Gautam, Gopal and Gowtham ensure draw for Karnataka

Chidambaram Gautam (95) and Shreyas Gopal (77) hit resolute half-centuries before Krishnappa Gowtham dug his heels in as Karnataka lower-order batted superbly to eke out a draw against Odisha in their Ranji Trophy Group B match, here today.
Karnataka were staring at a defeat when they started the day at a precarious 244 for six, just 81 ahead in their second innings, but eventually put on board 393.
Thanks to fighting knocks from Gautam, Gopal and Gowtham (46), they set Odisha a target of 231.
Odisha ended at 63 for no loss and walked away with three points thanks to their first innings lead.

The onus to save the match was on Gautam and Gopal today and they delivered under pressure, putting on 69-run stand.
After Gautam was dismissed five runs short of his 11th first class hundred, Gowtham joined hands with Gopal and the two raised a crucial and match-saving 86-run partnership for the eighth wicket.

Odisha's left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh (5/98) completed his five wicket haul while Govinda Poddar took two wickets.
Brief Scores
Karnataka 179 and 393 in 121.2 overs. (C Gautam 95, R Samarath 49, S Gopal 77, K Gowtham 46; D Singh 5/98).
Odisha 342 and 63 without loss in 32.Overs.