Published: Feb 21, 2019, 01:12 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 21, 2019, 01:12 PM (IST)
Manish Pandey revived Karnataka innings with a half-century as they beat Assam by 15 runs in their Group D, round 1 match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019 in Cuttack on Friday.
After posting 169/6 thanks largely to captain Pandey’s 70, Karnataka blew away Assam top-order inside Powerplay, reducing them to 20/4 in 4.5 overs. A late recovery show saw wicketkeeper Wasiqur Rahman hitting 62 off 41 and a quickfire unbeaten 53 from Rajjakuddin Ahmed did reduce the margin, even fanning Assam’s dying hopes but Karnataka held on for a relatively comfortable win.
Assam ended on 154/7 but would have rued their top-order not contributing enough which would have meant a different result.
Assam opted to field and did reasonably well to send back their opponent’s top-three batsmen inside 10 overs without for 58 runs. Pandey joined hands with Krishnamurthy Siddharth to revive the innings. The duo shared a 93-run partnership for the fourth wicket, taking the score to 151 before being separated.
Pandey’s dismissal ended the big partnership who walked back after hitting six fours and four sixes. Siddarth was run out 10 runs later having scored 27 off 24. They eventually finished at 169/6.
Anu Nechim was the pick of Assam bowlers with figures of 2/32 while for Karnataka, Vinay Kumar took 2/22.
Brief Scores: Karnataka 169/6 (Manish Pandey 74; Abu Nechim 2/32) beat Assam 154/7 (Wasiqur Rahman 62, Rajjakuddin Ahmed 53; Vinay Kumar 2/22) by 15 runs
