Deodhar Trophy 2018, Match 2 Review: Karnataka clinch a final-over thriller

The Vijay Hazare champions and the giants of Indian domestic circuit Karnataka is proving to be tough not to crack in the Deodhar Trophy. Ravikumar Samarth’s incredible century backed up by a terrific bowling performance from the leggie Shreyas Gopal helped them win the second game of the contest by a narrow 6-run margin.

In-form opener Mayank Agarwal, who has been tormenting bowling units all season, gave Karnataka a stunning start batting first. Although skipper Karun Nair failed to do anything significant, Agarwal stitched a brilliant partnership with Samarth. The duo consolidated the innings with a decent 49-run stand for the 2nd wicket before Agarwal got dismissed in the 16th over.

The innings got the kick it required when Pavan Deshpande and Samarth batted together. Relatively new names in Karnataka circuit, both these players had an awful lot to do to even get noticed in such a star-studded lineup. They did a great job, adding 86 runs for the 3rd wicket and Samarth had completed his fifty.

In an attempt to up the ante, Despande threw his wicket away and Stuart Binny fell almost immediately. Keeper-batsman CM Gautam gave Samarth the exact support he needed at that point and the set batsman took complete charge of the innings. Samarth did a fantastic job towards the end to reach his hundred and eventually got dismissed for 117 off 115 balls.

Karnataka posted a daunting 296 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Whilst Samarth registered a 100, Mayank Agarwal and Pavan Deshpande fell just short of their respective fifties. Siddharth Kaul returned with the best bowling figures for India B, registering 3/49 in his 9 overs. Whilst Jayant Yadav registered 2/48 in 10 overs, Harshal Patel too returned with a brace.

Manoj Tiwary leads a fantastic fightback

Karnataka entered this game with an all-new fast bowling contingent, with Abhimanyu Mithun being the only experienced bloke. But the youngsters reaped the most of the opportunity they got and ran through the top three for fun. Firstly, TB Prasidh got Abhimanyu in the 3rd over of the innings and gave his side an ideal start.

The Powerplay stint only got better for the South Indian side as Prasidh and T Pradeep picked up another couple of wickets, restricting India B to 23/3. It was a very precarious situation and needed some matured approach to get India B out of this situation. Shreyas Iyer and Manoj Tiwary did a perfect job, registering a big stand for the 4th wicket.

They added 85 runs for the fourth wicket at a decent rate, which brought them right back in the game. Iyer kept watching from the other end as Manoj Tiwary did the bulk of the scoring. After Iyer got dismissed for 33 off 43 balls, Siddesh Lad stepped in and almost took the game away from Karnataka.

Both Tiwary and Lad played outstanding cricket to tilt things in their favor. They added 133 runs for the 5th wicket and Tiwary had completed a magnificent hundred in the process. This knock justified his status as a trust-worthy batsman in the domestic circuit. Siddesh Lad to had completed a fifty, but the way things unraveled in the final 10 overs shifted the momentum yet again towards Karnataka.

Shreyas Gopal dismissed Tiwary and picked up another wicket immediately. The lower order faltered and despite a late fightback from Dharmendasinh Jadeja, their side fell 6 runs short of the target. Karnataka skipper Karun Nair and the entire side were palpably delighted with the result having worked so hard.

Brief Scores

Karnataka: 296/8 in 50 overs (Ravikumar Samarth 117; Siddarth Kaul 3/49, Jayant Yadav 2/48)

India B: 290/9 in 50 overs (Manoj Tiwary 120, Siddesh Lad 70; Shreyas Gopal 3/29)