Vijay Hazare Trophy: Samarth guides Karnataka to emphatic win; TN thumps Bengal

Defending a modest total of 208, Mumbai needed to grab the half chances but fell short to R. Samarth who racked up an unbeaten knock of 96 on Saturday.

Published : Dec 11, 2021 21:00 IST

Opener R.Samarth (96 not out) showed loads of patience and temperament on a tricky pitch to carry Karnataka to an emphatic win. (FILE PHOTO)
Opener R.Samarth (96 not out) showed loads of patience and temperament on a tricky pitch to carry Karnataka to an emphatic win. (FILE PHOTO)
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Opener R.Samarth (96 not out) showed loads of patience and temperament on a tricky pitch to carry Karnataka to an emphatic win. (FILE PHOTO)

Karnataka bounced back into contention with a seven-wicket win over defending champion Mumbai in a Elite Group B match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy cricket tournament at the KCA Stadium, Murukumpuzha here on Saturday.

Opener R.Samarth (96 not out) showed loads of patience and temperament on a tricky pitch to carry Karnataka to an emphatic win. Samarth and Rohan Kadam (44) added 95 runs for the opening wicket which laid the base for the win. Defending a modest total of 208, Mumbai needed to grab the half chances on the pitch which gave enough help to the slow bowlers. But wicketkeeper Hardik Tamore flunked a stumping chance off Tanush Kotian when Samarth was on 21 and Mumbai paid dearly for the lapse. The Karnataka openers were unhurried and punished the odd bad delivery to build a match-winning stand

Leg spinner H.Solanki dismissed K.V.Siddharth (17) and Manish Pandey (5) in quick succession but Karan Nair (39 not out) counter attacked and along with Samarth, who played more fluently after reaching his fifty, hastened the end.

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Earlier, Mumbai wasted a good start given by Yashasvi Jaiswal (61) and Armaan Jaffer (43) who added 95 for the opening wicket. In the middle overs, the Karnataka spinners stifled the run-rate with their nagging line and the little turn on offer forced the batters to be cautious. Suryakumar Yadav flattered to deceive and Mumbai lost wickets regularly to end up with a modest total of 208 for nine.

At Sports Hub, the Tamil Nadu juggernaut rolled unopposed as the side demolished Bengal by 146 runs to notch its third successive win. Tamil Nadu recovered from 55 for three to post a challenging total of 295. Dinesh Karthik led the recovery with a typically busy innings of 87 and he figured in crucial stands with B.Indrajith (64) and J. Koushik (50). Shahrukh Khan’s (33) late flourish saw Tamil Nadu finish with an imposing score. Bengal was never in the hunt after losing opener Shreevats Goswami early. The spinners picked up wickets regularly in the middle overs and medium pacers R.Silambambarasan (4/28) and Sandeep Warrier (2/30) returned to polish off the tail and complete the resounding win.

At St. Xavier’s College ground, Baroda scored its first win with a five-wicket win over Pondicherry.

Andhra Pradesh pips J&K

Ram Dayal's brilliant unbeaten 116 (100b, 13x4, 4x6) went in vain as Jammu & Kashmir lost to Andhra by two wickets in a thrilling Elite Group A Vijay Hazare Trophy match played at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai on Saturday.

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Chasing a modest target of 209, Andhra kept losing wickets and just about managed to chase down the total in 49 overs thanks to Rick Bhui's 56 (77b, 6x4) and Ambati Rayudu's 39 (28b, 3x4, 2x6). 

Earlier, electing to bat, J&K got off to a disastrous start thanks to some fine bowling from medium pacers M. Hari Shankar Reddy and left-arm pacer C.V Stephen as they picked two wickets each in the first ten overs. 

From 27/4, J&K kept losing wickets with medium-pacer Girinath Reddy joining the party with four  quick wickets as J&K was reduced to 61/8 by the 23rd over.  From 99/9, Ram Dayal who walked in at number 7 and number 11 batsman Umar Nazir (27, 44b, 3x4) added 109 runs for the last wicket stand to bring a sense of respectability to the total.

- S. Dipak Ragav

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