Syed Mushtaq Ali: Unbeaten Karnataka Set Up Maharashtra Final
Manish Pandey starred with an unbeaten 49 as Karnataka chased down 139 with four balls to spare.
Karnataka will face Maharashtra in the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after they defeated Vidarbha by six-wickets in their final super league game on Tuesday.
Manish Pandey starred with an unbeaten 49 as Karnataka chased down 139 with four balls to spare.
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Put into bat, Vidarbha surprised everyone as they decided to open the innings with Umesh Yadav. The experiment didn’t yield much results as Yadav was dismissed on the second ball after hitting the first one for a four.
Vinay Kumar (2/27) and J Suchith (1/17) dismantled the Vidarbha top order and reduced them to 31/4. However, some late lower order resistance from Apoorv Wankhade, who scored an unbeaten 56 with some support Akshay Karnewar (33) helped Vidarbha reach 138. Opener Atharva Taide (28) was the only player who reached double-figures.
Opener Rohan Kadam then started well in chase, scoring a steady 39 from 37 balls. At one stage it seemed Karnataka would cruise to victory but Vidarbha stopped the flow of runs with Karnewar, Yash Thakur and Umesh Yadav bowling tight line and length.
However, Pandey never really lost his nerve and then targeted Shrikant Wagh towards the end. He also went after Yadav (1/31), making full use of the small boundaries. He ended with three boundaries and two fours.
The win also helped Karnataka maintain their unbeaten run in the super league stage and they will go in as favourites against Maharashtra for the final on Thursday.
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