Karnataka prevail in tense chase

 Karnataka held their nerve to post a thrilling two-wicket win over Punjab in their Syed Mushtaq Ali (Super League) Group ‘B’ match at the Holkar stadium here on Tuesday.

After bowling out Punjab for 129 in 18.1 overs, Karnataka encountered stiff resistance from the opponents before R Vinay Kumar’s men survived by the skin of their teeth, finishing their innings on 133/8 in 19.4 overs.

Chasing 130 for a win after Stuart Binny’s (3/26) fine effort with the ball, Karnataka’s openers Robin Uthappa and Mayank Agarwal took to the crease but it wasn’t before long the former was sent back to the hut with the scorecard reading one for three. Karnataka continued to lose wickets regularly but Manish Pandey (31) and CM Gautam (31) added a crucial 31 runs for the fifth wicket to steady the ship.

Karnataka were once again staring down the barrel following the fall of Pandey in the 13th over but new-man-in Karun Nair (16) and Gautam stitched together a 42-run partnership to give Karnataka the edge.

With the score on 117 for six in 17.4 overs, Karnataka were expected to have it easy but they were once again met with some resistance. They lost Gautam and Nair on the same score and now the hopes were on skipper Vinay Kumar (3 n.o.) and K Gowtham (2) to carry them home. Gowtham fell with the score on 121 and with nine runs to win from as many balls, Abhimanyu Mithun wielded the long handle and struck a six to see Karnataka through.

Karnataka next take on Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

PUNJAB: Ravinder Singh lbw Gowtham 60, Mandeep Singh c Rahul b Binny 11, GR Singh c Uthappa b Pandey 12, MA Sidana (run oput) 2, H A Chawla c Gautam b Binny 8, Amitoze Singh b Nair 12, Chandan Madan c Pandey b Binny 2, Manpreet Gony (run out) 0, R P Sharma (run out) 1, S T Kaul (not out) 8, Rajwinder Singh (run out) 0. Extras (B-4, LB-2, W-6) 12. Total (all out, 18.1 overs) 129.

Bowling: Vinay Kumar 2.1-0-17-0, A Mithun 2-0-15-0, SL Akshay 3-0-24-0, Stuart Binny 4-0-26-3, Manish Pandey 2-0-19-1, K Gowtham 4-0-10-1, Karun Nair 1-0-12-1.

KARNATAKA: Robin Uthappa (run out) 1, Mayank Agarwal c C Madan b Kaul 14, KL Rahul lbw Kaul 1, Manish Pandey c C Madan b Rajwinder 31, Stuart Binny c Kaul b Rajwinder 17, CM Gautam c Amitoze Singh b RP Sharma 31, Karun Nair b RP Sharma 16, Vinay Kumar (not out) 3, K Gowtham c Mandeep b Gony 2, A Mithun (not out) 9.
Extras (LB-2, W-6). Total (for 8 wkts, 19.4 overs) 133.

Bowling: Manpreet Gony 4-0-17-1, ST Kaul 4-0-16-2, Amitoze Singh 3.4-0-36-0, Rajwinder Singh 4-0-28-2, RP Sharma 4-0-34-2.

Other brief scores: Bengal: 149/4 (Laxmi Ratan Shukla 50, Shreevats Goswami 48) bt Baroda: 145/9 (Aditya Waghmode 47; Sayan Sekhar Mondal 3-19, Shami Ahmed 2-26).
Group ‘A’: DELHI: 195/4 in 20 overs (Unmukt Chand 105, Robin Bisht 28, Milind Kumar 48) lt to KERALA: 197/4 in 18 overs (Rohan Prem 92, Sachin Baby 48).

ODISHA: 151/6 in 20 overs (Govind Podder 40, Biplab Samantray 33, Subhrajit Sahoo 37; Mehul Patel 2-29) lt to Gujarat: 152/7 in 19.4 overs (Parthiv Patel 29, Niraj Patel 40, Jesal Karia 29; Basant Mohanty 3-27).