Lacklustre Karnataka crash out
From Vivek MV, Visakhapatanam, Dec 25, 2016, DHNS
Vignesh, Natarajan strike as Tamil Nadu enter semifinals with 7-wicket win
If Aswin Crist stole the limelight on the first day, it was another young medium pacer Krishnamoorthy Vignesh who produced a brilliant effort on the second day to help Tamil Nadu clinch the southern derby and end Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy title dreams here on Saturday.
On a day when as many as 19 wickets fell at the Dr YSR ACA-VDCA stadium, Tamil Nadu emerged the better of the two sides to post a seven-wicket victory and storm into the semifinals.
With two formidable teams up against each other in a quarterfinal game, a lot of cricketing action was expected. But a track that remained helpful for seamers made the encounter a low-scoring two-day finish.
Unable to get the better of Karnataka in six straight games in Ranji, Tamil Nadu finally prevailed over their arch-rivals on this occasion. Karnataka, who returned empty handed last season following their exit in the group stages, once again failed to last the distance. Incidentally, it was Tamil Nadu’s first win against Karnataka in a knockout game in three attempts.
After a shocking below-par performance with the bat on the opening day, Karnataka needed a huge batting effort to bring themselves back into the game. Their seamers, led by S Arvind (3/16), rattled Tamil Nadu to 152 after resuming the day at 111/4.
Trailing by 64 runs, it required a first-rate batting performance from Karnataka to gain the upper hand over their rivals. But apart from KL Rahul, who scored a gutsy 77 (94b, 13x4) under pressure, none of the other batsmen stood up to the challenge as Karnataka were bundled out for 150, setting an 87-run target. Vignesh, playing in his debut season, plotted Karnataka’s downfall with four wickets for 53. The 22-year-old medium pacer bent his back and extracted good bounce and movement off the surface to dismiss key batsmen like Karun Nair, Manish Pandey and Shreyas Gopal.
Tamil Nadu, despite losing three wickets in the first ten overs, held their nerve to cross the line. Dinesh Karthik, playing in his 100th Ranji Trophy tie, scored a breezy unbeaten 41 (44b, 5x4, 2x6) and finished off the game in style with a six.
Earlier, Karnataka clinched the first session, when their bowlers restricted Tamil Nadu from gaining a big first innings lead. Skipper R Vinay Kumar had Karthik (31) caught behind in the very first over and Arvind scalped Baba Aparajith (0) in the next over. Skipper Abhinav Mukund, suffering from fever, couldn’t last long and Shreyas cleaned up the tail.
Karnataka began their second hit in a promising manner, with Mir Kaunain Abbas and Rahul posting a 61-run stand for the second wicket. But the post lunch session saw a dramatic collapse from Karnataka, with Vignesh doing most of the damage.
Karnataka had themselves to blame for two suicidal run-outs of opener R Samarth and Stuart Binny, which further exerted the pressure on them.
Running out of partners, Rahul waged a lone battle. The right-hander’s innings was marked by solid technique. The 24-year-old, who was strong on his back-foot, executed the upper cut to perfection for most of his boundaries through that shot. Unfortunately his knock went in vain.
On a day when as many as 19 wickets fell at the Dr YSR ACA-VDCA stadium, Tamil Nadu emerged the better of the two sides to post a seven-wicket victory and storm into the semifinals.
With two formidable teams up against each other in a quarterfinal game, a lot of cricketing action was expected. But a track that remained helpful for seamers made the encounter a low-scoring two-day finish.
Unable to get the better of Karnataka in six straight games in Ranji, Tamil Nadu finally prevailed over their arch-rivals on this occasion. Karnataka, who returned empty handed last season following their exit in the group stages, once again failed to last the distance. Incidentally, it was Tamil Nadu’s first win against Karnataka in a knockout game in three attempts.
After a shocking below-par performance with the bat on the opening day, Karnataka needed a huge batting effort to bring themselves back into the game. Their seamers, led by S Arvind (3/16), rattled Tamil Nadu to 152 after resuming the day at 111/4.
Trailing by 64 runs, it required a first-rate batting performance from Karnataka to gain the upper hand over their rivals. But apart from KL Rahul, who scored a gutsy 77 (94b, 13x4) under pressure, none of the other batsmen stood up to the challenge as Karnataka were bundled out for 150, setting an 87-run target. Vignesh, playing in his debut season, plotted Karnataka’s downfall with four wickets for 53. The 22-year-old medium pacer bent his back and extracted good bounce and movement off the surface to dismiss key batsmen like Karun Nair, Manish Pandey and Shreyas Gopal.
Tamil Nadu, despite losing three wickets in the first ten overs, held their nerve to cross the line. Dinesh Karthik, playing in his 100th Ranji Trophy tie, scored a breezy unbeaten 41 (44b, 5x4, 2x6) and finished off the game in style with a six.
Earlier, Karnataka clinched the first session, when their bowlers restricted Tamil Nadu from gaining a big first innings lead. Skipper R Vinay Kumar had Karthik (31) caught behind in the very first over and Arvind scalped Baba Aparajith (0) in the next over. Skipper Abhinav Mukund, suffering from fever, couldn’t last long and Shreyas cleaned up the tail.
Karnataka began their second hit in a promising manner, with Mir Kaunain Abbas and Rahul posting a 61-run stand for the second wicket. But the post lunch session saw a dramatic collapse from Karnataka, with Vignesh doing most of the damage.
Karnataka had themselves to blame for two suicidal run-outs of opener R Samarth and Stuart Binny, which further exerted the pressure on them.
Running out of partners, Rahul waged a lone battle. The right-hander’s innings was marked by solid technique. The 24-year-old, who was strong on his back-foot, executed the upper cut to perfection for most of his boundaries through that shot. Unfortunately his knock went in vain.
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