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Karnataka make strong reply

Our Correspondent

Hosts Karnataka made a strong reply to Hyderabad's mammoth first innings aggregate of 711 for eight declared, thanks to a sparkling 163-run partnership for the first wicket between J Arun Kumar (71) and Mithun Beerala (74).

At the draw of stumps on Thursday, the third day of the five-day Ranji trophy semifinal at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, the hosts were 269 for 2 with the young Roland Barrington (52, 121b, 7x4) and Ranji record holder Vijay R Bharadwaj (38) at the crease.

The duo has so far added 79 runs for the third wicket.

Earlier, Hyderabad added just 48 runs to its overnight 663 for six before declaring its innings closed.

History-maker V V S Laxman was finally out for 353 (758m, 559b, 51x4, 2x6), caught by substitute fielder K N Ramesh at mid-on after he miscued a shot off Venkatesh Prasad. For Karnataka, skipper Venkatesh Prasad bagged five wickets for 121.

In reply, the Karnataka openers showed no indecisiveness and batted with authority. In an effort to disturb the batsmen's concentration, Azharuddin introduced left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju in the eighth over, but to no avail.

It was the old warhorse, offspinner Kanwaljit Singh, who got the first breakthrough for Hyderabad, having Beerala caught by Azharuddin at midwicket.

Kanwaljit struck again 27 runs later, having Arun Kumar -- who completed 3,000 runs in the Ranji Trophy in the course of his innings -- caught at silly point by Nanda Kishore.

SCOREBOARD
Hyderabad (1st innings):
Daniel Manohar c Thilak Naidu b V Prasad 39
Nanda Kishore c Bharadwaj b V Prasad 11
V V S Laxman c sub (K N Ramesh) b V Prasad 353
Mohd Azharuddin c Bharadwaj b V Prasad 123
Vanka Pratap b S Joshi 45
Parth Satwalkar c Thilak Naidu b Akhil 37
Riaz Sheikh c J Arun Kumar b D Ganesh 15
Faiz Ahmed c Thilak Naidu b Venkatesh Prasad 31
N P Singh not out 14
Extras (b-7, lb-5, nb-24, w-7) 43
Total (for 8 wickets decl, 193 overs) 711
Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-91, 3-379, 4-504, 5-590, 6-636, 7-683, 8-711
Bowling: B K Venkatesh Prasad 46-11-121-5; Dodda Ganesh 40-5-166-1; Mansoor Ali Khan 25-4-104-0; Sunil Joshi 53-6-205-1; B Akhil 14-1-64-1; Vijay R Bharadwaj 11-1-029-0; A Vijay 4-0-10-0
Karnataka (1st innings): J Arun Kumar c N Kishore b K Singh 71
Mithun Beerala c Azharuddin b K Singh 74
Rowland Barrington batting 52
Vijay R Bharadwaj batting 38
Extras (b-2, lb-6, nb-26) 34
Total (for two wickets, 75 overs) 269
Fall of wickets: 1-163 (Beerala), 2-190 (Arun Kumar)
Bowling: N P Singh 11-1-55-0; Faiz Ahmed 6-0-40-0; Venkatapathy Raju 27-7-60-0; Parth Satwalkar 9-2-31-0; Kanwaljeet Singh 19-2-59-2; Mohd Azharuddin 3-0-16-0

Day 2