India B upset Karnataka, clinch Deodhar Trophy

DHARAMSALA: Superb half-centuries by Abhimanyu Easwaran (69, 82b, 8x4), Ruturaj Gaikwad (58, 48b, 7x4, 2x6), skipper Shreyas Iyer (61, 69b, 7x4) and Manoj Tiwary (59 not out, 51b, 8x4) helped India B finally end Karnataka’s juggernaut in One-day cricket and clinch the Deodhar Trophy by six wickets at the HPCA Stadium here on Thursday night.
Chasing 280 for a win, India B’s young guns, openers Easwaran and Gaikwad, provided the perfect start by adding 84 in 82 balls.Playing his first game in the tournament, the 21-year-old Gaikwad showed admirable temperament as he unleashed some bold strokes against the pacers. Easwaran, on the other hand, impressed with his sound technique and the ability to drive the ball either side of the wicket.
India B lost Gaikwad and Vihari, but Easwaran and Iyer then joined hands for a 62-run alliance, before the latter was castled while trying to pull a quicker one from leggie Shreyas Gopal. Iyer then added 83 for the fourth wicket with the experienced Tiwary, who showed steel by coming out to bat despite suffering a bad injury while fielding. Struggling to dismiss the batsmen on a flat track with their modest attack, Karnataka made things worse for themselves by fumbling in the field.
Earlier, Ravikumar Samarth, in the form of his life, slammed his second hundred (107, 120b, 8x4, 1x6) of the tournament to steer Karnataka to a challenging total of 279 for eight. The Vijay Hazare champs had slipped to 64 for four after 15 overs, before they rallied through a brilliant 132-run (in 144 balls) for the fifth wicket between Samarth and ‘keeper-bat CM Gautam (76, 84b, 6x4, 2x6). Sensibly, the duo did well to play out a probing spell of fast bowling from Umesh Yadav and Khaleel Ahmed before Gautam took on the spinners.
Having logged scores of 117, 85 and 107, Samarth finished as the leading run-getter in the tournament with 309 runs in three games at an average of 103.00 under his belt.
Brief Scores: Karnataka 279-8 in 50 overs (Ravikumar Samarth 107, CM Gautam 76) lost to India B 281-4 in 48.2 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 69, Ruturaj Gaikwad 58, Shreyas Iyer 61, Manoj Tiwary 59 not out) by six wickets.