Karnataka’s Shreyas Gopal bowls during the second day of the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy cricket match between Karnataka and Chandigarh, in Hubballi, Karnataka. (PTI Photo) HUBBALI: R Smaran (227no) and Shikhar Shetty (59, 2/43 & 5/61), two youngsters who say they have benefited immensely from the return of seasoned pros Karun Nair (95) and Shreyas Gopal (62, 7/73 & 3/45), turned showstoppers here like the Karuns Trophy scored against Karun Chantagarphy in the Ranning Chantagarh. and a 185-run victory with a day off on Tuesday.After Smaran remarkably made 227 on Monday, Shreyas wreaked havoc with the ball, leaving Chandigarh with a mountain to climb. They never did as 16 wickets fell to Chandigarh on Tuesday.
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While the Karnataka bowlers hardly put a foot wrong, the Chandigarh players looked confused about the format. They swung the willow like tailenders in a T20 game and tried to kick almost everything over the fence.Example: Of the 222 runs that Chandigarh scored in the first innings, 124 came off the boundary. But that was also their undoing. Apart from captain Manan Vohra, who scored an unbeaten 161-ball 106 (12×4; 1×6), most others did not bother to fight against time or the opposition. It was an easy choice for the home team.Chandigarh started the day at 72/4, a huge deficit of 475 runs. Shreyas, who scalped three of those four wickets on Monday, capped off a superb all-round performance by adding another four wickets in the first innings in Chandigarh to his kitty.The carnage started right from the first ball. Ankit Kaushik was hit on the back leg, a situation opposition batsmen often find themselves in when trying to defend, and was adjudged leg before Shreyas.Rajangad Bawa (10) and Gaurav Puri (32) offered some resistance before the former bowled Shreyas to KL wicketkeeper Shrijith. Gaurav hit three consecutive boundaries off Shreyas’ bowling before Shikhar’s delivery took a sharp turn and disturbed his middle stump.Chandigarh went to lunch with 199/8 on board and it didn’t take long for Shikhar and Shreyas to clean up the tail.The away side were asked to continue after 325 runs, but they seemed to be in a hurry to get home. They lasted all 33.5 overs.Pacer Vidwath Kaverappa opened the floodgates when Ajun Azad (0) delivered a catch to Mohsin Khan in the mid-on of the third over. Shivam Bhambri (43) and Nikhil Thakur delayed the inevitable with their 64-run partnership for the second wicket. But when Shreyas and Shikhar applied pressure, they fell apart.Shivam’s attempt to play defense against Shikhar was caught by Smaran in the slips and that added impetus to Karnataka’s winning march.On a slow track, Shikhar picked up the pace and mixed it with slower deliveries to leave the Chandigarh batsmen bewildered as they ensured the left-arm spinner took five wickets for the first time in his third first-class match. They lost their last four wickets and added 15 runs.The 20-year-old Shikhar, who also scored his maiden half-century, later said, “I’m yet to process the fact that I took five wickets in the Ranji Trophy. I’m delighted to have done it for the team. Playing alongside Shreyas, who always leads me on the field, I’m trying my best to cope.”The win sees Karnataka head into the break in the white-ball competition as Group B winners with 21 points. When the tournament resumes on January 22, Karnataka hosts Madhya Pradesh in Bengaluru.SELECTION TABLEKarnataka (1st innings): 547/8 declChandigarh (I shift; o/n 72/4): Manan Vohra (not out) 106, Ankit Kaushik lbw Shreyas 0, Rajangad Bawa c Shrijith b Shreyas 10, Gaurav Puri b Shikhar 32, Taranpreet Singh c Aneesh b Shreyas 7, Jagjit Sandhu lbw lbw Nhreishkharunk Extra (B-4): 4. Total (all out; 63.2 overs) 222Fall of goals: 5-72, 6-104, 7-188, 8-199, 9-201.Bowling: Vidwath Kaverappa 5-1-14-0, Vidhyadhar Patil 7-2-34-0, Mohsin Khan 12-0-54-1, Shreyas Gopal 23-2-73-7, Shikhar Shetty 16.2-3-43-2.Chandigarh (IInd Innings): Shivam Bhambri c Smaran b Shikhar 43, Arjun Azad c Mohsin b Vidwath 0, Nikhil Thakur lbw b Shreyas 19, Vohra c Smaran b Shikhar 6, Kaushik c Smaran b Shikhar 0, Bawa (exhausted) 27, Karun b Shikhar c Abhinav c Shreyas, Vishu c Mohsin b Shikhar 5, Jagjit b Shreyas 4. Extras (B-8; LB-10): 18. Total (all out; 33.5 overs) 140.Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-65, 3-71, 4-75, 5-95, 6-120, 7-125, 8-130, 9-134.Bowling: Vidwath 4-2-2-1, Vidhyadhar 3-1-10-0, Shreyas 13-1-45-3, Shikhar 12.5-2-61-5, Mohsin 1-0-4-0.
