Ranji Trophy: Sreenath Aravind And Robin Uthappa Put Karnataka on Cusp of Win
Robin Uthappa scores 160 and Sreenath Aravind picks five wickets for Karnataka as Rajasthan need 316 with only seven remaining
Riding on Sreenath Aravind's superb bowling and a quickfire century by Robin Uthappa, Karnataka on Sunday gained an upper hand as they reduced Rajasthan to 42 for three, chasing 358-run target, at the end of third day's play of their Group A Ranji Trophy match here. (Rajasthan Trail Karnataka Despite Rajat Bhatia's 99)
On the fourth and final day on Monday, Rajasthan face an uphill task as they need 316 runs with seven wickets in hand.
Earlier on the day, Karnataka managed to take a slight 32-run first essay lead after bundling out Rajasthan for 241 in their opening innings.
Rajasthan resumed the day on 219 for seven, in reply to Karnataka's first innings total of 281, but the hosts failed to topple the opponents' score as Aravind (3/42) and R Vinay Kumar (3/42) polished off the tail quickly.
In their second innings, Karnataka rode on Uthappa's 128-ball 160, studded with 25 fours and four sixes, to post 318 for five declared.
Abhishek Reddy (69), CM Gautam (36 not out) and Stuart Binny (29) also chipped in with crucial runs to set Rajasthan a huge target of 358 runs.
In their chase, Rajasthan got off to a disastrous start, losing three wickets in the span of just 38 runs with Aravind (2/20) claiming two of the three scalps.
At stumps, opener Pranay Shrama was batting on 24 and Tanveer-Ul-Haq was yet to open his account.
Brief scores: Karnataka: 281 & 318 for five decl (Robin Uthappa 160, Abhishek Reddy 69) Rajasthan: 242 & 42/3 (Sreenath Aravind 2/20).