Spirited Karnataka takes on formidable Punjab in Ranji

With back-to-back victories in last two matches, a spirited Karnataka will look to continue their good work and race past Mumbai in the points-table when they lock horns against formidable Punjab here tomorrow.
Karnataka have 19 points from five games and are placed next to table-toppers Mumbai, who have accounted for 20 points so far from their matches.
Karnataka, whose qualification to the knockouts is far from secured, will hope to register an outright win as they did against Odisha and Haryana, to get vitals points before taking on heavyweights Mumbai and Delhi in next two matches.
On paper, Karnataka's batting line-up looks strong. Lokesh Rahul, Manish Pandey, Mayank Agarwal, Ganesh Satish and CM Gautam, have been the real force behind the home side's batting.

With 495 runs under his belt, Rahul has been in scintillating form, cracking one century and two half centuries.
The form of Pandey, Satish and Gautam, in the middle order will not be a cause of concern for captain R Vinay Kumar ahead of the crucial match against Punjab at the KSCA Stadium.

All-rounder Stuart Binny, who has been doing a useful job with his medium pacers, helped Karnataka wriggle out from the jaws of defeat against Haryana with his unbeaten 31-run knock in a low-scoring match.
Among their bowlers, pacers Abhimanyu Mithun and H S Sharath have been among wickets so far and would like to continue the good work.

Right-arm medium pacer Ronit More scalped seven wickets at Rohtak and he would go into the match with his tails up. Binny and spinner KP Appanna also have been among wickets.