Syed Mushtaq Ali T20: Kadam, bowlers shine as Karnataka thrashes Odisha

Odisha's 156-run chase got off to the worst possible start after it lost three wickets inside the first six overs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy match.

Rohan Kadam struck a 59-ball 89.

Rohan Kadam struck a quickfire 89 off 59 deliveries as Karnataka pushed Odisha to the brink of elimination after registering a 51-run win in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament at the Barabati stadium on Thursday.  

Odisha's 156-run chase got off to the worst possible start after it lost three wickets inside the first six overs.

Day six: As it happened

Vinay Kumar cleaned up Rajesh Dhuper while V. Koushik snapped up stand-in skipper Anurag Sarangi and Swastik Samal in the space of three deliveries to assert Karnataka's dominance. 

Having slipped to 44/6 in the 10th over, Suryakant Pradhan threatened a fightback with an entertaining 32 off 17 balls but his dismissal in the 15th over sealed the host side's fate. 

Earlier, Sarangi —  Subranshu Senapati is nursing an injury — won the toss and inserted Karnataka in. Mayank Agarwal opened his account with an effortless cut over backward point for six before Rohan Kadam, too, got into the act collecting a slew of boundaries off new-ball pair Rajesh Mohanty and Suryakant Pradhan.  

The bowling change came soon after and it worked for Odisha as Agarwal's run of poor form continued. The right-hander toe-ended one that stopped on him, to Mohanty off Debabrata Pradhan's bowling. 

Three overs later, adjudged lbw off Samantray, Karun Nair left the field visibly disappointed as Karnataka was reduced to two for 58. Samantray had his second when skipper Manish Pandey was caught at deep square-leg, trying to clear the fence after having smacked a drive over deep midwicket earlier in the over. 

The early loss of wickets didn't deter Kadam, who drove, pulled and cut his way to his third half-century off just 34 balls. But he found little support from the other end.  

Left-arm spinner Pappu Roy, introduced in the 12th over, struck off his first and fourth ball to send half the Karnataka side back for less than 100.  

But Kadam racked up his highest score of the tournament with the help of 10 boundaries and two sixes before holing out. The visitor reached an eventually winning total with Roy returning figures of two for 21.