Karnataka outclass Andhra, lift title

Hosts ensure a berth in Vijay Hazare Trophy

With Hyderabad pulling off an upset of sorts against Tamil Nadu, it didn’t matter if Karnataka defeated Andhra by a bonus point or not in their final match.

There was, however, no justification for the distinct lack of hunger and imagination the home team exhibited during its win.

For the record, Hyderabad knocked out defending champions Tamil Nadu after a 36-run victory at the RSI ground, while Karnataka drubbed Andhra by 56 runs at the Chinnaswamy stadium to not only qualify for the all-India one-day tournament for the Vijay Hazare Trophy but also emerge South Zone champions after a gap of three years. At the end of Sunday’s final round of games, Karnataka topped the table with 18 points, while Hyderabad finished with 16 points to also book their place in the knockouts at the expense of Tamil Nadu (14).

Hyderabad’s result may have left the hosts as clear winners but had the result gone the other way and Andhra denied Robin Uthappa and company the bonus point, both genuine possibilities at one stage, Karnataka would have been forced to settle for the second slot once again.

Having reduced Andhra to 153 for nine in the 35th over after posting a challenging 275 all out, Karnataka were well on their course to restrict their rivals to 220 and earn the bonus point.

Astonishingly, they allowed the last pair to add 66 runs to put themselves in a spot of bother. That A Mithun dropped  a sitter from T Atchut Rao with the total reading 175, didn’t help their cause either. Eventually, Ronit More cleaned up a stubborn D Shiva Kumar (24) to signal the end of the Andhra innings but that they allowed the situation to reach that stage reflected poorly on Uthappa’s captaincy and the lack of a pro-active approach from the think-tank. Uthappa was in his elements again with the bat, scripting another stroke-filled century (104, 95b, 11x4, 2x6). Having assessed the slow nature of the wicket, he paced his knock well and was involved in two healthy partnerships at the top.

While the right-hander raised 78 for the opening wicket with the more dominant Mayank Agarwal, he realised 117 for the second with Ganesh Satish (67, 72b, 5x4, 1x6). The way the Karnataka innings folded up – from 211 for two in 33.5 overs to 275 all out -- with the Andhra spinners running rings around them, it put Uthappa’s second ton in as many innings in perspective.

The Kodava showed he can think out of the box as well when he brought on left-arm spinner Abrar Kazi (4/33) in the fifth over to get the breakthrough just when the Andhra openers were growing dangerous. With wickets falling at regular intervals, Karnataka were cruising along when they had a brain-freeze.

Admittedly, spinners had done the bulk of the damage but there was no point in persisting with them when the batsmen looked in little discomfort. Given that it was the last pair in the middle, it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to press in at least one paceman.

It wasn’t until the spinners had sent down 11.5 overs after the fall of the ninth wicket and Andhra had reached 206, just 14 short of denying Karnataka the bonus point, that Uthappa summoned Stuart Binny in the 47th over which cost four runs. More conceded nine runs from his first four balls before he broke through the defences of Shiva Kumar.

While there is always a danger of faster bowlers going for runs off edges, it’s equally true that all you need is one good delivery for a tail-ender, especially when you have runs on the board.