<p> Kerala fell apart in spectacular fashion as they were bundled out for 49 by defending champions Karnataka, who won the game by nine wickets, in a Group B fixture of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Thursday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>It was a must-win encounter for Karnataka and they came out firing on all cylinders against a hapless Kerala side, whose total is the fourth lowest score in domestic limited overs competitions.<br /><br />The big win notwithstanding, Karnataka’s progress to the knock-outs still stands on a knife’s edge as Gujarat defeated Jammu and Kashmir by 36 runs in their penultimate match.<br /><br />Jharkhand also won their tie against Railways and by virtue of that result, they have progressed to the next round with 20 points. Gujarat are on 16 points now and Karnataka on 12. <br /><br />In order to progress, Karnataka will have to win their last league fixture against Jammu and Kashmir and hope that Gujarat lose to Kerala. Anything less than a defeat for Gujarat will spell exit for the home team. <br /><br />Shreyas Gopal starred with the ball as he accounted for half the Kerala unit in a fine spell of bowling and returned with figures of 5/19 in five overs.<br /><br />Chasing a paltry 50 to win the encounter, Karnataka overhauled the target with ease in just 5.5 overs to settle the tie.<br /><br />Earlier, Kerala won the toss and chose to bat on a pitch that didn't seem to have any demons and apart from a hint of grass, looked flat.<br /><br />The visitors, however, failed to utilise the good batting conditions and were on the back foot from the start as skipper R Vinay Kumar got VA Jagadeesh to knick one to wicketkeeper CM Gautam off the fourth ball of the innings.<br /><br />By the 10th over the scoreboard read 16/3 after Vinay had also accounted for Rohan Prem, who departed courtesy a superb one-handed effort at slips by an air-bourne Manish Pandey, and Mithun castled the out-of-form Sanju Samson.<br /><br />At this point, S Arvind was introduced into the attack and he was successful immediately as he sent Nikhilesh S back to the hut after the Kerala batsman poked at a ball outside off and the edge was comfortably pouched by Gautam.<br /><br />The stage was set at this point for Shreyas, who was introduced in the 13th over.<br />Skipper Sachin Baby and Akshaya MK took a cautious approach to the leg-spinner but in his second over, he outsmarted Akshaya and had him trapped leg before leaving Kerala reeling at 27/5.<br /><br />The Kerala innings moved forward at a snail’s pace with Arvind tightening the screws from one end and Shreyas leaving batsmen flummoxed at the other.<br /><br />Baby was the only batsman fighting to bring about some respectability to the Kerala’s total and his stern resistance ended as he played down the wrong line off a Shreyas delivery and was caught plumb in front.<br /><br />With the lone recognised batsman gone, Karnataka sniffed a chance to bowl their opponents out for an embarrassing total and they did just that as Sandeep Warrier was adjudged leg before to Shreyas, who completed his five wicket haul -- all of which were LBWs.<br /><br />Chasing an anaemic total, Karnataka lost Mayank Agarwal early to a contentious leg-before decision but KL Rahul and Karun Nair took the home side over the line with 265 balls to spare, which is the second biggest margin of victory in terms of balls to spare in the Vijay Hazare tournament.<br /><br />score board<br /><br />KERALA: VA Jagadeesh c Gautam b Vinay 0 (4b), Nikhilesh S c Gautam b Arvind 11 (26b, 1x4), Sanju Samson b Mithun 0 (6b), Rohan Prem c Pandey b Vinay 2 (18b), Sachin Baby lbw Shreyas 12 (35b), Akshaya MK lbw Shreyas Gopal 5 (17b), Fabid Farook lbw Shreyas 1 (3b), Prasanth Padmanabhan c Shreyas b Arvind 0 (6b), Manukrishnan (not out) 9 (11b, 1x4), Niyas Nisar c Pandey b Shreyas 5 (4b, 1x4), Sandeep Warrier lbw Shreyas 0 (2b). Extras (B-1, W-3) 4. Total (all out, 22 overs) 49.<br /><br />Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Jagadeesh), 2-6 (Samson), 3-15 (Rohan), 4-16 (Nikhilesh), 5-27 (Akshaya), 6-31 (Fabid), 7-34 (Prasanth), 8-35 (Sachin), 9-41 (Niyas).<br /><br />Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 5-2-6-2 (w-1), Abhimanyu Mithun 6-1-11-1 (w-2), Sreenath Arvind 6-1-12-2, Shreyas Gopal 5-0-19-5.<br /><br />KARNATAKA: Mayank Agarwal lbw Manukrishnan 5 (8b, 1x4), KL Rahul (not out) 19 (10b, 2x4, 1x6), Karun Nair (not out) 24 (19b, 5x4). Extras (W-1, NB-2) 2. Total (for 1 wkt, 5.5 overs) 51.<br /><br />Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Agarwal). Bowling: Sandeep Warrier 3-0-24-0, Manukrishnan 2.5-0-27-1 (w-1, nb-2).<br /></p>
<p> Kerala fell apart in spectacular fashion as they were bundled out for 49 by defending champions Karnataka, who won the game by nine wickets, in a Group B fixture of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Thursday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>It was a must-win encounter for Karnataka and they came out firing on all cylinders against a hapless Kerala side, whose total is the fourth lowest score in domestic limited overs competitions.<br /><br />The big win notwithstanding, Karnataka’s progress to the knock-outs still stands on a knife’s edge as Gujarat defeated Jammu and Kashmir by 36 runs in their penultimate match.<br /><br />Jharkhand also won their tie against Railways and by virtue of that result, they have progressed to the next round with 20 points. Gujarat are on 16 points now and Karnataka on 12. <br /><br />In order to progress, Karnataka will have to win their last league fixture against Jammu and Kashmir and hope that Gujarat lose to Kerala. Anything less than a defeat for Gujarat will spell exit for the home team. <br /><br />Shreyas Gopal starred with the ball as he accounted for half the Kerala unit in a fine spell of bowling and returned with figures of 5/19 in five overs.<br /><br />Chasing a paltry 50 to win the encounter, Karnataka overhauled the target with ease in just 5.5 overs to settle the tie.<br /><br />Earlier, Kerala won the toss and chose to bat on a pitch that didn't seem to have any demons and apart from a hint of grass, looked flat.<br /><br />The visitors, however, failed to utilise the good batting conditions and were on the back foot from the start as skipper R Vinay Kumar got VA Jagadeesh to knick one to wicketkeeper CM Gautam off the fourth ball of the innings.<br /><br />By the 10th over the scoreboard read 16/3 after Vinay had also accounted for Rohan Prem, who departed courtesy a superb one-handed effort at slips by an air-bourne Manish Pandey, and Mithun castled the out-of-form Sanju Samson.<br /><br />At this point, S Arvind was introduced into the attack and he was successful immediately as he sent Nikhilesh S back to the hut after the Kerala batsman poked at a ball outside off and the edge was comfortably pouched by Gautam.<br /><br />The stage was set at this point for Shreyas, who was introduced in the 13th over.<br />Skipper Sachin Baby and Akshaya MK took a cautious approach to the leg-spinner but in his second over, he outsmarted Akshaya and had him trapped leg before leaving Kerala reeling at 27/5.<br /><br />The Kerala innings moved forward at a snail’s pace with Arvind tightening the screws from one end and Shreyas leaving batsmen flummoxed at the other.<br /><br />Baby was the only batsman fighting to bring about some respectability to the Kerala’s total and his stern resistance ended as he played down the wrong line off a Shreyas delivery and was caught plumb in front.<br /><br />With the lone recognised batsman gone, Karnataka sniffed a chance to bowl their opponents out for an embarrassing total and they did just that as Sandeep Warrier was adjudged leg before to Shreyas, who completed his five wicket haul -- all of which were LBWs.<br /><br />Chasing an anaemic total, Karnataka lost Mayank Agarwal early to a contentious leg-before decision but KL Rahul and Karun Nair took the home side over the line with 265 balls to spare, which is the second biggest margin of victory in terms of balls to spare in the Vijay Hazare tournament.<br /><br />score board<br /><br />KERALA: VA Jagadeesh c Gautam b Vinay 0 (4b), Nikhilesh S c Gautam b Arvind 11 (26b, 1x4), Sanju Samson b Mithun 0 (6b), Rohan Prem c Pandey b Vinay 2 (18b), Sachin Baby lbw Shreyas 12 (35b), Akshaya MK lbw Shreyas Gopal 5 (17b), Fabid Farook lbw Shreyas 1 (3b), Prasanth Padmanabhan c Shreyas b Arvind 0 (6b), Manukrishnan (not out) 9 (11b, 1x4), Niyas Nisar c Pandey b Shreyas 5 (4b, 1x4), Sandeep Warrier lbw Shreyas 0 (2b). Extras (B-1, W-3) 4. Total (all out, 22 overs) 49.<br /><br />Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Jagadeesh), 2-6 (Samson), 3-15 (Rohan), 4-16 (Nikhilesh), 5-27 (Akshaya), 6-31 (Fabid), 7-34 (Prasanth), 8-35 (Sachin), 9-41 (Niyas).<br /><br />Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 5-2-6-2 (w-1), Abhimanyu Mithun 6-1-11-1 (w-2), Sreenath Arvind 6-1-12-2, Shreyas Gopal 5-0-19-5.<br /><br />KARNATAKA: Mayank Agarwal lbw Manukrishnan 5 (8b, 1x4), KL Rahul (not out) 19 (10b, 2x4, 1x6), Karun Nair (not out) 24 (19b, 5x4). Extras (W-1, NB-2) 2. Total (for 1 wkt, 5.5 overs) 51.<br /><br />Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Agarwal). Bowling: Sandeep Warrier 3-0-24-0, Manukrishnan 2.5-0-27-1 (w-1, nb-2).<br /></p>
