New man Ravichandran Smaran, a batter Karnataka thinks can go a long way over the next few years, came and went in a hurry. Kartikeya by then was playing with his angles, lines and varying the speed of his deliveries. He would dart a few deliveries before flighting the odd ball.
He was doing the basics well on what was a green top — some credit must go to Patidar for keeping the spinner on rather than bringing back the pacers — and the opposition batters were second guessing.
One delivery just before lunch will continue to live in highlights reel and domestic cricket packages for the next few years. To Mohammed Azharuddeen, he got one to drift, pitch on leg stump before turning away to beat the outside edge and hit off. It was the perfect leg-spinner’s delivery to a right hander. It’s something he kept doing; bowling leg-spin to the lefties and going orthodox to the righties. “It’s a good skill to have,” he said after the day’s play. “On flat surfaces where nothing happens, it’s great if you can have the leg-spinner, I bowled leg-spinners today also.”
The 27-year-old, brought in as a replacement for Harsh Dubey ahead of this game, hadn’t featured in a competitive red-ball game since January so it was understandable when he displayed some ring rust. But the Rajasthan Royals bowler, who played a big role in MPs maiden Ranji title in 2022, is not a big turner of the ball so he just focused on keeping the stumps and pad in play. Two bowled and one leg-before a just prize for his gameplan. Kartikeya’s MP teammate Saransh Jain also made the most of the situation claiming a five-for.
It also has to be said that South Zone also paid the price for some iffy decision-making with the bat. This wasn’t a 149 all out first innings surface. In fact, in two previous Duleep Trophy matches at this ground this year, only 45 wickets fell. And the way Central Zone have began their innings suggests that the surface isn’t bad.
Brief scores: South Zone 149 in 63 ovs (Agarwal 31, Kartikeya 4/53, Saransh 5/49) vs Central Zone 50/0 in 19 ovs (Malewar 28 n.o).
