Goa captain Darshan Misal strikes the ball to the long off boundary en route to his unbeaten 66.
PANAJI
Captain Darshan Misal's composed unbeaten 66 and Lakshay Garg (20*) for an ally, in an unbroken ninth-wicket 51-run alliance provided succour to Goa's hopes for a point in the third round of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C clash against Karnataka at the Academy ground in Porvorim on Thursday.
Resuming at 45-1, opener Sumiran Amonkar was in a runless rut while his partner, Suyash Prabhudessai eased into his innings with class and finesse written all over his strokeplay. Amonkar's run dry stay in the morning ended in 38 balls and two minutes shy of an hour, when he nicked one behind to keeper B R Sharath off young slow left-arm orthodox Shubhang Hegde. Amonkar's dismissal at an overnight 30 (115b, 6x4), brought batter Snehal Kauthankar out in the middle.
Meanwhile, Suyash's measured approach translated to intent as he looked to mete out special treatment to K Gowtham in the 43rd over. Goa were at 97-2 at this point. An ambitious reverse sweep failed attempt notwithstanding, he pushed the envelope as he carted three boundaries off the very over.
A vicious rising delivery off pacer Ronit More may have struck Suyash, unbeaten on 63, on his right arm shortly before lunch but it did not deter his will to battle for his team's cause.
Goa took lunch at 124-2 in 54 overs with Suyash unbeaten on 63 (127b, 212m, 10x4) and Snehal Kauthankar providing company on 17 (59b, 3x4).
First ball after lunch, Kauthankar smacked offie Gowtham to the boundary, but the bowler had the last laugh just two balls later. Kauthankar on 21 (63b, 4x4) misread the field as his flick was taken by a diving Manish Pandey at leg slip.
Goa were reduced to 128-3 and faced an uphill challenge to surpass the visitor's first innings score.
Siddhesh Lad, who had a start in his last innings in Jamshedpur, looked keen to put on a show. Known as the 'crisis man' in his time with Mumbai, he stood up to the Karnataka challenge with confidence and purpose. From the outset, he played with intent while Suyash raised visions of a back-to-back hundred at the venue for his fans.
Suyash was undone on 87 (165b, 268m, 12x4) leg before to slow left-arm orthodox Shubhang Hegde, and trudged back crestfallen.
Slipping to 171-4 , hopes rested on Lad and new man, keeper-batter, Eknath Kerkar, in good nick in his last outing, for a rescue act. But Kerkar was to disappoint as offbreak bowler, K Gowtham had him plumb in front of the wicket for just 5. Half the Goa side were back in the pavilion with the score on 196 and no significant stand taking shape.
In walked captain Misal who appeared to carry his form with the bat from Jamshedpur, and in Lad he had an experienced campaigner to deal with such a difficult situation.
Goa went to tea at 236-5 in 83 overs with Lad on 53 (65b, 8x4, 1x6) and captain Misal settling in on 20 (49b, 2x4).
Post lunch disaster struck. A well-set Lad departed for 63 (84b, 10x4, 1x6) with Right arm Medium pacer V Vyshak scalping the key middle-order batter at the end of the 90th over.
The Lad-Misal stand raised 65 runs for the sixth wicket, and with two more wickets falling soon after with the addition of merely nine runs. Goa slumped to 270 for 8, as Arjun Tendulkar went for a first-baller and Mohit Redkar departed for 6. Capable batter, Lakshay Garg walked in at 10 to join his captain Darshan Misal to salvage the situation as best as they could. It has to be remembered that a rearguard action is not new to the pair. Four seasons ago, against Services in Porvorim, Darshan Misal and Lakshay Garg conjured a magical 121-run stand for the ninth wicket with Misal scoring an unbeaten 101 coming in at 8, and Garg making 50 to hand Goa an unlikely lead from a precarious position on Day 2.
Cut to the present, the Misal-Garg unbeaten ninth-wicket stand raised 51 (97b, 71m, 6x4,2x6 as stumps were drawn with Goa 321-8 in 109 overs. Darshan Misal was batting on 66 (134b, 159m, 9x4, 1x6) with a measured approach with Lakshay Garg on 20 (46b, 2x4, 1x6) providing a perfect foil. Goa need another 133 runs to avoid the follow-on, as the visitors push hard in their quest for 6 points.
SCORES: Karnataka 1st inns 603-7 d in 148.2 overs (Manish Pandey 208*, R Samarth 140, Vishal Onat 91, Darshan Misal 3-145) vs Goa 1st inns 321-8 in 109 overs (Suyash Prabhudesai 87, Darshan Misal 66*, Siddhesh Lad 63, K Gowtham 3-109)
