Pandey top-scored the side with just 28 runs to his name while the likes of Kaunain Abbas, Stuart Binny were out for duck.

Tamil Nadu initially struggled with the bat as Laxmesha Suryaprakash and Baba Indrajith were dismissed in quick successions, which was followed by Kaushik Gandhi’s wicket. Tamil Nadu were precariously placed at 33 for 3 when Dinesh Karthik  and Vijay Shankar came to their rescue.

Shankar got off to a good start but was unlucky to have been run out for 31. Karthik remained unbeaten on 31 along with Abhinav Mukund on 3. Tamil Nadu have a golden opportunity to gain a massive first innings lead and put pressure on Karnataka. Sreenath Aravind picked two wickets while Stuart Binny  got 1 wicket for Karnataka.

Brief Scores:

Karnataka 88 all out (Manish Pandey 28, Karun Nair 4; Aswin Crist 6 for 31) trail Tamil Nadu 111 for 4 (Dinesh Karthik 31*, Vijay Shankar 34; Sreenath Aravind 3 for 14) by 23 runs.