Vijay Hazare Trophy: Karnataka become Champions for the 5th time after beating Karun Nair’s Vidarbha by 36 runs

Karnataka team, led by Mayank Agarwal, beat Vidarbha team by 36 runs, and won the Vijay Hazare Trophy title after after years. Karnataka had posted a score of 348, and had managed to bowl out their opponents for 312 runs, winning by 36. runs.

Karnataka team, led by Mayank Agarwal, secured their fifth Vijay Hazare Trophy title, as they took down Karun Nair-led Vidarbha by 36 runs in the final match of the tournament. The thing to be noted is, Karnataka have always come out victorious whenever they have reached final.

Ravichandran Smaran was the match-winner for Karnataka as he played his second List A century, and helped the team reach 348 for 6 in the match. When luck was down, Smaran smashed 101 runs off 92 balls, and steadied the team’s balance. Abhinav Manohar then played as the second support pillar by scoring 79 off 42 down the order.

As they chased a massive total, Vidarbha’s opener Dhruv Shorey gave a decent fight to the bowlers, as he scored his third consecutive century in the knockout stages. Eventually, Vidarbha got bowled out at 312, which resulted in a defeat by 36 runs.

Vidarbha lost their hopes when they found themselves at a tricky situation of 286/7. But Harsh Dube then came in, who hit a splendid 30-ball-63. However, every effort eventually went in vain as Vidarbha was 36 runs short, and lost the battle.

Karnataka enjoyed a successful group stage in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, as they faced only a single defeat in their seven matches. Their impressive show continued in the knockout stages, where they won over Baroda and Haryana, securing their place in the final against Vidarbha. This season marked Karnataka appearing in the final after five long years.

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