Ranji Trophy: Kartik’s five-for shines for UP as match vs Puducherry ends in draw
Across both innings, Kartik's ability to bowl long spells without losing accuracy stood out.
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Former champions Uttar Pradesh took first-innings honours against Puducherry after the hosts, following on, finished at 211/8 in 98 overs on the final day of their four-day encounter, at the Cricket Association Puducherry Siechem Stadium on Thursday.
With Puducherry still 50 runs behind Uttar Pradesh’s 333, the Ranji Trophy Elite Group A fixture ended in a draw, but only after left-arm spinner Kartik Yadav had delivered the most commanding bowling performance of the match.
Kartik returned figures of 28 overs, 11 maidens, 42 runs and six wickets at an extraordinary economy rate of 1.50. He removed Ritesh Gudge, Mohit Kale, Nikhil Gangta, Prasad Pawar, Sagar Trivedi and Karan Kannan, repeatedly breaking Puducherry’s attempts to build partnerships in a long, defensive second innings. It was his second five-wicket haul this season as he had 5/37 against Goa in the second innings in the previous match.
Kartik’s spell was defined by control rather than flamboyance. Eleven maidens in 28 overs meant Puducherry could not rotate strike freely, while his tight lines forced batters either to defend for long periods or take risks against a spinner who was rarely offering width. The wickets arrived at crucial moments: Gudge’s 41 ended a 48-run opening stand’s momentum, Kale fell for a five-ball duck, and Gangta’s 12 came as the middle order struggled to accelerate.
Prasad Pawar’s lbw dismissal for six was particularly significant. Coming at 194/5 in the 84th over, it opened the lower order to Kartik, who then accounted for Trivedi and Kannan in quick succession. By the time Puducherry reached 211/8, Kartik had turned a potentially tense final day into a showcase of his growing first-class pedigree.
This was not an isolated burst. In the first innings, Kartik had already taken 3/60 from 23 overs, giving him match figures of 9/102. He had dismissed Mohit Kale, Ankit Sharma and Prasad Pawar then, maintaining seven maidens and helping Uttar Pradesh bowl Puducherry out for 172 and enforce the follow-on.
Across both innings, his ability to bowl long spells without losing accuracy stood out. Kartik bowled 51 overs in the match, conceded 102 runs, and took nine wickets at an average of 11.33 and an economy of exactly 2.00. For a left-arm spinner operating alongside Zeeshan Ansari, that is the kind of pressure bowling that changes the shape of a match even when a side cannot force an outright result.
Undoubtedly, Puducherry’s batters showed discipline, if not enough penetration. Captain Neyan Shyam Kangayan made 33, Aman Khan 62, and Ankit Sharma finished unbeaten on 38 from 78 balls. But the innings moved at just 2.15 runs per over, and once Uttar Pradesh’s spinners settled into their rhythms, scoring became increasingly difficult.
Vaibhav Chaudhary supported Kartik with 2/43, while pacer Yash Dayal and off-spinner Karan Sharma kept things tight. Yet it was Kartik’s six wickets that gave Uttar Pradesh their decisive edge.
For Uttar Pradesh, the draw will feel like three points gained through first-innings superiority; for Puducherry, it was a hard-earned escape. For Kartik Yadav, it was a statement performance: patient, relentless, and increasingly difficult to ignore. Now, Uttar Pradesh come back home to take on Baroda from November 2, at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.
“We were quite close to victory today, and I am happy with the performance of my bowlers, especially Kartik, who has consistently been doing well this season,” UP’s chief coach Gyanendra Pandey said.
