Karnataka place themselves in good position

Karnataka ended the second day of their Cooch Behar Trophy South Zone (under-19) league match against Tamil Nadu at the IIT-Chemplast Ground in Chennai at a reassuring 95 for the loss of two wickets in their second innings. With a first innings lead of 34 runs, Karnataka now go into the final day with an overall lead of 129 and with eight wickets intact, they are in a position to move in for the kill.

Play started at 1.10 pm due to early morning showers. Tamil Nadu, 82 for seven overnight, added a further 43 runs before the innings folded up. KKD Kartik (8) was the first to go when he was caught by Uthappa off Dharmichand. Eight runs later, L Balaji (3) found himself short of the crease. The last wicket pair of V Kudawla (26) and DT Kumaran (14) however offered a rearguard action to take Tamil Nadu to 125, with a partnership of 33 runs off 9.3 overs. Dharmichand, who was the most successful bowler on the opening day continued his good work and ended the innings with figures of 7 for 55 off 21.3 overs.

Karnataka started their second innings in right earnest. Openers HTS Rao (36 not out) and DV Krishna (28) put on a sedate partnership of 49 runs off 20.3 overs. Krishna was then out, offering a catch to substitute fielder V Kumaresan off Kumaran. This brought the hero of Karnataka's first innings, Deepak Chougule to the crease. But at 70, he departed after giving a catch to Kumaran off Vasudeva Das. Rao was then joined by his skipper C Raghu and they saw the team through to stumps without any further hiccups.