After threatening to catch fire more than once, the Andhra versus Karnataka Ranji Trophy clash petered out to a draw at the ACA Stadium in Mulapadu near here on Wednesday.
From an overnight 176 for four, Karnataka lost captain and first-innings centurion R. Smaran for the addition of just six runs to its total and the lead reading a paltry 38.
But Karun Nair held fort (155 n.o., 242b, 16x4, 2x6) to bail Karnataka out, before the away side declared at 337 for nine to set the hosts a challenging 194-run target from 45 overs.
Twice during Andhra’s pursuit, Karnataka was in with a chance – at 18 for two and 53 for four. But both times, the home batters dug their heels in.
In the end, first-innings heroes S.V. Rahul (35 n.o., 85b, 5x4) and Revanth Reddy (20 n.o., 52b, 4x4) shut the contest down by gobbling up more than 18 overs to score 51 runs.
Andhra had to be satisfied with the first-innings lead and three points while Karnataka with the spirit it showed to press for a win and one point.
The star of the day was Karun, who scored his 27th First Class century. For much of the morning, the Andhra spinners in T. Vijay, Lalith Mohan and Saurabh Kumar bowled a stifling line.
But the 34-year-old paddle-swept and reverse-swept his way out, reaching 100 in 157 balls and 150 in 232.
He was particularly impressive against the two left-arm tweakers in Lalith and Saurabh, seldom allowing them to bamboozle him with their sharp turn while all along ensuring that the deadly arm-ball wouldn’t sneak through.
Lalith had to be content with troubling the other batters, and among his best dismissals were those of K.L. Shrijith, who was castled by a delivery that turned a mile, and Madhav Bajaj, who was stumped down the leg-side by an equally vicious ball.
The 36-year-old would have wanted his eighth First Class five-wicket haul (five for 117) to be a match-winning effort, but it was not to be.
The scores: Karnataka — 1st innings: 274 in 82.2 overs.
Andhra — 1st innings: 418 in 121.5 overs
Karnataka — 2nd innings: Mayank Agarwal lbw b Saurabh 18, K.L. Rahul lbw b Saurabh 1, Manvanth Kumar b Lalith 44, K.V. Aneesh c Bhui b Saurabh 6, Karun Nair (not out) 155, R. Smaran c Abhishek b Vijay 21, K.L. Shrijith b Lalith 19, Madhav Bajaj st Revanth b Lalith 27, Abhilash Shetty c Hemanth b Lalith 4, Ritesh Bhatkal c Revanth b Lalith 23, Shikhar Shetty (not out) 3; Extras (b-6, lb-10): 16; Total (for nine wkts. decl. in 103 overs): 337.
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-25, 3-43, 4-137, 5-182, 6-225, 7-273, 8-287, 9-332.
Andhra bowling: Saiteja 11-1-38-0, Sasikanth 2-1-4-0, Lalith 33-2-117-5, Saurabh 34-2-85-3, T. Vijay 22-1-75-1, Rasheed 1-0-2-0.
Andhra — 2nd innings: Abhishek Reddy c Rahul b Madhav 29, Hemanth Reddy lbw b Shikhar 0, Shaik Rasheed c Shrijith b Shikhar 7, Ricky Bhui c Rahul b Ritesh 12, S.V. Rahul (not out) 35, Revanth Reddy (not out) 20; Extras (lb-1): 1; Total (for four wkts. in 44 overs): 104.
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-18, 3-43, 4-53.
Karnataka bowling: Madhav 15-4-32-1, Shikhar 17-7-32-2, Ritesh 10-2-28-1, Aneesh 1-0-9-0, Mayank 1-0-2-0.