Karnataka bounced back and settled into the driver's seat with a 168-run lead after the third day in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group semi-final against Bengal in Kolkata on Thursday.
Overcoming the blues of the first innings, in which they scored just 89 runs, Karnataka batted confidently to score 317 for 5 after their bowlers restricted Bengal to 238 runs in their first innings.
The winners will meet 36-time champions Mumbai, who beat Baroda by 63 runs on the third day of the other semi-final.
Building on a solid foundation given by openers Bharat Chipli (95) and R Barrington (52), who were unbeaten at 64 and 26 respectively on Wednesday, the Karnataka batsmen batted patiently to gain control of the proceedings.
Chipli, unlucky to miss out on a century by five runs, was trapped leg before wicket by Bengal pace spearhead Ranadeb Bose. He batted for 224 minutes, playing 138 balls and hitting 16 fours.
Barrington, who gave Chipli excellent company, played 141 balls in 204 minutes and hit seven boundaries.
After the 151-run partnership by the openers, who fell in a span of 13 runs, K B Pawan and C Raghu came up with an 83-run partnership. While Pawan's (43) wicket was claimed by part-time bowler Rohan Gavaskar, Raghu remained not out on 78.
Bengal's first innings bowling heroes Ranadeb and Sourav Sarkar picked two wickets each. Ranadeb has eight wickets and Sourav six wickets in their kitty so far.
With two days left to be played, Karnataka have got an edge and it would be an uphill task for the Bengal batsmen and bowlers to turn the tide back in their favour.
Karnataka (1st innings): 89
Bengal (1st innings): 238
Karnataka (2nd innings):
Karnataka 2nd innings:
B Chipli lbw b Bose 95
B Rowland c Dasgupta b Bose 52
K Pawan c Shukla b Gavaskar 43
C Raghu not out 78
VST Naidu c Dasgupta b Sarkar 17
B Akhil lbw b Sarkar 0
YKT Goud not out 14
Extras: (b 1, lb 5, w 9, nb 3) 18
Total: (for 5 wickets, 120 overs) 317
To bat: R Vinay Kumar, SB Joshi, RR Bhatkal, S Dhananjaya
Fall of wickets: 1-151, 2-164, 3-247, 4-271, 5-271.
Bowling: R Bose 34-9-87-2 (3w), S Sarkar 25-7-63-2 (1w), L Shukla 1-0-9-0, A Dinda 20-3-49-0 (1w), S Lahiri 19-4-61-0 (3nb), R Gavaskar 8-3-10-1, M Tiwary 13-4-32-0.
