Karnataka bowl Tripura out for 194 as Shikhar Shetty takes five on Ranji Trophy day one

Karnataka find rhythm after hesitant start to dismiss Tripura for 194

Mysuru: Karnataka overcame a cautious opening hour with the ball to bowl out Tripura for 194 on the first day of their Group B Ranji Trophy league fixture at the SDNRW Ground. The hosts had elected to field with a spin-heavy attack of three spinners and two pacers, a call that looked questionable early as Tripura negotiated movement without much pressure.

The breakthrough came from medium pacer Manvanth Kumar, who provided good length and dismissed Hrituraj Roy, miscuing a drive to wicketkeeper KL Shrijith. Manvanth then removed Babul Dey, edging to Shrijith, as Tripura reached 88 for 2 at lunch with Bikramkumar Das anchoring the innings.

Das, who made 53, fell in the first over after the break, edging Vyshak Vijaykumar to Karun Nair in the slips. That triggered a middle-order collapse. Shreyas Gopal accounted for Sridam Paul, caught by KV Aneesh at first slip, while Mandeep Singh was caught by Manvanth at mid-off off Shikhar Shetty.

Shetty leads spin turnaround

Left-arm spinner Shikhar Shetty led the recovery with a five-wicket haul of 5 for 54, his third first-class five-for. He dismissed Tripura skipper M Murasingh with a yorker that crashed into the stumps, then removed Parvez Sultan, caught by Manvanth at fine leg after a sweep, and cleaned up the tail with Sandip Sarkar and Abhijith Sarkar.

Manvanth Kumar finished with 3 for 23 from 13 overs, with Vyshak Vijaykumar taking 1 for 29. Bikram Debnath remained unbeaten on 33, with Parvez Sultan offering brief resistance before falling.

Karnataka head coach R Vinay Kumar explained the spin-heavy selection, citing a dry wicket and the need to leave out pacers Vidwath Kaverappa and Abhilash Shetty for team balance.

Karnataka stutter late

The hosts’ reply was disrupted late in the day. Mayank Agarwal fell for 1, jabbing Abhijith Sarkar to Sridam Paul at second slip, leaving Karnataka at 10 for 1 from 6 overs at stumps. Rohan Patil was unbeaten on 9 and Vyshak Vijaykumar on 0.

Scoreboard

Tripura 1st innings 194 all out (82 overs)
Bikramkumar Das c Karun b Vyshak 51, Hrituraj Roy c Shrijith b Manvanth 13, Babul Dey c Shrijith b Manvanth 23, Sridam Paul c Aneesh b Shreyas 7, Mandeep Singh c Manvanth b Shikhar 20, M Murasingh b Shikhar 25, Sentu Sarkar c Shrijith b Manvanth 12, Bikram Debnath not out 33, Parvez Sultan c Manvanth b Shikhar 2, Sandip Sarkar lbw Shikhar 2, Abhijith Sarkar lbw Shikhar 0.

Bowling: Manvanth Kumar 13-3-23-3, Vyshak Vijaykumar 15-5-29-1, Ritesh Bhatkal 17-3-50-0, Shikhar Shetty 18-4-54-5, Shreyas Gopal 18-4-34-1.

Karnataka 1st innings 10/1 (6 overs)
Mayank Agarwal c Paul b Sarkar 1, Rohan Patil batting 9, Vyshak Vijaykumar batting 0.