Karun Nair brough up his 26th First Class hundred.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A defensive Kerala, gambling on weak spinners, handed over the advantage to Karnataka on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group-B match at the KCA Stadium, Mangalapuram, here on Saturday.
Karun Nair’s 26th First Class century (142 batting) and second consecutive one against the host saw Karnataka end the day at 319 for three. Karun and R. Smaran (88 batting) piled on Kerala’s agony with an unbroken 183-run stand for the fourth wicket.
A flat track and a non-threatening attack were the perfect recipe for Karun to dig in and pile up a big score. The Kerala bowling lacked the edge once the pitch lost its early zip. M.D. Nidheesh and N.P. Basil nipped out openers Mayank Agarawl (five) and K.V. Aneesh (eight) cheaply to have Karnataka in trouble at 13 for two.
However, Karun joined Krishnan Shrijith in the middle to flip the script. The batters chose contrasting styles to blunt the Kerala attack. Karun was cheeky at start, paddle sweeping and reverse sweeping the spinners for boundaries while Shrijith played the conventional shots with conviction to reach his fifty before lunch.
However, the left-hander top-edged a sweep off B. Aparajith and was caught by Ahammed Imran at square-leg, ending the 123-run stand.
After lunch, Karun played the spinners with more fluency, bringing out his wide repertoire of strokes. Karun slapped Aparajith through the covers for a boundary and lifted him over long-on for a six to change gears. Smaran punched Harikrishnan through the covers for his first boundary as the partnership prospered.
Karun hit Basil for consecutive boundaries to move into his 90s and soon completed his century. Karun then late cut Aparajith for a boundary to take Karnataka past 300.
The day ended as it began ominously for Kerala with Ankit Sharma pulling out due to a side strain. Rohan Kunnummal’s illness forced the home team to tinker with the playing XI. Vaisakh Chandran’s rustiness was glaring as the Karnataka batters toyed with the Kerala bowling.
The scores:
Karnataka — 1st innings: K.V. Aneesh c Azharuddeen b Basil 8, Mayank Agarawal c Azharuddeen b Nidheesh 5, K.L. Shrijith c Imran b Aparajith 65, Karun Nair (batting) 142, R. Smaran (batting) 88. Extras (b-4, lb-5, nb-2): 11; Total (for three wkts. in 90 overs): 319.
Fall of wickets: 1-11 2-13, 3-136.
Kerala bowling: Nidheesh 16-4-41-1, Vaisakh 10-0-42-0, Basil 16-2-58-1, Harikrishnan 14-0-69-0, Aparajith 23-2-65-1, Akshay 11-0-35-0.
Toss: Karnataka.
Published – November 01, 2025 07:20 pm IST
