Bengaluru: Unbeaten Karnataka will be eyeing revenge when they take on a dangerous Tripura in their fifth Group A encounter of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
Less than a month ago, Karnataka suffered a bruising defeat via Super Over in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy at the very same city. Despite coming into that encounter on the back of a poor run of results, Karnataka batters rose to the occasion in posting an imposing 197/6 in 20 overs.
And when they had Tripura reduced to 100/5 in the 11th over, they thought a win was almost there in the bag. But Manisankar Murasingh smashed a 35-ball 69 to turn the contest on its head and push it into a shootout where Sridam Paul’s 4-ball 16 powered them to 22/0. Karnataka gave it all but eventually fell short by four runs, a defeat that highlighted their troubles in the shortest format yet again.
However, defending champions Karnataka, who were outstanding in the first phase of the Ranji Trophy, have come roaring back in the Vijay Hazare, winning four consecutive matches to sit second behind Madhya Pradesh with net run rate separating the two sides. Karnataka, after chasing down a 413-run target in the opening clash against SMAT champions Jharkhand, have looked in impressive touch, especially on the batting front.
Opener Devdutt Padikkal has led the batting charts with three centuries to amass 406 runs in four games, averaging 101.50 at a good strike rate of 106. His partner at the top and skipper Mayank Agarwal too has made a sound start, totalling 245 runs, which includes a century and two fifties. The returning Karun Nair, serving as Agarwal’s deputy, too has been in good touch with 238 runs.
In a welcome boost for Karnataka, India international KL Rahul will turn up for Karnataka and he is expected to keep wickets also. Rahul reached Ahmedabad on Friday morning and trained with the rest of his team-mates.
The only concern has been R Smaran’s poor returns. A standout performer in the Ranji Trophy, he’s been unable to replicate it in white-ball, managing just 88 runs in four innings in this tournament so far. He’ll be looking to turn the tide on Saturday. Tripura, with two wins and an equal number of losses, will be hoping to shock Karnataka again.