JOIN USKarnataka trounced minnows Mizoram by 137 runs to cruise to their fourth win on the trot and consolidate their position atop Group D in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 tournament here on Monday.
Opting to bat, Karnataka toyed with the Mizoram attack to post a huge 242/4 in the stipulated 20 overs.
In reply, Mizoram were restricted to 105/6 with leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal claiming 4 for 8 from his four overs to hand his team a simple win at the DRIEMS ground.
Karnataka have 16 points from four matches, four points clear of Assam, who jumped to second spot following their stunning 26-run win over former champions Bengal at the Barabati Stadium.
First, Rohan Kadam (78 from 51 balls; 6x4, 3x6) and Mayank Agarwal (20 from 14 balls; 3x4) put on a 52-run opening stand in just 4.2 overs.
After Agarwal departed, Karun Nair joined the party and plundered 71 off just 33 balls, smashing five sixes and an equal number of boundaries to set the tone.
Later skipper Manish Pandey struck 33 not out from 13 balls (3x4, 1x6) with J Suchith also finishing on a high with his eight-ball 26 not out (3x4, 2x6).
Lowly Mizoram needed something special to scale down such a mammoth target but with the Karnataka bowlers showing no complacency whatsoever, they just found the going tough.
Openers Taruwar Kohli (36, 23b, 5x4, 1x6) and Akhil Rajput (41, 42b, 6x4) got Manipur off to a sedate start, stitching together 63 runs in 8.4 overs. But, once Kohli departed to run out off Shreyas, things just went downhill for the north-eastern state. Wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals before ending up at 105/6.
At the Barabati Stadium, Sibsankar Roy hit a brilliant 83 off 53 balls (12x4, 1x6) to help Assam recover from 10/2 inside third over, following Ashok Dinda's double blow in successive overs.
Roy was eventually run out by Abhimanyu Easwaran but Riyan Parag's quickfire 52 from 47 balls ensured Assam reach a competitive 162/5.
Dinda finished with impressive figures of 4/17 but that did not help the cause as Bengal put up yet another sloppy batting display to suffer their second defeat.
SCORE BOARD
KARNATAKA: Rohan Kadam c Vanlalruata b Ralte 78, Mayank Agarwal c & b Khadir 20, Karun Nair c Khadir b Ralte 71, Manish Pandey (not out) 33, Luvnith Sisodia c Marema b T Kohli 1, J Suchith (not out) 26. Extras (LB-5, W-6, NB-2) 13. Total (for 4 wkts, 20 overs) 242.
Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-180, 3-181, 4-189.
Bowling: Sinan Khadir 4-0-54-1, Lalnunkima Varte 4-0-27-0, HM Ralte 4-0-48-2, G Lalbiakvela 1-0-13-0, Parvez Ahmed 2-0-31-0, Taruwar Kohli 4-0-49-1, Marema 1-0-15-0.
MIZORAM: Taruwar Kohli (run out) 36, Akhil Rajput c Koushik b Shreyas 41, Sinan Khadir lbw Shreyas 0, K Vanlalruata c Nair b Shreyas 4, Lalhruaizela (not out) 15, HM Ralte b Shreyas 3, Saidingliana Sailo c Suchith b Koushik 3, Parvez Ahmed (not out) 1. Extras (W-2) 2. Total: (for 6 wkts, 20 overs) 105.
Fall of wickets: 1-63, 2-64, 3-76, 4-85, 5-89, 6-103.
Bowling: Prasidh Krishna 4-0-17-0, V Koushik 4-0-17-1, KC Cariappa 3-0-14-0, Manoj Bhandage 2-0-33-0, J Suchith 3-0-16-0, Shreyas Gopal 4-1-8-4.
Other Group D brief scores: Arunachal Pradesh: 74 all out in 19.4 overs (Techi Doria 26; Rajesh Mohanty 2-17, Debabrata Pradhan 3-10, Biplan Samantray 2-6) lt to Odisha: 76/2 in 13.1 overs (Abhishek Raut 41 n.o., Sandeep Pattnaik 28 n.o.).
Haryana: 210/5 in 20 overs (Chaitanya Bishnoi 65 n.o., Sumit Kumar 43, Pramod Chandila 35, Rahul Tewatia 59 n.o.; Shakeeb Ahmed 2-39) lt to Chhattisgarh: 211/5 in 20 overs (Rishabh Tiwari 62, Harpreet Singh 49, Amandeep Khare 60).
Assam: 162/5 in 20 overs (Sibsankat Roy 83, Riyan Parag 52; Ashok Dinda 4-17) bt Bengal: 136/9 in 20 overs (Shreevats Goswami 43; Abu Nechim 2-25, Mukhtar Hussain 2-32).
Other results: Group A: J & K bt Andhra by 5 wkts; Delhi bt Kerala by 7 wkts; Manipur bt Nagaland by 10 wkts.
Group B: Himachal bt Bihar by 9 wkts; Vidarbha bt Rajasthan by 44 runs; Tamil Nadu bt Gujarat by 1 run.
Group C: Saurashtra bt Sikkim by 7 wkts; Railways bt Madhya Pradesh by 5 wkts; Mumbai bt Goa by 6 wkts.
Group E: Uttarakhand bt Tripura by 37 runs; Maharashtra bt Hyderabad by 7 wkts; Uttar Pradesh bt Puducherry by 77 runs; Services bt Baroda by 7 wkts.
Points: Win: 4; Loss: 0.