Published: Nov 23, 2014, 05:14 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 23, 2014, 06:08 PM (IST)
Nov 23, 2014
Karnataka clinched the semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Bengal by a narrow margin of six runs to book a place in the finals. Earlier during the day Karnataka batsmen constantly flattered to deceive, with as many as four top order batsmen getting off to promising starts but failing to convert them into anything substantial.
In fact it was the last wicket partnership between R Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun that carried out the rescue act, adding 46 valuable runs from the last seven overs that gave Karnataka a fighting chance with the ball.
Chasing 269 for victory the Bengal openers Shreevats Goswami and Arindam Das got them off to an ideal start, adding 50 runs for the first wicket before Das was run out for 23 in the 11th over. Goswami was joined by Manoj Tiwary at the fall of the first wicket. The wicket of Das helped Karnataka check the flow of runs. while Goswami kept the scoreboard ticking, Tiwary’s inability to do the same was impeding the progress of the innings, as a consequence Karnataka were beginning to build pressure on Bengal which eventually led to the dismissal of Goswami for 45.
That left Bengal needing 182 runs of 174 balls. The arrival of no.4 batsman Sudeep Chatterjee instilled some life into the Bengal innings, even Tiwary changed gears and assumed some responsibility to up the ante. Tiwary and Chatterjee added 87 runs for the third wicket before Tiwary became the second batsman to lose his wicket by means of a run out. The wicket of Tiwary came against the run of play and opened a window of opportunity for Karnataka to claw back into the game.
The wicket of Tiwary was immediately followed by that of Laxmi Shukla, soon after set batsman Sudeep Chatterjee departed for 67, leaving the match tantalisingly poised with Bengal still needing 54 runs to win from 37 balls with five wickets in hand. The incoming pair of Suvojit Banerjee and Saurasish Lahiri put their foot on the accelerator right from the outset, playing useful cameos which quickly brought the target and the required run rate down to under a run a ball before Bengal self destructed. Banerjee’s untimely dismissal at the fag end of the run chase saw Bengal wilting under the pressure as their tail folded like a pack of cards handing over the game and a spot in the finals to Karnataka.
Brief scores:
Karnataka 268 for 9 in 50 overs( Stuart Binny 50, Karun Nair 41; Veerpratap Singh 3 for 76, Iresh Saxena 2 for 27) beat Bengal 262 all out (Sudip Chatterjee 67; Abhimanyu Mithun 3 for 40, Stuart Binny 2 for 48) by six runs
