Ranji Trophy 2010-11 : Karnataka vs Punjab : Karnataka scripts outright win
Highlights of Karnataka/Punjab Ranji Trophy at Mohali, Chandigargh : 10th to 13th November,2010 : Karnataka won by eight wickets.
This article is prepared by Sri C Keshavamurthy, a reputed Cricket Statistician in Domestic Cricket
Karnataka started the Ranji Trophy season 2010/11 on a happy note by registering a comprehensive eight victory over Punjab. This was Karnataka’s 162nd win in 358 matches (lost 56 and drawn 140). Punjab surrendered to Karnataka for the fourth time in its sixth encounter. It is yet to register an outright win and has drawn the other two matches – only once it has gained first innings lead at Mohali in 1994/95. The previous three victories by Karnataka have come as under – 1981-82 at Bangalore – won by 167 runs : 1997-98 at Bangalore – won by 262 runs : 1998-99 at Amritsar – won by seven wickets
Karnataka had last met Punjab in the quarter final at Mysore in 2009/10 which had ended in a draw – with Karnataka qualifying for the semi final on 1st innings lead.
R Vinaykumar became the 45th cricketer to lead Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy – in a span of 358 matches. By a coincidence – he was playing in his 45th match. He is the sixth captain to lead Karnataka against Punjab. Others are – GR Viswanath (1981/82), KA Jeshwanth (1994/95), A Kumble (1997/98), SB Somasundar (1998/99) and RS Dravid (2009/10).
The opposition skipper P Dharmani was leading Punjab against Karnataka for the second time – having first led at Mysore in 2009/10. Overall, this was Punjab’s 35th outright defeat in its 252nd match, having won 89 and drawn 128.
Robin Uthappa scored 149 in this match of 182 balls. This was his first century against Punjab and his ninth century in his 43rd Ranji Trophy career This was also his highest individual score against Punjab – his previous best being 91 at Mysore in 2009/10. RV Uthappa in accomplishing his three figure innings against Punjab emulated the feat of VS Thilaknaidu (125 at Amritsar in 1998/99) and MK Pandey (115 at Mysore in 2009/10) to become the third Karnataka player to register a hundred against Punjab. The nine centuries scored by Uthappa are listed below
No |
Runs |
Opposition |
Venue |
Year |
1 |
162 |
MadPradesh |
Bangalore |
2004/05 |
2 |
108 |
Haryana |
Mysore |
2006/07 |
3 |
161 |
Delhi |
Delhi |
2006/07 |
4 |
159 |
Tamilnadu |
Bangalore |
2006/07 |
5 |
108 |
Saurashtra |
Rajkot |
2006/07 |
6 |
131 |
Railways |
Bangalore |
2008/09 |
7 |
133 |
Andhra |
Mysore |
2008/09 |
8 |
139 |
Saurashtra |
Mumbai |
2008/09 |
9 |
149 |
Punjab |
Mohali |
2010/11 |
Incidentally Punjab’s batsmen is yet to register a century against Karnataka. Wicket Keeper U Kaul came very near to achieving it but fell six short of the coveted mark. He became the second Punjab player to be dismissed in the nineties against Karnataka. The record for the highest individual score against Karnataka by a Punjab player stands to the credit of Krishna Mohan who was dismissed for 98 at Mohali in 1994/95.
94 by Kaul was his third consecutive 50 plus score against Karnataka, he had earlier scored 68 and 86 in the quarter final at Mysore in 2009/10. He failed to achieve his fourth successive fifty against Karnataka when he was given out for 43 in his 2nd innings at Mohali. Kaul is also the only Punjab player to score register two or more fifties against Karnataka, in a total of 14 fifty plus scores by Punjab batsmen against Karnataka till date.
By registering 94, Kaul became the 38th opposition player and the second Punjab player after Krishna Mohan to score 90s against Karnataka.
By winning the match, R Vinay Kumar achieved the distinction of becoming the 20th Karnataka captain to register a victory on his first appearance as skipper
The last occasion in which a Ka
rnataka player had accomplished such a rare honour was in 2006/07 when KT Yeregoud had won his debut match as Captain against Haryana at Mysore in 2006-07
No |
Captains |
Opp |
Venue |
Season |
MNo |
1. |
Shyamsundar PR |
Ker |
Bangalore |
1951/52 |
24 |
2. |
Subbu LT |
And |
Guntur |
1956/57 |
36 |
3. |
Alva BC |
Ker |
Palghat |
1958/59 |
42 |
4. |
Krishnaswamy AS |
Hyd |
Hyderabad |
1959/60 |
46 |
5. |
Suryanarayana M |
Ker |
Mangalore |
1959/60 |
49 |
6 |
Kasturirangan B* |
Ker |
Ernakulam |
1960/61 |
52 |
7. |
Krishnamurthy S |
And |
Bangalore |
1962/63 |
58 |
8. |
Subramanya V |
Ker |
Bangalore |
1963/64 |
62 |
9. |
Patel YB |
Ker |
Trivandrum |
1964/65 |
70 |
10. |
Ashokanand PR |
Bih |
Bangalore |
1970/71 |
99 |
11. |
Chandrashekhar BS |
And |
Vijayawada |
1971/72 |
101 |
12. |
Sudhakar Rao R |
Ker |
Chikmagalur |
1977/78 |
136 |
13. |
Binny RMH |
And |
Tirupathi |
1983/84 |
175 |
14. |
Jeshwanth KA |
Goa |
Panaji |
1992/93 |
224 |
15. |
Kumble A |
Goa |
Margao |
1994/95 |
238 |
16. |
Joshi S |
Bih |
Bangalore |
1998/99 |
275 |
17. |
Prasad BKV |
Del |
Bangalore |
1999/00 |
286 |
18. |
Arunkumar J |
And |
Belgaum |
2000/01 |
290 |
19. |
Yeregoud KT |
Har |
Mysore |
2006/07 |
328 |
20. |
R Vinaykumar |
Pun |
Mohali |
2010/11 |
358 |
It may be of interest to note that no Punjab player has taken 5WI against Karnataka so far. The trend continued in this match also as the best bowling performance by a Punjab player was 3-92 by MS Gony. The best ever bowling performance in an innings by Punjab against Karnataka is 4-31 by Arun Bedi at Mohali in 1994/95.
On the other hand, Vinaykumar took 5-61 in the 1st innings. This was his best bowling performance against Punjab surpassing his prev
ious best of 3-100 at Mysore in 2009/10. Overall, 5-61 was his 10th five wicket haul in his 45th match. These occasions are as under:
No |
W |
RC |
Opposition |
Venue |
Year |
1 |
5 |
83 |
Gujarat |
Bangalore |
2004/05 |
2 |
5 |
65 |
Railways |
Delhi |
2005/06 |
3 |
5 |
22 |
Maharashtra |
Bangalore |
2005/06 |
4 |
5 |
47 |
UttarPradesh |
Kanpur |
2006/07 |
5 |
5 |
70 |
Saurashtra |
Mysore |
2007/08 |
6 |
5 |
121 |
Delhi |
Bangalore |
2007/08 |
7 |
6 |
38 |
Maharashtra |
Ratnagiri |
2007/08 |
8 |
8 |
32 |
Delhi |
Delhi |
2009/10 |
8 |
5 |
40 |
Maharashtra |
Poona |
2009/10 |
R Vinaykumar became the sixth Karnataka bowler to take 5WI against Punjab; The others who have achieved this feat against Punjab are: 5-45 by AR Bhat at Bangalore in 1981/82 : 5-93 by DJ Johnson at Mohali in 1994/95 : 5-99 by R Ananth at Mohali in 1994/95 : 6-37 by Dodda Ganesh at Amritsar in 1998/99 and 5-51 by A Kumble at Bangalore in 1997/98. However, best bowling performance by Vinaykumar is 8-32 against Delhi at Delhi in 2009/10.
Vinaykumar also achieved another rare distinction by becoming only the sixth Karnataka bowler to capture five or more wickets in an innings on his debut as captain. The other five bowlers are : 5 for 78 by S Darashah vs Madras at Madras in 1939/40 : 5 for 73 by PE Palia vs Madras at Madras In 1964-65 : 6 for 24 by KA Jeswanth vs Goa at Panaji in 1992-93 : 5 for 48 by SB Joshi vs Bihar at Bangalore in 1998-99 and 6 for 60 and 5 for 35 by BKV Prasad vs Delhi at Bangalore in 1999/00. BKV Prasad remains the only player to capture ten or more wickets on his debut as Captain.
Rajwinder Singh of Punjab had the dubious distinction of bagging a ‘pair’. He became the 59th player to be dismissed for pair against Karnataka. This was the 61st such occasion for the opponents. Ravi Achan and Mohd Ibrahim of Kerala are the only players to have bagged a ‘pair’ – on two occasions against Karnataka.
KL Rahul made his debut in Ranji Trophy for Karnataka. He celebrated his selection by scoring a 50 plus in the 2nd innings (61). He is the 44th Karnataka player to score a half century on debut. The last player before him to accomplish this feat was Manish Pandey who had scored 64 in his debut match against Railways at Bangalore in 2008/09.
Ganesh Satish scored his sixth fifty plus score including two hundreds in his 11th match. Amit Verma took his tally of 50 plus scores to four including 2 hundreds in his 12th match. KB Pawan made 65. This was his 11th fifty plus score including four hundreds. He was playing in his 24th match.
Abhimanyu Mithun took his 50th wicket in Ranji Trophy when he dismissed K Goel for a first ball duck. Mithun was playing in his 10th match.
Inder Singh made his 9th fifty plus score including four hundreds in his 23rd match. This was his first fifty against Karnataka surpassing his previous best of 38 at Mysore in 2009/10.
Yuvraj Singh by making 79 in his 2nd innings took his 50 plus scores tally to 16 including five hundreds. He was playing in his 32nd match. Surprisingly, this was his first Ranji match against Karnataka.
Punjab skipper P Dharmani scored 51 in the second innings. This was his 53rd fifty plus score including 22 hundreds. He was playing in his 113th match. This was his highest individual score against Karnataka
in five matches surpassing his previous best of 39 at Mohali in 1994/95.