On a warm Sunday afternoon at the MCA-BKC ground, K.L. Rahul came up with one of his grittiest innings to keep Karnataka in the hunt for a Ranji Trophy semifinal berth.
After Tanush Kotian and Tushar Deshpande added 89 runs in 82 balls to guide Mumbai to 377 and set a 325-run target for Karnataka, Rahul (60 batting, 94b, 7×4) showed his brilliance with the bat, despite the visitor losing Mayank Agarwal early.
Rahul’s 84-run partnership with captain Devdutt Padikkal was at the forefront of Karnataka’s fightback. As the surface eased out after initially helping the bowlers, Rahul largely played in the V to bring up his 42nd First Class fifty and put Karnataka on firm footing.
Padikkal, who guided Karnataka to a come-from-behind win against Punjab in the last group match, looked on course to score another fifty, but Tanush Kotian struck as the southpaw offered a regulation catch to Yashasvi Jaiswal at first slip.
But with Rahul and Karun Nair holding fort, Karnataka ended the day at 113 for two, 212 runs away from victory.
However, with the surface offering some turn at the fag end, the Mumbai spinners Kotian and Shams Mulani will have a role to play. And as wicketkeeper-batter Akash Anand, who scored 70 in the second innings, indicated that even though the game is ‘evenly poised’, Mumbai remains on top, with its spinners hoping to make optimum use of the ‘known conditions’ on the fourth day.
Earlier, resuming the day at 189 for two, Musheer Khan couldn’t extend his stay as he was caught behind by Kruthik Krishna in Vidyadhar Patil’s opening over. After Akash, too, missed out on a deserving century, Mumbai lost wickets in clusters before Kotian and Deshpande stepped up. While Mumbai managed to secure a formidable lead, it was a memorable day for Karnataka stumper Kruthik, who made it to the record books with six catches and one stumping.
The scores: Mumbai — 1st innings: 120.
Karnataka — 1st innings: 173.
Mumbai — 2nd innings: Yashasvi Jaiswal st. Kruthik b Shreyas 36, Akhil Herwadkar (run out) 33, Akash Anand c Kruthik b Kaverappa 70, Musheer Khan c Kruthik b Vidyadhar 49, Siddhesh Lad lbw b Shikhar 25, Suryansh Shedge c Kruthik b Vidhyadhar 25, Shams Mulani c Kruthik b Shikhar 9, Shardul Thakur c Rahul b Shikhar 1, Tanush Kotian (not out) 48, Tushar Deshpande c Kruthik b Kaverappa 47, Mohit Avasthi c Kruthik b Prasidh 0; Extras: (lb-14, b-9, nb-2, w- 9) 34; Total (in 98.3 overs): 377.
Fall of wickets: 1-77, 2-77, 3-191, 4-227, 5-241, 6-256, 7-258, 8-287, 9-376.
Karnataka bowling: Vidyadhar 22-5-78-2, Prasidh 19.3-2-71-1, Kaverappa 17-0-78-2, Shreyas 20-2-82-1, Shikhar 20-3-45-3.
Karnataka — 2nd innings: Mayank Agarwal c Avasthi b Shardul 3, K.L. Rahul (batting) 60, Devdutt Padikkal c Jaiswal b Kotian 39, Karun Nair (batting) 9; Extras: (lb-2) 2; Total (for two wkts. in 29 overs): 113.
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-96.
Mumbai bowling: Shardul 5-1-24-1, Avasthi 5-0-18-0, Mulani 8-0-32-0, Deshpande 5-0-23-0, Kotian 5-1-13-1, Musheer 1-0-1-0.
Published – February 08, 2026 06:44 pm IST
