Thrilling victory for Karnataka over Wills XI

Wills XI failed to consolidate on an excellent start given by their openers Gagan Khoda and Ashu Dani and went down by two wickets to Karnataka in their Wills Trophy quarterfinal match at the Lal Bahadur stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

Put in to bat, Wills XI could not have asked for a better start. Khoda and Dani put on 135 runs off 30.3 overs. Dani was the first to go when he was run out for 65. He faced 101 balls and hit seven fours and a six. Khoda was bowled by Johnson in the next over for 55. He faced 90 balls and hit five of them to the ropes. In the following over, Virendra Shewag was out to Dodda Ganesh for one and in the space of 12 deliveries, Wills XI had slumped to 142 for three.

Wills XI never really recovered from the collapse. Skipper Ajay Jadeja made only 14 and it was left to PN Mullick to keep the innings going with a valuable 33 off 45 balls. The scoring rate slumped and wickets fell at regular intervals and Wills XI were dismissed for 215 in 49 overs. The three pronged pace attack of Ganesh (2 for 38), Johnson (3 for 42) and Mansur Ali Khan (2 for 18) did all the damage, with three run outs playing their part in the collapse. In fact, Wills XI after the opening stand lost ten wickets for just 80 runs off 18.3 overs.

The Wills XI bowlers however tried their best to get their side back into the match. Mithun Beerala and skipper Sujith Somasundar were dismissed with only 19 runs on the board. But a third wicket partnership of 58 runs off 16 overs between J Arun Kumar (41) and VST Naidu (71) put Karnataka back on track. The in form Arun Kumar faced 63 balls and hit six fours before he was run out. B Akhil was out at 84 but a fifth wicket partnership of 56 runs from 13.2 overs between Naidu and S Shiraguppi (33) revived Karnataka's hopes. Shiraguppi who faced 41 balls and hit two fours and a six, played a vital knock. Naidu soldiered on until he was seventh out at 185. Continuing his good form this season, Naidu faced 109 balls and hit five fours. Ganesh was eighth out at 209 and this led to some excitement. But Johnson and Anand Katti saw Karnataka home with two overs and two wickets to spare.