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Bangalore: Rest of India were left chasing shadows as all-rounder Stuart Binny and young Karun Nair capitalised on the excellent groundwork of Ganesh Satish, KL Rahul and Manish Pandey to turn this Irani Cup tie into a virtual no-contest at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday.
When stumps were drawn on the second day, Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka, replying to Rest's first innings total of 201 were 390 for 5, a lead of 189 runs and counting. Binny who came in to bat with the team coasting at 188 for four, effectively pulled the rug from under Rest's feet with an innings packed with impressive power and laced by admirable conviction.
He scarcely gave the bowlers an opportunity to regroup as he quickly got his eye in and went on the rampage. The inside-out lofted shots for huge sixes off leg-spinner Amit Mishra and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh were reminiscent of the trademark strokes of his father Roger Binny, former Test cricketer and current national selector.
There were also a number of cuts, drives and even a hooked six as he raced to a dazzling hundred off just 82 balls. His 187-run fifth wicket stand with the brilliant Karun Nair (92, 161b, 12x4) successfully ran Rest ragged.
The manner in which the home team paced their innings today was truly admirable. In the morning, when the pitch could have been a handful, overnight batsmen Rahul (35) and Satish (84, 266m, 180b, 11x4) were watchful and circumspect.
They rarely missed the opportunity to pick up runs even as they gave the tall, well-built paceman Pankaj Singh the respect he was due. Rest's medium-pace trio, Ashok Dinda, Pankaj and Anureet Singh, however, struggled to get the ball to dart about like Vinay Kumar had done on the opening day.
Pankaj, in one short burst, got the ball to move off the seam and accounted for Pandey and probed Karun Nair's defence. But that moment was gone when he was replaced by Anureet just before lunch. Satish, who battled hard during his fine knock, was caught behind off Harbhajan, a decision that left him aghast.
But he had done the hard work and paved the way for others to build on. Karnataka, who switched gears after the lunch break, added 231 runs in the last two sessions to turn the screw on Rest.
