Karnataka lifts trophy

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, DEC. 11. With favourite Hyderabad messing up its chase against Goa and worse even losing, Karnataka became the surprise winner, leaving host and holder Tamil Nadu to sulk for its earlier loss to the latter, in what proved a dramatic finish to the Subbiah Pillai trophy one-day cricket tournament here on Monday.

All these three teams were tied on six points prior to the last set of matches today. Still with a net run rate of 0.94, Hyderabad led the field, followed by Tamil Nadu 0.68 and Karnataka 0.64. What this meant in terms of runs and overs for each side it was not too clear, rather the calculations seemed never ending. But once the news trickled in that Hyderabad had lost, the issue became simple: Karnataka having beaten Tamil Nadu earlier, all it needed was to ensure it beat Andhra and that was what it achieved by six wickets at the MAC stadium.

The way Karnataka had gone about its task, after Andhra showed surprising resilience to score 247, it was clear the side did not fancy its chances. The talk then was of a toss up between Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu because both of them had gone in real earnest with an eye on the runrate, the latter against Kerala. In fact Tamil Nadu too won but that did not matter in the final analysis, for as per the rule when the issue is between two teams of equal points, the team which beat the other in the earlier round is declared the final winner. The Karnataka players knew of their surprise trophy-win only in the dressing room !

For the record, Andhra, which was put in, had sizeable contributions from openers L.N. Prasad Reddy (56), Amit Pathak (47) and Fayaz Ahmed, who remained unbeaten on 60. Karnataka's chase was at best steady, Arun Kumar (56) and Mithun Beerala (30) being the early scorers before the run rate fell. Then Bharadwaj (25) and Akhil (65 not out) used the long handle to good purpose. Akhil had three sixes and as many boundaries in his 50-ball knock which brought off a rapid finish but the excitement came thereafter.

Mr K.M. Mammen, Vice Chairman and MD, MRF Ltd., was the chief guest and gave away the trophy.

The scores:

Andhra: L.N. Prasad Reddy st. Thilak Naidu b Vodeyaraj 56; Amit Pathak lbw b Akhil 47; T.S. Prasad st. Thilak Naidu b Vodeyaraj 27; Y. Venugopal Rao b Vodeyaraj 6; Fayaz Ahmed (not out) 60; I. Srinivas (not out) 33; Extras (lb-4, w-9, nb-5) 18; Total (for four wkts. in 50 overs) 247. Fall of wickets: 1-67, 2-131, 3-143, 4-163.

Karnataka bowling: D. Ganesh 10-1-45-0; Mansur Ali Khan 6-0-50-0; B. Akhil 10-0-38-1; Vijay Bharadwaj 7-0-25-0; Santhosh Vodeyaraj 10-1-53-3; Anand Yalvigi 7-0-32-0.

Karnataka: J. Arun Kumar c Ranganath b Watekar 56; Mithun Beerala c Venugopal b Ranganath 30; G.K. Anil Kumar lbw b Watekar 30; Vijay Bharadwaj c Fayaz Ahmed b Ranganath 25; B. Akhil (not out) 65; Thilak Naidu (not out) 36; Extras (w- 5, nb 1) 6; Total (for four wkts. in 41.3 overs) 248.

Fall of wickets: 1-79, 2-119, 3-121, 4- 153.

Andhra bowling: N. Madhukar 7-0-39-0; Shahabuddin 8-0-48-0; Y.Venugopal Rao 6-0-23-0; Y.S. Ranganath 10-0-53-2; H. Watekar 9.3-0-65-2; I. Srinivas 1-0-20-0.

The Karnataka team, which emerged winner in the Subbiah Pillai Trophy one-day cricket tournament in Chennai on Monday: Squatting (L to R)): Mahesh, Ramesh, Sampath Kumar, Mithun Beerala, Anand, Mansur Ali Khan. Standing: S. Kirmani (Coach), D. Ganesh, Anil Kumar, Santhosh Vodeyaraj, Vijay Bharadwaj, Thilak Naidu, Arun Kumar (capt.), Akhil, Shyam Ponnappa, M. Sunil and Abhiram (Manager).

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