Karnataka pacers made up for their batsmen’s dismal performance to ensure a 73-run win over Saurashtra in a Vijay Hazare Trophy Group-D match at the Eden Gardens here on Tuesday.
Put in to bat, Karnataka stuttered to post 201, primarily on the back of Mayank Agarwal’s determined 89, and bundled out Saurashtra for 128 to register its third straight victory.
Karnataka suffered due to the lack of application from its batsmen, who couldn’t make the most of several chances grassed by Saurashtra fielders.
After Robin Uthappa fell to Jaydev Unadkat in the second ball, Mayank and R. Samarth joined hands briefly.
Saurashtra seamers showed discipline to ask questions frequently. Unadkat impressed by moving the ball both ways, but it was first-change bowler Kushang Patel who did most of the damage.
Kushang exploited the bounce and made the ball cut sharply. He opened his account by dismissing Samarth (11), caught at midwicket off a leading edge, in his third over.
Manish Pandey (15), who gathered 35 runs with Mayank, and Pavan Dehpande were caught behind in Kushang’s consecutive overs, leaving Karnataka at 68 for four in the 18th over.
Mayank and Stuart Binny (31) added 49 before the latter played a loose shot and lost his off-stump to Chirag Jani. Jani dealt another quick blow by accounting for Aniruddha Joshi.
Unadkat returned to remove J. Suchith and Jani claimed his third wicket by trapping Sreenath Aravind in front.
Mayank, who had some near misses early on, batted with patience and worked the ball around in his 114-ball 89, also containing five 4s and a six hit to the sightscreen off Shaurya Sanadia.
Mayank offered a return catch to left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja following his 40-run partnership with No. 10 Ronit More (18).
Kushang dismissed More to record his best figures of four for 36.
Rising to the occasion
Karnataka pacers rose to the occasion to stifle Saurashtra batsmen. They pursued good line and length and extracted subtle drift to reduce Saurashtra to five for 27 in the 15th over.
Jaydev Shah (38) and Jani (25) forged a defiant 63-run stand. However, More had Shah caught behind to clear the roadblock. Jani’s run out, while stealing a run off an overthrow, signalled the end of Saurashtra’s resistance and its third consecutive defeat.
More polished off the tail for his four-wicket haul, while M. Pasidh and Binny took two wickets apiece.
The scores: Karnataka 201 in 47.1 overs (Mayank Agarwal 89, Stuart Binny 31, Kushang Patel four for 36, Chirag Jani three for 40) bt Saurashtra 128 in 36.2 overs (Jaydev Shah 38, Shaurya Sanadia 31, Chirag Jani 25, Ronit More four for 20).
