Lucknow: Leg-spinner Karn Sharma proved his credentials with the ball as he helped India Red register a thumping 170-run win over India Green on day four of the Duleep Trophy clash at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday.
Sharma returned match figures of 10/133, his best in first class cricket after he scalped six wickets in the second innings, spinning a web around the opposition who ended up with 303 runs, chasing a huge 474-run target. Right-arm quickie Siddharth Kaul was the other star with the ball for India Green in the second innings as he took the remaining four wickets.
The leg-spinner had four dismissals to his name in the first innings where India Green were shot out for just 157, in pursuit of India Red’s first innings total of 323.
Earlier on Day 2, opener Priyank Panchal and skipper Dinesh Karthik scored hundreds as India Red capitalised on their 166-run lead and dominated the proceedings, declaring at 307/2.
But India Green came up with an improved batting display after their poor show in the first innings with Karnataka batsman Karun Nair, fought his way to a defiant 120 of 203 balls. He didn’t have a good time with the bat during the South Africa tour but made full use of this opportunity as he held the innings together. After his dismissal with the scoreline at 275/6, the lower order dramatically collapsed, falling short of the huge target.
Opener Ravikumar Samarth too played well for his 59, resuming his innings on 46 but fell to Karn in the 38th over.
The only other substantial contribution came from the bat of Mayank Dagar, who scored 45 from 80 deliveries. India Green skipper Parthiv Patel, who had reached the 10,000-run mark in the first innings fell for just 26 runs.
Brief scores-
India Red 323 and 307/2 decl. beat India Green 157 and 303 in 89.2 overs (Karun Nair 120, Ravikumar Samarth 59; Karn Sharma 6/94) by 170 runs.