Tamil Nadu and Karnataka recorded clinical wins over Andhra and Goa on the opening day of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 south zone championship at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy stadium on Monday.
Dinesh Karthik’s rapid-fire 57 (28b, 9x4, 2x6) rocketed TN to victory, largely helping the side overhaul Andhra’s modest 119 with more than five overs to spare.
Mayank Agarwal’s aggressive knock from the outset helped Karnataka set up an imposing 172 for four.
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At Vizianagaram, Sachin Baby’s valiant endeavour went in vain against Hyderabad as Kerala missed the mark by 10 runs when he himself fell four balls from the close with a splendid 79 (50b, 7x4, 2x6).
Goa’s hopes that its seamers would capitalise on a 9 a.m. start were dashed soon enough. Karnataka’s openers went into assault mode from the word go and simply waded into the attack. Mayank (55, 8x4, 2x6) exploited the unmanned open spaces behind square, cutting the Goan attack to ribbons.
The Bengaluru-born batsman revelled in the run-making, the ball flying to all parts of the ground from sweetly-timed strokes in a 35-ball stint.
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His second six off Darshan Misal sailed over long-on. Off the next ball, the slow left-arm orthodox spinner dipped it short and the flashy opener spooned back a catch to the bowler, the pick of the lot with three for 27. Stuart Binny’s unbeaten 28 off 16 and Pravin Dubey’s 11-ball 17 spruced up the finish.
Karnataka’s counter was quick, Swapnil Asnodkar’s snick off Abhimanyu Mithun held by third man C.M. Gautam inches inside the ropes. Less than a fourth of the way, Goa lost Amogh Desai too, his pat off R. Vinay Kumar picked up by mid-off Dubey.
Half-way through, Goa seemed stranded at 48, the target looming too large on the horizon. Karnataka’s disciplined bowling and precise placement ensured fielders broke no sweat to take their catches.
Tamil Nadu’s new ball operators K. Vignesh and A. Davidson struck in their very first overs, the former castling Ashwin Hebbar. The latter felled Andhra skipper Hanuma Vihari, who smacked the descending ball on the full, against the pace and was snapped up by mid off B. Aparajith leaping to the front.
The score: At Vizag: Karnataka 172 for four in 20 overs (R. Samarth 28, Mayank Agarwal 55, Stuart Binny 28 n.o., Darshan Misal three for 27) bt Goa 123 for eight in 20 overs (Sagun Kamat 28); Andhra 119 for seven in 20 overs (Ricky Bhui 25) lost to Tamil Nadu 122 for three in 14.4 overs (Dinesh Karthik 57).
At Vizianagaram: Hyderabad 168 for five in 20 overs (Akshath Reddy 34, B. Sandeep 25, Ambati Rayudu 52 n.o.) bt Kerala 158 for seven in 20 overs (Sachin Baby 79) .