Karthik, bowlers guide TN to Hazare triumph

New Delhi, March 20 

Dinesh Karthik produced an innings of character before Tamil Nadu's disciplined bowling saw them beat Bengal by 37 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final.

This was the third time that Tamil Nadu prevailed over Bengal in the 50-over meet, having beaten them in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Karthik (112) was the only significant scorer for Tamil Nadu in their meagre total of 217 in 47.2 overs as Mohammed Shami bowled with a lot of fire, scalping 4/26. Ashok Dinda (3/36) also rattled the top order. But the Tamil Nadu bowlers showed a lot of discipline in restricting Bengal to 180 on a pitch that didn't have any demons. 

Shreevats Goswami (23) consumed a lot of deliveries at the onset, increasing the pressure on his team. A poor call led to Abhimanyu Easwaran (1) run out. Manoj Tiwary (32) was clean bowled by Vijay Shankar while trying to play across the line. Sudeep Chatterjee (58) and Anushtup Majumdar (24) added 65 runs for the fifth wicket for Bengal but a dodgy LBW decision off left-arm spinner Rahil Shah started another collapse. Earlier, Karthik hit 14 boundaries to score more than 50 per cent of Tamil Nadu's total despite a good effort by the Bengal bowlers.

The former India stumper lost partners at the other end but never stopped attacking. 

Brief Scores: Tamil Nadu: 217 all out (Dinesh Karthik 112, Baba Indrajith 32, Washington Sundar 22; Mohammed Shami 4/26, Ashoke Dinda 3/36); Bengal: 180 (Sudip Chatterjee 58, Manoj Tiwary 32, Aamir Gani 24; Aswin Crist 2/23, M Mohammed 2/30). — PTI