Koushik’s five-for helps Karnataka dismiss Bengal for 301

In the absence of regulars Prasidh Krishna, Vidhwath Kaverappa and V. Vyshak, the onus was on V. Koushik to carry the pace bowling load for Karnataka. Koushik delivered in style, showcasing terrific skill to record figures of five for 38 against Bengal in a Ranji Trophy Elite Group-C match here on Thursday.

Koushik stayed on good length outside off all through his 25 overs to scalp his third First Class five-for. He moved the ball just enough to induce the edges; all his dismissals came through catches behind the stumps.

Koushik, who added two wickets to his overnight tally, helped Karnataka dismiss Bengal for 301.

There were early stutters in the Karnataka batting response, before Abhinav Manohar (50 batting) and Shreyas Gopal (23 batting) steadied the ship. Manohar reached his maiden First Class fifty, in his second outing, as Karnataka moved to 155 for five at close of play.

Karnataka will hope that the aggressive Manohar and sedate Shreyas can resume the good work on Friday and erase the 146-run deficit.

For Koushik, the First Class dream run continues. The seamer now has 80 wickets in 20 matches, at a fantastic average of 17.2. A captain’s dream, Koushik hopes to represent the Indian team. “I have dreams of playing for India. If not for the nation, perhaps an India-A tour or an IPL team. The biggest dream is to win a Ranji Trophy for Karnataka,” Koushik said.

Koushik may not be express pace, but he more than makes up for it by landing every single delivery on a dime. “I have worked a lot on hitting the right lengths. It comes quite naturally to me because I am not a pacer who can bowl 135 or 140-plus kmph. I try to bowl upwards of 120 kmph and try to hit the length. That is what my mastery is,” Koushik said.

Manohar, meanwhile, sported a huge smile as he walked off the field. The 30-year-old, taking his first steps in red-ball domestic cricket, lifted the spirit of the home team with a big six in the final session.

Nikin Jose, who took a blow near the eye on Wednesday, did not come out to bat. Kishan Bedare took his place as the concussion substitute, and made a handy 23.

The score:

Bengal — 1st innings: Shuvam Dey c Manish b Koushik 0, Sudip Chatterjee c Sateri b Koushik 55, Sudip Kumar c Jose b Koushik 5, Anustup Majumdar lbw b Shreyas 101, Shahbaz Ahamed c Sateri b Koushik 59, Avilin Ghosh c Mayank b Abhilash 22, Wriddhiman Saha c Smaran b Abhilash 6, Aamir Gani c Abhilash b Shreyas 18, Suraj Sindhu b Shreyas 16, Ishan Porel c Mayank b Koushik 5, R. Vivek (not out) 1; Extras (b-2, lb-6, w-3, nb-2); 13; Total (in 101.5 overs): 301.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-21, 3-121, 4-201, 5-242, 6-254, 7-254, 8-286, 9-299.

Karnataka bowling: Koushik 25-12-38-5, Abhilash 20-6-62-2, Vidyadhar 19-4-63-0, Shreyas 25.5-2-87-3, Hardik 12-1-43-0.

Karnataka — 1st innings: Mayank Agarwal b Sindhu 17, Kishan Bedare (concussion substitute) c Shahbaz b Porel 23, Sujay Sateri c Saha b Vivek 10, R. Smaran c Chatterjee b Sindhu 26, Manish Pandey c Shuvam b Vivek 0, Abhinav Manohar (batting) 50, Shreyas Gopal (batting) 23; Extras (lb-5, w-1): 6; Total (for five wkts. in 51 overs): 155.

Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-52, 3-62, 4-63, 5-97.

Bengal bowling: Porel 15-3-38-1, Sindhu 17-2-53-2, Vivek 15-3-44-2, Shahbaz 1-0-6-0, Ghosh 3-1-9-0.