Karnataka made it two wins out of two in the Vijay Hazare Trophy following a convincing 111-run win over Assam at the Just Cricket Ground near here on Thursday.
It didn’t matter that Karnataka had rested skipper Vinay Kumar. Young seamer Prasidh Krishna stymied the opposition with a six-wicket haul (8.2-0-33-6), his first five-for in List-A cricket, as the home side bowled Assam out for 192. Another rookie paceman T. Pradeep, who took Vinay’s place, turned in a decent showing too – two for 43 from nine overs.
When opener Rishav Das commenced the chase with two fine driven boundaries, he seemed up to the task. But Prasidh broke Assam’s back by reducing it to 25 for three. Rishav and Gokul Sharma were bowled, both guilty of playing on the back foot when they ought to have been on the front. Abhishek Thakuri was caught at first slip by Mayank Agarwal.
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Assam resisted from there on. The two partnerships – 48 runs for the fourth wicket and 38 runs for the fifth wicket – did stop the bleeding with No.3 batsman Sibsankar Roy (64, 93b, 6x4, 1x6) being involved in both. But rarely did they threaten Karnataka. For much of the innings Assam lumbered at less than four runs per over, more intent on playing out the full quota of overs rather than making a good fist of the total. The curtains were pretty much drawn when Prasidh in his second spell (3-0-7-2) snuffed out Roy and Jitumoni Kalita off successive deliveries, both being caught expertly by a diving Mayank at first slip. Abu Nechim Ahmed and Mrinmoy Dutta displayed uncharacteristic urgency with a 42-run stand from 27 balls for the last wicket, but it was too late by then.
“I worked hard before this tournament and I am glad my efforts paid off,” said Prasidh later. “There is stiff competition in the Karnataka side so it’s really nice to make an impact when I get a chance. I just want to stay focussed and keep contributing.”
Earlier, Mayank (84, 87b, 4x10, 2x6) and R. Samarth (70 n.o., 61b, 4x4, 1x6) came good again. The duo was well assisted by captain Karun Nair (58, 57b, 6x4, 1x6). Batting didn’t seem as easy as it had against Baroda, with Assam often bowling with packed off-side fields.
But the manner in which the home batsmen rotated the strike was praiseworthy. With some delightful hits to the boundaries interspersed – like the two sixes Mayank hit down the ground late in his innings – Karnataka raked up its second successive 300-plus score, which in the end proved more than a handful.
Karnataka will next play Haryana on Saturday.
Brief scores: Karnataka 303 for six in 50 overs (Mayank Agarwal 84, Karun Nair 58, R. Samarth 77 n.o., Pavan Deshpande 43) bt Assam 192 in 47.2 overs (Shibsankar Roy 64, Abu Nechim Ahmed 43 n.o., M. Prasidh Krishna six for 33). Toss: Assam
At Alur: Baroda 250 for nine in 50 overs (Deepak Hooda 46, Vishnu Solanki 67, Amit Mishra three for 57) bt Haryana 199 in 45 overs (Shubham Rohilla 61, Jayant Yadav 55, Swapnil Singh three for 42). Toss: Baroda.
Punjab 225 in 49.5 overs (Gurkeerat Mann 106 n.o., Deepak Behera three for 19) bt Odisha 139 in 41 overs (Manpreet Grewal three for 25, Barinder Sran four for 22). Toss: Odisha.
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