Karnataka sail home by 84 runs

Karnataka completed an 84-run victory over hosts Tamil Nadu in the Cooch Behar Trophy South Zone league at the IIT-Chemplast ground in Chennai today. Set a target of 223 in 43 overs, Tamil Nadu collapsed for the second time in the match, being bowled out for 138 with just over six overs to spare. Off spinners Mulewa Dharmichand (4/64) and Chandrasekhar Raghu and left arm seamer Steve Lazarus did all the damage between them. The win, worth eight points, lifted Karnataka to eleven points after two matches while Tamil Nadu have three points from the same number of games.

In the morning, Karnataka extended their overnight 95/2 to 188 before being dismissed after lunch. Opener HT Sudhir Rao's 68 (217 balls, 4 fours) was the backbone of the innings but a devastating spell by Tamil Nadu skipper S Vidyuth saw the last six wickets tumble for 31, five of them to the left arm spinner's account. Vidyuth who opened the attack yesterday bowled a marathon spell of 41 overs to finish with 5/66.

Middle order bat Vishal Kudawla made a bright 42 off 45 balls including a four and a six apiece but chasing the runs was always going to be an uphill task. Kudawla's fall at 88 opened up a dramatic slide with five wickets falling for 16. Tamil Nadu's hopes of battling out a draw that would yield three valuable points depended on the last pair of wicketkeeper KKD Karthik and DT Kumaran which came together at 104. They added 34 runs off 31 balls before Dharmichand terminated the proceedings in the 37th over, dismissing Kartik for a flamboyant 39 (26 balls, seven fours).