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Calcutta: Delhi continued to be pathetic with their batting, handing Karnataka a bonus-point victory in the Ranji Trophy Group B tie at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
Almost all the batsmen, including captain Gautam Gambhir, played atrocious shots just as they did in the first innings as Karnataka completed the rout winning by an innings and 160 runs.
The approach of Delhi's batsmen appeared as if they would have to catch the earliest flight back home. It served Karnataka's purpose, though, as this emphatic win helped them leapfrog Delhi to go top of the table with 10 points after two matches.
Off-spinner K. Gowtham, taking five wickets and finishing with eight overall, was adjudged Man of the Match. Of course, Delhi batsmen made Gowtham's job easier, but the 28-year-old has to be credited for the kind of comeback he has made after being out for three seasons.
"Gowtham did exceedingly well. He's coming back after so many days and it's not easy at all to put in such performances when you are out for so long at this level," Karnataka stand-in captain Karun Nair pointed out. Abhimanyu Mithun jolted Delhi early, removing Gambhir and Dhruv Shorey off consecutive deliveries in the fifth over of the penultimate day. Unmukt Chand and Nitish Rana resisted for a while, but once the stand was broken - by none other than Gowtham - the rest of the line-up fell like nine pins.
Delhi
1st innings 90
Karnataka
1st innings 414
Delhi
2nd innings
U. Chand c Nair b Gowtham 38
G. Gambhir c Uthappa b Mithun 2
D. Shorey b Mithun 0
N. Rana lbw b Gowtham 28
R. Pant c Nair b Gowtham 9
M. Kumar c Samarth b Gowtham 0
M. Sharma c Uthappa b Gowtham 0
V. Sood not out 41
V. Tokas c Abbas b Gopal 17
I. Sharma c & b Gopal 11
P. Suyal b Aravind 5
Extras (b-8, lb-3, w-1, nb-1) 13
Total (all out; 43 overs; 203 mins) 164
Fall of wickets 1/11, 2/11, 3/61, 4/71, 5/75, 6/75, 7/94, 8/127, 9/143
Bowling: Mithun 9-1-36-2, Aravind 9-2-23-1, Binny 10-4-25-0, Gowtham 9-1-35-5, Gopal 6-0-34-2
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