Ranji Trophy: Rajasthan Trail Karnataka Despite Rajat Bhatia's 99
Rajasthan 219 for seven on Day 2, after Karnataka scored 281 in the first innings
Rajat Bhatia missed out on a century by just one run as Rajasthan reached 219 for seven, still trailing Karnataka's first innings total by 62 runs, on the second day of a Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match here on Saturday. (Ravikumar, Mayank Steady Karnataka's ship)
At stumps, Deepak Chahar was batting on 13 and K Ajay Singh was on six.
Earlier, resuming on 270 for eight in their first essay, Karnataka could add just another 11 runs to their overnight total, getting all out for 281.
Aniket Choudhary finished with best figures of five for 77 for Rajasthan.
In reply, Rajasthan were struggling at 48 for four before Bhatia came to the team's rescue.
He played a responsible knock of 99 that came off 171 deliveries and included 14 hits to the fence. Bhatia also put on a crucial 76-run stand with Puneet Yadav (28) for the fifth wicket, followed by another fruitful partnership of 60 runs with Dishant Yagnik (21) for the sixth wicket.
But at the end, Bhatia got out, falling just one short of a well deserved hundred. R Vinay Kumar (2/39) and David Mathias (2/41) picked up two wickets each.
Brief scores: Karnataka 1st innings: 281 (Mayank Agarwal 66, Ravikumar Samarth 65; Aniket Choudhary 5/77). Rajasthan 1st innings: 219 for seven (Rajat Bhatia 99; R Vinay Kumar 2/39, David Mathias 2/41).