File photo – Krishnappa Gowtham’s figures of 7 for 108 were his best in first-class cricket © PTI
Krishnappa Gowtham ran through Assam, picking up his second five-wicket haul in successive matches as Karnataka completed a 10-wicket win and earned a bonus point at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai. Assam, resuming on 48 for 1 in their second innings and trailing by 197, were bowled out for 264, with the offspinner Gowtham returning career-best figures of 7 for 108 in 34 overs and the legspinner Shreyas Gopal picking up the other three wickets.
Amit Verma followed up his first-innings 166 with a 120-ball 74 containing seven fours and four sixes but no one else got past 50 although all but two of Assam’s batsmen got into double figures. Needing 20 to win, Karnataka got there in just three overs, with Mayank Agarwal hastening victory with four fours in ten balls to finish unbeaten on 17.
Rajasthan gave Maharashtra a scare but had to be content with a single point after a 12-wicket final day in Hyderabad. Resuming their first innings on 299 for 8 and trailing Maharashtra by 162, Rajasthan’s last two wickets added 31 runs in the first five overs of the day. Having secured a first-innings lead of 131, Maharashtra would have expected a safe passage to three points, but were rocked by Rajasthan’s seamers, as Pankaj Singh and Aniket Choudhary reduced them to 38 for 4 inside ten overs of their second innings.
With plenty of overs still left in the day and Maharashtra only 169 ahead, Rajasthan had a small opening in front of them, but the middle and lower order eventually ate up too much time. Maharashtra were all out for 145, but consumed 61 overs, with Chirag Khunana (36 off 64 balls), Akshay Darekar (22 off 74) and Mohsin Sayyed (11 off 55) chiefly responsible for ensuring their three points were safe. Nathu Singh picked up the last three wickets to end with figures of 3 for 32. Chasing an out-of-reach 277, Rajasthan made 4 for no loss in six overs before the teams agreed to a draw.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo