Chennai, Aug 22 (IANS) Karnataka scrambled to a three-wicket victory against Gujarat to pick up their first points in two matches in the Buchi Babu All-India Cricket Tournament here Wednesday.
A 63-run partnership for the unfinished eighth wicket between Rajoo Bhatkal (38 not out) and Amit Verma (36 not out) saw Karnataka, who lost their opening game to Kerala, recover from a precarious 135/7 to overhaul Gujarat’s tally of 195.
Earlier, middle-order batsman Manish Pandey struck a fighting 61 (75b, 9×4, 2×6) to prop up the Karnataka innings that resumed at their overnight score of 27/4.
Elsewhere, Hyderabad, Baroda, Saurashtra and TNCA President’s XI won their respective matches in the second round of the league stage.
An unbeaten 114 (186b, 8×4, 3×6) by Dhiren Mistry and his second wicket partnership of 99 runs with Abhimanyu Chauhan (51) featured Baroda’s seven-wicket win against TNCA XI as the visitors overhauled the rivals’ total of 245 with a measure of comfort.
Saurashtra survived some tense moments before pulling off a slender four-run win over Vidarbha for whom Shalabh Srivatsava (105 n.o., 164b, 7×4, 2×6) and Ranjit Paradkar (59) were the key scorers as they chased a total of 337, but fell short in the end.
Meanwhile, TNCA President’s XI cruised to an easy nine-wicket win with openers Abhinav Mukund (104 n.o., 150b, 12×4, 1×6) and Murali Vijay (93, 149b, 9×4, 3×6) putting on 183 runs in 46 overs to help the hosts score 240 for one in reply to Assam’s 237.
Brief scores:
Group A: Odisha 233 in 85 overs lost to Hyderabad 234/6 in 84 overs (Benjamin Thomas 58, Naveen Kumar 33, DB Ravi Teja 34, B Sandeep 31, Ahmed Quadri 34 n.o., Basant Mohanty 2/40, Govind Podder 2/37). Points: Hyderabad 4 (4), Odisha 0 (0).
Group B: TNCA XI 245 in 79.4 overs lost to Baroda 246/3 in 73.2 overs (Dhiren Mistry 114 n.o., Aditya Waghmode 32, Abhimanyu Chauhan 51, Ambati Rayudu 46 n.o., Malolan Rangarajan 2/64). Points: Baroda 4 (8), TNCA XI 0 (0).
Group C: Saurashtra 337/9 in 90 overs beat Vidarbha 333 in 88.4 overs (Faiz Fazal 42, Gaurav Upadhyay 38, Shalabh Srivatsava 105 n.o., Ranjit Paradkar 59, Nayan Doshi 3/67, Jaydev Unadkat 2/74, Sandip Maniar 2/53). Points: Saurashtra 4 (8), Vidarbha 0 (0).
Group C: Assam 237 in 82.5 overs lost to TNCA President’s XI 240/1 in 55.3 overs (Abhinav Mukund 104 n.o., Murali Vijay 93, K Dinesh Karthik 38 n.o.). Points: TNCA President’s XI 4 (8), Assam 0 (0).
Group: Gujarat 195 in 71 overs lost to Karnataka 198/7 in 68.4 overs (Manish Pandey 61, Ryan Ninan 29, Amit Verma 36 n.o., Rajoo Bhatkal 38 n.o., Akshar Patel 3/68, Ishwar Chaudhury 2/28). Points: Karnataka 4 (4), Gujarat (0).
