Rookie Nikkin Jose and Shreyas Gopal’s fine knocks and V. Koushik and V. Kaverappa’s incisive bowling helped Karnataka script a comprehensive 66-run win over Vidarbha in an Elite Group-B Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day match at the CCFC ground here on Sunday.
Inserted in, Karnataka amassed 314 for seven before restricting Vidarbha to 248 for nine and ensuring its second successive victory.
Vidarbha suffered its second consecutive defeat despite Akshay Karnewar’s magnificent maiden century (104 n.o., 131b, 14x4, 1x6).
The two-match-old Nikkin (96, 121b, 7x4, 1x6) batted responsibly to get his career-best score. The 22-year-old worked the ball in the gaps to rotate the strike and formed partnerships worth 35, 64 and 83 with R. Samarth (19, 35b, 3x4), Manish Pandey (44, 39b, 5x4, 2x6) and Shreyas (56, 43b, 4x4, 3x6) respectively to put Karnataka on a sound platform.
Nikkin, who drove and pulled well, built a few more useful partnerships. He was bowled while trying to scoop pacer Darshan Nalkande in the 48th over.
The pace duo of Kaverappa (3/40) and Koushik (4/27) hit the right areas to reduce Vidarbha to a precarious 51 for seven in the 15th over.
However, Karnewar and Nalkande – who earlier took two and three wickets – exhibited their all-round skills to bat positively, playing each ball on merit. They added 140 runs off 158 to save their team from humiliation.
Karnewar, dropped twice, preferred the region between square-leg and fine-leg to get most of his runs, including some good-looking boundaries.
Ronit More removed Nalkande (57, 66b, 5x4, 2x6) to break the stand and relieve Karnataka.
At the 22 Yards ground, Himmat Singh (85, 88b, 9x4, 2x6), Yash Dhull (71 n.o, 64b, 10x4, 1x6) and Shikhar Dhawan (54, 42b, 12x4) scored half-centuries as Delhi overhauled Meghalaya’s target of 217 with eight wickets and 17.4 overs to spare and register its second victory.
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