Karnataka set up title clash with TN

Bengaluru, October 23 

Karnataka eased past Chhattisgarh to set up the final clash with Tamil Nadu in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Karnataka registered a nine-wicket win, while Tamil Nadu beat Gujarat by five wickets in the semifinals here today.

Chasing 224 for victory, hosts Karnataka romped home in 40 overs as openers KL Rahul (88 off 111 balls) and Devdutt Padikkal (92) built Karnataka’s innings before Mayank Agarwal (47 off 33 balls) toyed with the Chhattisgarh attack.

After putting Chhattisgarh in to bat, Karnataka medium-pacer V Koushik (4/46) reduced the visitors to 35/3.

Amandeep Khare (78 off 102 balls) held fort for Chhattisgarh even as the Karnataka bowlers kept picking up wickets at regular intervals. Sumit Sureshrao Raikar (40 off 37 balls) helped Chhattisgarh’s cause with some late hitting before the innings ended in the final over at 223.

Abhimanyu Mithun (2/44), Krishnappa Gowtham (2/30) and Pravin Dubey (2/43) took two wickets each.

In the chase, Rahul and Padikkal kept Karnataka ahead of the required run-rate. The left-handed Padikkal continued his fine run, notching up his fifth half-century on the trot.

Mohammed, Shahrukh  star for Tamil Nadu

The other semifinal was reduced to 40 overs due to a late start owing to overnight rain and a wet outfield. The Dinesh Karthik-led Tamil Nadu chased down the 178-run target with an over to spare, thanks to an enterprising half-century by M Shahrukh Khan.

Gujarat could only make 177/9 in 40 overs. For Tamil Nadu, medium-pacer M Mohammed (3/33) was the best bowler, while Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Murugan Ashwin and T Natarajan scalped a wicket each.

The final will be played on Friday. — PTI