The end, when it came, was tame and all too familiar, as Karnataka battedout the final day to take home a draw, and with it a place in thesemifinals of the Ranji Trophy
The Bulletin by Anand Vasu in Rajkot13-Jan-2007
The crowd waited in vain for Rahul Dravid to come out and bat but Karnataka had other plans © Getty Images
The end, when it came, was tame and all too familiar, as Karnataka battedout the final day to take home a draw, and with it a place in thesemifinals of the Ranji Trophy. Barrington Rowland helped himself to anunbeaten century and Karnataka finished on 249 for 3. Saurashtra, who hadfailed to avert the follow-on, were nevertheless not asked to bat again,and spent the day doing little more than providing batting practice toKarnataka.When the day began with Saurashtra still 58 runs shy of the follow-onmark, there was just a hint of anticipation in the air that Karnatakamight go for the kill and try to force an outright win. However, that waslittle more than wishful thinking. On a pitch that had eased out nicelyand was a batting beauty, there was little chance that this Karnatakabowling attack could roll Saurashtra over cheaply enough.What did happen, though, was that Saurashtra went from an overnight 352for 8 to 354 all out in the space of only six balls. With Rakesh Dhruv outof the equation having fractured a finger in his left hand while fieldingin the first innings, it was only a question of picking up one morewicket, and B Akhil did just that, bowling out Feroz Bambhaniya in thevery first over.Karnataka had a 216-run lead, but with a semi-final against Bengal comingup in ten days, they preferred to give their batsmen a go. The Saurashtraside were minus the services of Sandeep Jobanputra, their nippy left-armseamer, who had done a hamstring in the course of the match, and it was anideal opportunity for Robin Uthappa, who had just been picked to play forIndia in the first two one-day internationals against West Indies, to fillhis boots. But it was one that went abegging. Uthappa flashed at KanaiyaVaghela and was easily caught for only 23 – an innings that included fourboundaries that came at better than a-run-a-ball.C Raghu came out to join Rowland, and the depleted Saurashtra attack wasthen picked off with monotonous regularity. Both batsmen postedhalf-centuries, and slowly but surely the regular bowlers gave way to thepart-timers, only making batting even easier. Rowland was his careful,orthodox self, while Raghu was more busy, working the ball around andkeeping the scoreboard ticking over.After a 136-run partnership for the second wicket, against the grain ofplay, a wicket fell, when Raghu, attempting to push the ball for a single,was caught off Kamlesh Makvana, the offspinner. Raghu had made 66, and atthe fall of the second wicket, the small crowd gathered looked expectantlyto the Karnataka balcony, expecting Rahul Dravid to emerge down the steps.No such thing happened, and understandably so. With nothing to play for inthe game it was a chance for some of the younger guys to have a go.Thilak Naidu joined Rowland out in the middle, and played some pleasingshots, driving the spinners well through cover. When the players went offthe field for tea the end of the game was in sight, and the only thingthat remained was Rowland’s century. But, just like the previous day, awicket fell soon after tea, with Naidu (44) pulling the part-time offspinof Jaydev Shah straight to Makvana at midwicket.Akhil joined Rowland in the middle, and ensured there were no more blips.The game, by this stage, had lost all import, and Sagar Jogiyani, theSaurashtra keeper, had relinquished his pads to bowl gentlemediumpace. Rowland completed his century, and promptly the playerstrooped off the field with Karnataka on 249 from 74.2 overs. The minimumrequirement for calling off a game by mutual consent on the final day is75 overs, and with Saurashtra having played one over in the morning, therewas nothing stopping the players from enjoying the comfort of thedressing-room.Karnataka now take on Bengal in one semifinal from 23-27 January, whileMumbai take on Baroda simultaneously in the other, as this Ranji seasonwinds to a close.