HP struggling at 117/4, Thilak Naidu scores century

Bangalore, Nov 16 (UNI) Hosts Karnataka were in the driver's seat dismissing four Himachal Pradesh wickets for a mere 117 at the close of play in reply to their mammoth 452 for nine (declared) in the Ranji Trophy Elite 'A' match held in M Chinnaswamy Stadium here today.

Ajay Manu (16) and Manvinder Bisla (11) were at the crease at the close of play.

Resuming at 271 for four, the Karnataka batsman continued to send Himachal Pradesh bowlers on a leather hunt adding 181 runs before skipper Anil Kumble declared the innings. The highlight of the day's play was a immaculate century by Thilak Naidu (105), which included a huge six and 16 hit to the fence during his 231 minutes stay facing 137 balls. Naidu also accounted for 85 run partnership for the fifth wicket with Yere Goud (23).

Himachal Pradesh still need more than 180 runs to avoid follow-on, while Karnataka would go all way to register an outright victory.

Karnataka bowlers, including Anil Kumble, Vinay Kumar, Aiyappa and Sunil Joshi bagged one wicket each, while for visitors opener Munish Gupta (42) was the highest scorer.

Brief Score: Karnataka (First Innings) 452 for nine declared (Thilak Naidu 105, Vikramjeet Kaur 3/103, Ashok Thakur 2/66, Vishal Bhatia 6/129) against Himachal Pradesh 117 for four (Munish Gupta 42, Sandeep Sharma 21).

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