V. Koushik’s three-wicket burst with the new ball was the cornerstone of Karnataka’s seven-wicket win over Tamil Nadu in a Group B fixture of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Sunday.
On a chilly morning at the Emerald Heights International School ground, Koushik finished with excellent figures of 4-1-10-3 as Karnataka bundled out its neighbour for 90. In response, the Mayank Agarwal-led side needed just 11.3 overs to knock off the paltry target. Manish Pandey smashed a 29-ball 42.
Having suffered its third defeat in a row, Tamil Nadu’s chances of advancing to the knockouts are all but over.
Electing to bat, the team in yellow was doomed once it lost four wickets with just seven runs on the board. In the first over by Koushik, N. Jagadeesan was caught by Shubhang Hegde at point without opening his account. B. Indrajith fell in the next over when his attempt to play a paddle against Vidyadhar Patil went awry. This was the second straight instance of Indrajith finding the fielder at short fine-leg with the shot.
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Koushik, subsequently, struck twice in the third over. M. Boopathi Vaishna Kumar was looking to hit over the infield, but the ball caught the splice of his bat and ballooned to Shreyas Gopal at mid-on. Vijay Shankar lasted just two deliveries as Koushik induced the outside edge for a catch to wicketkeeper K.L. Shrijith.
In the circumstances, a 32-run stand between M. Shahrukh Khan and S. Mohamed Ali offered hope of a slight shift in momentum. But it was fleeting at best, with Ali walking back after an uppish drive was grabbed by Vijaykumar Vyshak in his follow-through.
Less than two overs later, Shahrukh tried to go after Manoj Bhandage’s medium-pace and holed out to R. Smaran at long-on. It was pretty much the last straw in an abject display from Tamil Nadu’s batting unit.
“I felt there was a little bit of help for the fast bowlers. More than anything, we hit better lengths in comparison to previous matches. I tried to capitalise,” Koushik said.
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