Paceman Siddharth Trivedi's four-wicket haul helped Gujarat restrict Karnataka to 226 in the second innings on Thursday and take his side to the doorstep of victory in the Ranji Trophy match in Ahmedabad.
Gujarat, needing 143 runs for victory, were 106 for three at the end of the penultimate day, with captain Mukund Parmar unbeaten on five and Niraj Patel batting on 59.
Karnataka, who collapsed to 163 in the first innings, did only marginally better in the second. Though Robin Uthappa (56) and Bharat Chipli (67) gave the team a solid platform, the visitors failed to capitalise on it. Only Balachandra Akhil provided soem support in the middle with a useful knock of 41.
The Gujarat pace trio of Trivedi, Makda and Hitesh Majumdar again did most of the damage, claiming seven wickets between them. Trivedi, after figures of four for 57, returned with a eight-wicket haul from the match.
Gujarat didn't have a good start to their innings, as both the openers were sent back to the pavilion on three, but Niraj Patel didn't give a semeblance of a chance to the visiting bowlers with a blistering innings of 59 runs with ten fours and a six.
If Gujarat knock off the required 37 runs on Friday, it will be their second outright victory.
Scorecard
Karnataka 1st innings 163
Gujarat 1st innings 247
Karnataka 2nd innings
A Uthappa c Damani b Trivedi 56
B Rowland c Modi b Trivedi 7
B Chipli c NK Patel b Majmudar 67
S Somasunder c Modi b Trivedi 0
S Shinde c Modi b Majmudar 20
T Naidu c Modi b Makda 13
B Akhil not out 41
S Binny c Modi b Trivedi 10
S Joshi c Brahmehatt b Watekar 3
R Vinay Kumar c & b Damani 3
NC Aiyappa lbw b Damani 0
Extras (lb 1, w 1, nb 4) 6
Total (all out, 81 overs, 358 mins) 226
Fall fo wickets: 1-25, 2-92, 3-102, 4-139, 5-156, 6-171, 7-190, 8-203, 9-216, 10-226
Bowling: Trivedi 23 4 57 4, Makda 20 3 75 1, Majmudar 21 3 57 2 (4nb), Watekar 14 4 22 1 (1w), Damani 3 0 14 2
Gujarat 2nd innings (target: 143 runs)
A Christian c Uthappa b Aiyappa 1
K Damani lbw b Vinay Kumar 2
N Patel not out 59
A Bilakhia b Aiyappa 36
M Parmar not out 5
Extras (lb 1, nb 2) 3
Total (3 wickets, 31 overs) 106
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-3, 3-91
Bowling: Vinay Kumar 8 3 21 1, Aiyappa 10 0 40 2, Akhil 4 1 13 0, Joshi 4 0 12 0, Binny 5 0 19 0 (2nb)
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