Former champions Karnataka drew another blank after escaping with a draw against Gujarat in an Elite division Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match, which was marred by an altercation between some players, in Bangalore on Friday.

Chasing a target of 366, Karnataka were in dire straits at 24 for five wickets, but avoided defeat, finishing the day at 156 for 7.

Karnataka lost opener Arunkumar (6), Barrington Rowland (1), Stuart Binny (11), Vijay Bharadwaj (0) in a devastating spell by Siddhart Trivedi, who scalped six wickets.

Gujarat were then in sight of victory as Lalit Patel trapped Shyam Ponnappa leg before. But a 58-run partnership for the seventh wicket between former India player Sunil Joshi and Thilak Naidu and a 46-run stand between Naidu (46 not out) and Dodda Ganesh (31 not out) for the eighth wicket saved Karnataka from a humiliating defeat.

Earlier, Gujarat resuming at 124 for two, stepped up the tempo through Niraj Patel (70) and Timil Patel (78) before declaring their second innings at 307 for four.

The visitors earned two points from the draw while Karnataka are yet to gather their first point after losing to Bengal in their opening match.

Scorecard

Gujarat (1st innings): 330

Karnataka (1st innings): 272

Gujarat (2nd innings): (overnight 124 for 2)
N Modi run out (Rowland) 44
A Christian lbw Ganesh 57
N Patel lbw Patel 70
T Patel not out 78
K Damani c Naidu b Patel 13
P Patel not out 37

Extras: (b 1, lb 1, nb 6) 8

Total: (for 4 wickets decl, 98 overs, 392 mins) 307

Did not bat: B Thaker, M Parmar, S Trivedi, L Patel, H Majmudar.

Fall of wickets: 1-104, 2-113, 3-239, 4-255.

Bowling: Ganesh 17-4-75-1, Vinay Kumar 14-3-33-0, Joshi 33-10-72-0, Patel 30-4-115-2, Rowland 3-1-8-0, Arunkumar 1-0-2-0.

Karnataka (2nd innings):
J Arunkumar b Trivedi 6
B Rowland b Trivedi 1
S Binny c Christian b Trivedi 11
V Bharadwaj lbw Trivedi 0
K Ponnappa lbw L Patel 4
V Naidu not out 46
S Somasunder lbw Trivedi 15
S Joshi c Parmar b Trivedi 27
D Ganesh not out 31

Extras: (b 2, lb 9, w 1, nb 3) 15

Total: (7 wickets, 38 overs, 172 mins) 156

Did Not Bat: U Patel, R Vinay Kumar.

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-15, 3-15, 4-20, 5-24, 6-52, 7-110.

Bowling: Trivedi 13-3-52-6, L Patel 10-2-49-1, Majmudar 6-0-20-0, T Patel  8-3-23-0, N Patel 1-0-1-0.