Mysuru: Debutant medium pacer Murli Prasidh Krishna hogged the limelight on his first-class debut as his 5 for 49 enabled Ranji Trophy champions Karnataka to dismiss a star-studded Bangladesh A for a paltry 158 on the opening day of the three-day game.
At stumps, Karnataka were 163 for six in reply with left-hander Shishir Bhavane hitting an unbeaten 55. He added 63 runs for the unbroken seventh wicket stand with debutant Jagadeesha Suchith (14 batting).
Mominul Haque called correctly at the toss but his players could not repay the faith that the Bangladesh A skipper had in his players as they were all out in 38.4 overs.
It was 19-year-old Krishna, who turned out to be an unlikely hero in the absence of senior pros like R Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun, who have been rested keeping upcoming Ranji opener in mind.
Krishna shared the new ball at the Gangotri Glades ground with HS Shararth and wreaked havoc. Four of his five wickets were international players Anamul Haque Bijoy (5) who was cleaned up, Rony Talukdar (0) caught in the slip cordon. Ditto for Mominul (0) and Soumya Sarkar (1) who also could not cope with the seam movement as Bangladesh were in trouble at 27 for four. It became 41 for five when Krishna renoved seasoned Nasir Hossain caught by keeper CM Gautham to get his fourth victim.
But Litton Das with a run-a-ball 50 and Shuvagato Hom with 55 added some semblance of respectability.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh A 158 in 38.4 overs (Litton Das 50, Shuvagato Hom 55, Krishna 5/49).
Karnataka 163/6 (Shishir Bhavane 55, Shuvagato Hom 3/29).
