JOIN USKarnataka came close to registering a thrilling win but fell short by two wickets in their final Group ‘A’ game against Baroda here at the Motibagh Stadium on Tuesday.
Resuming from 13/2, Karnataka rode on a 50-run knock from skipper Manish Pandey and K V Siddharth’s 64 to post 220 all out in their second innings and set a tricky target of 110 to the hosts. Deepak Hooda and Bhargav Bhatt cliamed five wickets each for Baroda.
Prasidh Krishna (3-14), Ronit More (2-57) and Shreyas Gopal (2-12) then gave Karnataka hope of a narrow win. But a ninth wicket unbroken stand of 20-run between Bharghav Bhatt (9) and Rishi Arothe (12) took Baroda past the victory line. Veteran all-rounder Yusuf Pathan played a crucial role in Baroda’s win with a 30-ball 41.
Despite the defeat, Karnataka, who have 27 points, are virtually through to the quarterfinals. They are currently placed second in the combined (A&B) table. Baroda are placed third with 26 points from eight matches.
‘Pitch no problem’
Despite the game finishing in two days, Karnataka’s Shreyas said the surface was a great one. “It was a great wicket. We need more wickets like this that give us results. I’d rather play on such wickets than on those that produce totals of 700. It was a good wicket and the better team won,” said Shreyas.
Pathan’s attacking approach helped Baroda near the target even as wickets kept tumbling from one end. The right-hander hit seven boundaries and a six played.
In the bowling department, it was left-arm spinner Bhatt who was the stand out performer for Baroda with a match-haul of eight wickets. .
Bhatt was ably assisted by Hooda, who claimed five wickets in the second essay.
Agencies