Karanataka beat Kerala by 52 runs in Vijay Hazare Trophy
Karanataka rode on a solid batting performance to beat Kerela by 52 runs in a South Zone leg match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy One-Day Championship here today.
Asked to bat, their top six batsmen registered double digits scores as Karanataka piled up a huge 322 for five in their alloted 50 overs.
Openers Lokesh Rahul (86) and Robin Uthappa (54) gave a solid start to Karnataka's innings, stitching 112 runs for the opening stand. One-down Manish Pandey also got a start with a 34-ball 25.
Captain Stuart Binny (60 off 55), Ganesh Satish (40 off 32) and Karun Nair (46 not out off 19) used their long handle to great effect towards the end to take Karnataka to the formidable total.
Left-arm spinner Padmanabhan Prasanth turned out to be the most successful bowler for Kerala picking up two wickets for 53 runs. Kerala's run chase got off a disastrous start as they lost their first three wickets with just 32 runs on the board in 9.2 overs.
It took a 106-run fourth-wicket partnership between Robert Fernandez (55) and captain Sachin Baby (61) to stabilse Kerala's innings. After Baby and Fernandez's dismissal, Raiphi Gomez (44), Karimuttathu Rakesh (41 not out) and Prasanth (21 not out) tried hard to keep Kerala in the hunt, but the asking turned out to be too tall and they eventually finished at 270 for six.
Medium pacer H S Sharath showed a lot of promise with the ball for Karnataka with figures of four for 40.
Brief Scores:
Karnataka: 322 for 5 wickets in 50 overs (Lokesh Rahul 86, Stuart Binny 60; Padmanabhan Prasanth 2/53).
Kerala: 270 for 6 wickets in 50 overs (Sachin Baby 61, Robert Fernandez 55; H S Sharath 4/40).
