Bengaluru: Saurashtra have been a thorn in Karnataka’s path for considerable number of years. The hosts, yet again, struggled to negate their journey and had to be content with just one point in their second Elite Group B fixture at the Alur Ground 1 here.
Karnataka, last year’s finalists, now are placed at a lowly sixth place in the eight-team group with two points from as many matches.
After adopting a brave face during the fourth day’s play, Karnataka, chasing an unlikely outright win, declared their second innings at 243/7 in 64.1 overs.
Saurashtra then trudged to 137 for 2 in 42 overs when the players shook hands after the visitors declined a shot at a target of 237 in 49 overs.
Manvanth Kumar (1/29) produced the first breakthrough to end Harvik Desai’s (10, 12b) stay, reducing Saurashtra to 12/1 in 5.3 overs to keep Karnataka’s optimism of a miracle burning.
However, any hopes Karnataka might have had of making a match vanished as soon as the batting duo of Chirag Jani (63 n.o., 117b) and Hetvik Kotak (25, 68b) set out to blunt the attack, and the plan worked to perfection with a 65-run stand in 20 overs, as the hosts struggled to create chances.
Shreyas Gopal (1/42) finally broke the partnership in the 26th over when the skipper removed Kotak, with Saurashtra still needing 160 for victory.
While Abhilash Shetty and Vyshak Vijaykumar did have their moments and rhythmic spells in the game, it also showcased Karnataka’s dependency of Vidwath Kaverappa’s consistency.
Earlier, the day’s play started three minutes late, but Karnataka’s intentions were clear from the moment the session got underway. Well, it had to, as they were chasing the improbable.
Karun Nair (33, 56b) pounced whenever Saurashtra overpitched or changed their lines, starting off with a beautiful cover drive in the very first ball.
He then collected two more boundaries with delightful shots before the visitors halted his charge when Chetan Sakariya (1/49) nicked him off to keeper Harvik.
In his follow-through, Sakariya advanced close to Karun, who was walking off to the pavilion, and celebrated from close quarters, which could attract sanctions.
The first 30 minutes saw as many runs, and once Karun was out, Shrijith K L (52, 76b) maintained the same tempo, looking to up the ante with the clock ticking down.
He served up an intentful knock, finding boundaries and pocketing quick singles to keep the scoreboard moving.
Saurashtra then started to keep things reasonably tight. As the runs started to slowly dry up, Shrijith brought up his fifty with a double to third man before walking back after miscuing it to short square leg on 52.
Shrijith was also dropped on eight by bowler Parth Bhut (3/80), who couldn’t hold onto a low catch.
 Meanwhile, Aneesh K V, safeguarding one end while also being proactive in nature, reached his half-century — second in the game — in 84 balls.
While Aneesh was batting well, he made the long walk back on 79, while trying to shift gears.
Manvanth (31, 35b), fresh off a glorious hundred, showcased signs of intent and pressed on the accelerator with two sixes as the first session saw Karnataka score 137 runs in 36 overs.
Mayank Agarwal, who did not take the field due to injury, is “all fine”, confirmed head coach Vinay Kumar.