Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018: Karnataka rout Odisha; Kerala find way past Delhi
Karnataka's openers Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair slammed centuries to smash Odisha out of the game and help their side win comprehensively by 133 runs. The right-handed pair added 190 for the opening wicket as Agarwal was the more aggressive batsman of the pair, falling first for 102 off 94 balls with 10 fours and 2 sixes. Nair then continued with a 100 of his own, facing 111 balls before being dismissed in the 39th over of the innings.
Once both were back, the perfect finishing was provided by the middle-order, with crucial contributions from all of Pavan Deshpande, Shreyas Gopal and Krishnappa Gowtham shooting up the final score to 353/6. Deshpande remained unbeaten on 54 from 37 balls, as Gopal, with an 18-ball 25 and Gowtham, who played a breezy 47 from 20 deliveries, ensured Karnataka's bowlers put persistent pressure on the oppisition from the start.
As if to avenge, Odisha's openers also put on 118, but that was going to be it in their innings, as they folded up for 220. Both Rajesh Dhuper and Anurag Sarangi were sent back by Gowtham just after their half-centuries, and left-arm orthodox Jagadeesha Suchith found an opening, running though the middle and the lower order to end with 5/34.
On the other hand, Kerala made it needlessly difficult for themselves to chase 178 against Delhi, losing eight wickets in the process. In a match reduced to 42 overs, Delhi were made to bat first and new ball bowler M Nisheesh justified his captain's decision soon. The medium pacer accounted for four Delhi batsmen, including opener Hiten Dalal for 9, top scorer Dhruv Shorey for 71 and a comfortable looking captain Pradeep Sangwan for 25.
Delhi made their way to only 177, but ensured they did not go down without a fight. Their finds from the Ranji Trophy this season, Navdeep Saini and Kulwant Khejroliya, rocked Kerala by sharing seven wickets between them. Only Sachin Baby, 52, found some runs as Delhi threatened to walk away with the match, but Mohammed Azharuddeen, with 21*, took Kerala home in a dicey run chase.
Brief Scores:
Group A
Punjab 275/9 in 50 overs (Vohra 78, A Gupta 53; P Das 3/54) beat Assam 206 in 41.5 overs (Parag 59, Gokul 41; Markande 3/39) by 69 runs
Karnataka 353/6 in 50 overs (Agarwal 102, Nair 100; Pradhan 2/69) beat Odisha 220 in 41 overs (Sarangi 58, Dhuper 53; Suchith 5/34) by 133 runs
Baroda 357/7 in 50 overs (Hooda 161, Devdhar 111; A Mishra 3/55) beat Railways 165 in 37 overs (A Ghosh 69*, Anureet 29; Arothe 2/26) by 192 runs
Group B
Himachal Pradesh vs Maharashtra: No Result (Match abandoned without a ball being bowled)
Bengal 249 in 33 overs (Vivek 84, Raman 76; Chakraborty 7/40) beat Tripura 140 in 29 overs (Banik 51; Pratap 4/36, Pramanik 3/25) by 109 runs [Match reduced to 33 overs a side]
Kerala 178/8 in 35.4 overs (Baby 52; Saini 4/39, Khejroliya 3/27) beat Delhi 177 in 39.3 overs (Shorey 71, Sangwan 25; Nidheesh 4/41) by 2 wickets [Match reduced to 42 overs a side]