Vijay Hazare Trophy 2016-17: MS Dhoni scores 43 but Jharkhand lose to Karnataka by 5 runs

MS Dhoni hit couple of towering sixes in his 43-run knock but once again failed as a finisher with Karnataka pipping Jharkhand by five runs in a group D league encounter of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Kolkata on Saturday. More than 1,000 people turned up at the Eden Gardens, simply because Dhoni was playing. He did bat for a period but as luck would have it, Jharkhand were all-out for 261 in 49.5 overs after Karnataka scored 266 in 49.4 overs. For Karnataka, IPL specialist Manish Pandey scored 77. The Jharkhand skipper, along with burly Saurabh Tiwary (68), added 81 runs for the fifth wicket after coming to bat at 79 for 4.

Dhoni took eight balls to get off the mark with a single off Stuart Binny as Karnataka persisted with spin-seam attack in off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham and Binny. He took 23 balls to break free when he charged down the track to IPL 10’s Indian INR 2-crore pick Gowtham over midwicket for a huge six and began his assault against debutant seamer T Pradeep. Robin Uthappa struggled behind the stumps with Dhoni missing a stumping and also a catch.

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Dhoni changed his bat more than a couple of times as the spectators cheered every shot from the former India captain. However at the score of 160 with another 100 plus runs to get, Dhoni was bowled as he tried to scoop the debutant Pradeep over fine leg exposing his middle and leg stump.

While Pradeep made it memorable with Dhoni as his maiden wicket at senior level en route to his 2 for 49, it was off-spinner Gowtham, who was the wrecker-in-chief with his 4 for 58.

After Dhoni’s departure, Tiwary kept Jharkhand in the hunt and once he was removed by Gowtham, Rahul Shukla (24 from 21 balls; 1×6, 1×4) and Monu Kumar (17 not out from 10 balls; 1×6, 2×4) took the match to the last over with 12 needed to win. Pacer Prasidh Krishna showed his presence of mind to run out Shukla in the penultimate ball to seal the fate.

Earlier, Dhoni won the toss and sent in Karnataka who were bundled out for 266 in 49.4 overs, a competitive total that was possible due to fighting 50’s from their skipper Pandey and Ravikumar Samarth (71 from 93 balls; 6×4) in a 116-run partnership.

Karnataka lost Uthappa (9) in the second over after the seasoned batsman was castled from an away going delivery by Monu Kumar (2 for 44), while in-form Mayank Agarwal could not convert his start to be dismissed for 26 by Anand Singh (2 for 47).

The Dhoni-led Jharkhand face Mohammad Kaif-led Chhattisgarh in Kolkata on Sunday.

Brief scores:

At Eden Gardens: Karnataka 266 in 49.4 overs (Manish Pandey 77, Ravikumar Samarth 71; Rahul Shukla 4 for 45, Varun Aaron 2 for 52, Monu Kumar 2 for 44, Anand Singh 2 for 47) beat Jharkhand 261 in 49.5 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 68, M S Dhoni 43; K Gowtham 4 for 58, Prasidh 2 for 41, T Pradeep 2 for 49) by 5 runs.

At JU Second Campus, Saltlake: Hyderabad 257 in 49.3 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 68, Akshath Reddy 60, S Badrinath 43; Manzoor Dar 2 for 30, Ram Dayal 2 for 40) beat Jammu and Kashmir 228 in 42.4 overs (Ahmad Omar Banday 87; Ravi Kiran 3 for 49, Mehdi Hasan 3 for 52, Chama Milind 2 for 35) by 29 runs.

At Bengal Cricket Academy, Kalyani: Services 263/9 in 50 overs (Nakul Verma 124; Shaurya Sanandia 4 for 67) beat Saurashtra 215 in 39.4 overs (Prerak Mankad 58, Jaydev Unadkat 57; Suraj Yadav 4 for 47, Diwesh Pathania 2 for 45, Vipin Singh 2 for 59) by 48 runs.