Punjab cruise past champs Karnataka in Vijay Hazare Trophy

BENGALURU: Karnataka’s Vijay Hazare trophy campaign ended the way it began, with a crushing loss. In a Group ‘A’ encounter at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here, the hosts threw away a good start from the top-order batsmen and then returned to deliver an uninspiring bowling show as Punjab cruised to a six-wicket win.
In terms of making the quarter-finals, the contest was of little relevance with both teams out of contention.
Put in to bat, title-holders Karnataka looked set to breach the 300-run mark after R Samarth (54, 59b, 8x4), BR Sharath (70, 69b, 9x4, 1x6) and skipper Manish Pandey (67, 60, 8x4, 2x6) gave them a good start, but the home side lost the plot towards the end, losing five wickets for 25 runs in just 26 balls.
Pacer Kaul returned 5/41 as Karnataka were bowled out for 296 in 48.2 overs. Punjab, propelled by a peach of an innings from centurion Anmolpreet Singh (138, 106b, 12x4, 5x6) and his opening partner Shubman Gill (77, 93b, 7x4, 1x6), overhauled the target with seven balls to spare.
Brief Scores: Karnataka 296 in 48.2 overs (B R Sharath 70, Manish Pandey 67, Siddharth Kaul 5-41) lost to Punjab 297/4 in 48.5 overs (Anmolpreet Singh 138, Shubman Gill 77, K Gowtham 1-49) by six wickets.
At Alur: Baroda 206/8 in 50 overs (Yusuf Pathan 64 not out, Krunal Pandya 52, Samad Fallah 3-21) lost to Maharashtra 207/5 in 44.3 overs (Naushad Shaikh 76 not out, Rohit Motwani 59, Atit Sheth 3-36) by five wickets; Vidarbha 218 in 48.2 overs (Faiz Fazal 49, Atharva Taide 48, Darshan Misal 4-52) beat Goa 217/9 in 50 overs (Amit Verma 45, Suyash Prabhudessai 39, Darshan Nalkande 3-37) by one run
Delhi 245-9 in 50 over (Lakshay Thareja 53, Pawan Negi 31) beat Chhattisgarh 201 in 45.1 overs (Kulwant Khejroliya 4/27) by 44 runs; Kerala 316/7 in 50 overs (Sachin Baby 93, Vishnu Vinod 62) beat Saurashtra 270 in 49.3 overs (Samarth Vyas 91, Chirag Jani 66) by 46 runs