Nagpur: A maiden ton by Deepak Chowgule, whirlwind 119 by Doda Ganesh and a weak Vidarbha bowling attack helped Karnataka take a huge 735-run lead over the hosts on the fourth day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final plate group match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) ground on Thursday. The visitors ended the day at 607 for nine in their second innings with the help of 204-run eighth wicket stand between Chowgule (166) and Ganesh (119). Commencing at overnight score of 181 for five, Karnataka plundered runs at will as Deepak Chowgule and Sunil Joshi (99) carted the depleted home bowling attack to shreds to remain unseparated at lunch. The home team without the services of its two mainline spinners Preetam Gandhe and Madhusudhan Achraya due to injuries toiled hard with only two regular bowlers. Chowgule got his maiden ton with some determined effort and executed good shots in front of the wicket. Joshi (99) on the other hand cut loose and displayed his range of shots against a mediocre bowling but was unfortunate to miss his century.Karnataka with a huge lead and vital first innings lead already appears set to reach the plate final with one wicket still to fall. Vidarbha at best could look forward to salvage some prestige by batting through the final day. PTI

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