BENGALURU: A nicely watered wicket, cold air, disciplined bowling and callous shot selection collided to ensure Punjab crashed to a lowly 55 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday. Their opposition Karnataka, on the brink of an early exit, had more than one positive on the first day of their Ranji Trophy fixture here.
R Smaran, then stood tall, figuratively and literally, to drive home the advantage as Karnataka reached 199/4 in the 50 overs they faced at stumps, a healthy 144-run lead. The cornerstone of that innings was Smaran’s unbeaten 100-ball 83 (12x4; 1x6).
